Scholars and associations committed to powerful social studies education have long advocated for students to explore controversial issues so they grow into informed, ethical, and participating citizens. Yet, teachers avoid undertaking this work due to a lack of training, confidence, or experience in facilitating courageous conversations about…

In a cultural moment when professors experience a debilitating hesitancy about initiating difficult conversations with undergraduate students, and the imperative of trigger warnings sometimes outweighs the will to navigate controversial materials, the fate of "violent films," as worthy of academic study, hangs precariously in the…

This study draws on the theoretical construct of critical consciousness to explore secondary Chinese DLBE teachers' barriers to developing critical consciousness in the classroom. Employing a narrative inquiry approach, we explore the general struggles Chinese DLBE teachers face in classrooms, focusing on understanding their barriers to…

The new Taiwanese citizenship curriculum has converted its traditional bullet-point guidelines to hundreds of open-ended questions. Each question acts to initiate collective inquiry, to stimulate the sharing of lived experiences and to trigger within-class conversations. The previous pre-determined educational objectives and learning outcomes, in…

One purpose of classroom discussions is not to try to change people's views but to better understand why classmates believe whatever they believe. One of the best ways to achieve such deeper understanding is to hear the basis for other people's beliefs. In this light, the author modeled this behavior for students, which required revealing personal…

Determined to do justice to the complexity of the seventeenth century, as a messy but crucial period in British history, and to develop their pupils' disciplinary understanding of how and why interpretations of the past are constructed, Dan Keates and his department set out to exploit the rich seam of interpretations of Cromwell. The quest to…

This manuscript describes the patriotism taught and not taught by nine teachers to the children of soldiers near a military base in the American South. The nine teachers, all participants in a qualitative study, detail the pressures endured and the pedagogical and curricular decisions made as result. The teachers experienced social and political…

The experience of learning about emotive topics in the classroom remains relatively under-researched. Within the social sciences, death studies is undergoing a resurgence yet little is known about the student experience of exploring such issues in an academic setting. This research focuses on final year undergraduate students at a British…

This article examines the key category defining multiculturalism in Israeli history education: the representation of North African and Middle Eastern Jewry, aka "Mizrahim." Applying Nordgren's and Johansson's conceptualisation, the article explores the changes in this subject from the establishment of Israel to the present day. The…

Controversial topics may be uncomfortable for teachers to include in their in-class discussions. However, there are considerable cognitive and social-emotional benefits to engagement in controversial conversations, or classroom discussion about controversial topics. It is critical that teachers support students in respectful discussion to help…

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.

Risk-taking in honors education entails not only anxiety about grades and intellectually disturbing ideas but also painful emotional responses to course materials. Rather than censoring such "dangerous" materials, faculty should compassionately encourage vulnerable students to acknowledge their pain safely in an open and accepting…

This paper explores how PurpleState, a political simulation designed to foster skills and knowledge for informed civic participation, develops students' abilities to counter or resist the effects of political polarization and partisanship. Throughout the simulation, which has been implemented in Virginia and Wisconsin, students are asked to…

This reflective essay highlights the importance of project structure when teaching highly controversial topics. I review research that shows differing approaches to teaching highly controversial subjects and the impact of the approaches on learning outcomes. I then reflect on the outcomes of deploying a non-directive, peacekeeping approach to…

Because of a long tradition of children's literature depicting enslavement, elementary teachers have an expansive assortment of books from which to choose. These books, however, can be filled with inaccuracies, troubling illustrations, and dubious interpretations of the "peculiar institution." The recent controversy over "A Birthday…