Full Description
Controversy has become an inescapable aspect of classroom teaching in the twenty-first century. Not only are teachers expected to discuss contentious political policies, unjust historical practices, and violent international conflicts in a variety of subject areas; they often encounter deep ideological divides among students, parents, and other stakeholders. Despite the challenges, teaching controversy can have many benefits, such as improving students' rational and critical thinking skills and increasing empathy and understanding of different views. What do educators need to capitalize on these important advantages, while avoiding the pitfalls of political controversy? What ethical and political conditions should be in place to ensure their success?
Offering an interdisciplinary selection of leading scholars and researchers from around the world, Teaching Controversy provides a comprehensive resource on the theory and practice of teaching controversy. It combines educational insights from USA, Europe, and India, and examines the role of controversy in higher education, K-12 education, religious education, and a variety of academic subjects. Further, the volume offers insight into the educational conditions that support civic learning and community-building in the classroom, and those that can undermine these goals. By providing careful theoretical and empirical reflections on the nature and boundaries of controversial issues, Teaching Controversy aims to empower educators to navigate the hazardous political terrain of public schooling, ensuring that controversy serves as a tool for empowering and uplifting democratic education.
Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction: Teaching Controversy: Theoretical Criteria, Practical Challenges and Real-Life Conflict
Johannes Drerup, Dorothee Gronostay, and Douglas Yacek Part I: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives Chapter 2: From Religion to History: The New Culture Wars in American Schools Jonathan Zimmerman Chapter 3: Is there a Principled Exception to the Epistemic Criterion of Controversiality? Michael Hand Chapter 4: Seeing the Person Behind a View: A Practical Interpretation of What It Means to Teach an
Issue "as Controversial" and What is Necessary for Doing So Fruitfully
Anders Schinkel Chapter 5: Teacher Neutrality - Liberal, Democratic, Epistemic
Johannes Giesinger Chapter 6: On the Improbability of "Teaching the Controversy" in School
Michael Merry Chapter 7: Moving Beyond the Philosophical Controversy over Controversial Issues: Decision-making about Teacher Impartiality as a Problem of Professional Ethics
Bruce Maxwell Chapter 8: Is the Indoctrination-education Distinction Controversial?
Christopher Martin Part II: Empirical Perspectives Chapter 9: Teachers' Beliefs about Democracy and their Role in Democratic Education: A German perspective
Peter große Prues Chapter 10: Conflict and controversy in German Denominational Religious Education: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Explorations of an Institutionalised Committed Impartiality Approach
Jan-Hendrik Herbst Chapter 11: Reflective Balancing: A Guiding Ideal for Teacher Education? Marcus Kindlinger & Katrin Hahn-Laudenberg Chapter 12: Controversial Conversations on College Campuses: What Happens and Why It Matters for Democracy
Rachel Wahl Part III: Classrooms and Conflicts Chapter 13: Emotion and Intellect in the Face of Societal Violence Sarah W. Freedman, Karen Murphy, and Gail Weldon Chapter 14: Teaching Controversial Issues in a Populist and Post-truth Context Sarah M. Stitzlein Chapter 15: Teaching Controversial Issues with Normative Case Studies Tatiana Geron, Alexandra Chang, and Meira Levinson Chapter 16: Trust Amidst Controversy: The Ethics of Classroom Conflict in Discussions of Race
Sally Moore & Winston C. Thompson Chapter 17: Sexting or Same-Sex Marriage? Shifting the Center of Controversy in School
Sex Education
Kirsten M. K. Welch Chapter 18: Social Conflicts and the Normative Discourse: Pedagogical Framework for Political
Education Prakash Iyer Chapter 19: Controversial Issues and Trust Building: Symbiosis or Disjuncture?
Jane C. Lo & candace moore Index
