This practical book addresses the consistent questions that were posed by secondary social studies teachers during professional learning sessions. In particular, it examines ways to break through the inclination and perception expressed by many teachers that "my kids cannot do that." Drawing on 22 years as a high school history teacher,…

It is almost 20 years since Michael Riley first invited Key Stage 3 history teachers to 'choose and plant' their enquiry questions. Many members of the history education community have taken up that invitation, making use of overarching enquiry questions to structure students' learning. But what is meant by enquiry in this context is sometimes…

The dramatic increase in hate-related bullying and culturally and/or racially offensive comments or symbols in the wake of the 2016 election came as a surprise for many educators across the United States. Research points to both an increase in frequency of hate related speech and controversy in schools, and teachers reporting a lack of training,…

Despite limitations and challenges, teaching about difficult histories is an essential aspect of social studies courses and units across grade levels. This practical resource highlights stories of K-12 practitioners who have critically examined and reflected on their experiences with planning and teaching histories identified as difficult.…

This article provides and reflects on an original lesson plan for engaging high school, undergraduate, or graduate students in learning fundamental concepts of environmental ethics. Implementation of this lesson plan effectively promoted critical analysis, reflection, and communication of environmental ethics issues in a seminar for second-year…

Educators constantly hear the mantras "develop relationships with students" or "add a personal touch"? They know they will be better teachers if they connect with their students, but how can they if their students come from very different backgrounds than they do? How do educators find common ground? The common ground is the…

This article addresses the importance of teaching controversial issues, especially within elementary school contexts. In particular, the article explores the underlying elements of justice within controversies and demonstrates the way in which teachers might explore procedural justice within an elementary classroom.

Teaching "controversial issues" has a high pedagogical potential for students to understand the characteristics of social conflicts and to become critical citizens. Twenty Chilean secondary education Social Studies teachers were invited to participate in a group interview and workshop to establish their conceptions of controversial…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe preservice teachers' views on the use of banned or censored texts and taboo topics in the classroom. The study sought to discern how elementary and secondary teacher candidates enrolled in methods courses at a Midwestern university thought about issues of censorship, citizenship, and…

As educational interventions that integrate death issues in the school curriculum are rarely designed, implemented and evaluated, our action research (AR) project aimed at investigating the complexities of integrating the concepts of loss and grief in the primary school curriculum of Cyprus. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze…

Teaching controversial issues can be challenging for any teacher, but especially so when the teacher is a cultural outsider. In this article, we provide a snapshot of one social studies educator's experiences teaching about two hotly contested elections--the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the 2017 Korean special election--to middle school…

Ice-breaking discussions around race and personal perspectives can be challenging in any classroom, they also are crucial to cultivating racial consciousness among those espousing that they know better. This provides the groundwork needed to implement--in a non-threatening manner--the creative, alternative methods that will combine students'…

We present a sequence of professional development sessions to support science teachers in designing socio-scientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) lessons to foster democratic citizenship. We focus on seven stages for enacting SSIBL: (1) introducing a dilemma; (2) initial opinion-forming; (3) creating a 'need to know'; (4) inquiry; (5) dialogue;…

As sociology instructors increasingly include materials on sexual violence in their courses, both instructors and students express anxieties over how best to handle such sensitive conversations. This article critically examines the conventional advice to offer a trigger warning, which can interfere with student education (e.g., requiring survivors…

This case study investigated the issue of incorporating controversial topics in EFL classroom of pre-university students and their attitude toward such controversial topics namely, E-stalking in terms of their own cultural background. The objective of the study was to bring a new dimension in language teaching and learning in Bangladeshi…