Creating a positive classroom experience for students can be a challenge, especially when teaching a contested topic such as gender studies. Teaching and learning gender is teaching and learning against the grain, which can lead to feelings of comfort and discomfort among students. The objective is to capture different manifestations of…

Courses: Ethics, Organizational Communication, Political Communication. Objectives: After completing this unit activity, students should be able to (1) apply multiple ethical perspectives to real-world diversity issues in a debate format, and (2) explain the role of informational and social category diversity in current controversies.

Courses: Argumentation, Public Speaking, Political Communication. Objectives: After completing this unit activity, students should be able to (1) demonstrate comprehension of Burke's (1941) concept of terministic screens; (2) apply the concept of terministic screens to write a brief political autobiography of themselves that analyzes the history…

Social work education accreditation requires the completion of course work specifically around issues related to oppression and diversity within society. Educators offer a range of approaches to engage students in discussion about oppression and diversity from academic content and structured curriculum to reflective practice and experiential…

Social foundations courses, and in particular any course that has to do with multiculturalism or diversity, can be land mines for teacher educators seeking to provide experiences that may be "partisan" but also "educative". This article explores the tensions of teaching multiculturalism classes to undergraduate teacher…

Discusses theoretical and practical problems arising from an educational and political commitment to challenging racism through geography teaching. Focuses on student reactions to the anti-racist approach by reviewing the findings of an evaluation of a course taught at University College London. Provides teaching strategies for using this…

An evaluation of the Pride & Prejudice program, which ran in three Tasmanian schools in 2006, suggests that students who completed the program had more positive attitudes towards gay men and lesbians. This finding parallels an earlier evaluation of the same anti-homophobia program undertaken in Victoria. The evaluation leads to a discussion…

Presents an account of developments in an environmental education course for practicing teachers in Australia. Reports on some of the changes that have taken place in the course and the cyclic revision patterns that have occurred between the course's theoretical rationale and its practical embodiment. (TW)

One of a series of resources for teaching sociology at the postsecondary level, this volume discusses the background, problems, and course format for an introductory course on war as a social problem. Material is divided into seven sections. Section 1 provides an introduction to the course. Section 2 contains the instructor's personal background…

Following up two previous studies which identified the course content, and essential skills and knowledge outcomes for graduate introductory educational research courses, further study was conducted to determine the following: which of the skills identified for graduate introductory research courses were quantitatively or qualitatively oriented;…

School personnel in California were surveyed about family life education efforts. Although such programs exist in many districts, less than one-fourth of the ninth and one-third of the tenth graders received instruction. Recommendations for implementing, improving, and evaluating family life education programs are offered. (Author/DF)

Calls attention to the difficulties of broaching issues of "race" and "sex" in the classroom context of nationwide calls for multiculturalism. Discusses the current politics surrounding the importance of student course evaluations, and presents strategies for making evaluations more useful in the context of courses that include controversial…

How classroom debates can be used in a developmental psychology course to teach students about controversial issues and to help them improve their thinking and oral communications skills is described. Evaluations indicate that students consider debates to be a positive learning experience. (Author/RM)

Discussing Controversial Issues (DCI) is a skill training program designed for high school students and teachers with an overall objective of developing student and teacher skill in discussing controversial issues effectively. The course materials identify 13 moderator techniques which teachers practice, and 13 participant techniques which…