Many teachers advocate teaching students to deliberate on controversial political issues as a powerful way of preparing them for political participation. Support for this approach recently came from a Civic Mission of the Schools report, which endorsed including political controversies in the curriculum. Specifically, it recommends that schools:…

Current conceptions of citizenship favour public involvement in dialogue on controversial issues such as GM food. 'Students with higher levels of civic knowledge are more likely to expect to participate in political and civic activities as adults' (Kerr et al., 2003, p. 4). Young people need to be aware of the nature of controversy and be able to…

This article discusses the rich cultural resources embedded with German hip-hop music and its potential impact on the foreign language classroom. In particular, this article suggests methods and materials for integrating German hip-hop music in the discussion of recent controversial cultural events and attitudes in German after the "Wende."

This paper describes the development of augmented group awareness tools that take mutual user ratings of their online discussion contributions as input, aggregate these data, and visually feed these data back to the members in real time, thereby informing participants about how the group as a whole perceives their contributions. A specific group…

In this essay, the author draws on her experience as a minority teacher conducting a course called "Neighborhood, Community, and Identity" to outline some important lessons for minority teachers attempting to teach diversity: (1) When teaching dissident material, it is especially important to create a classroom climate that encourages all students…

Discusses problems inherent in teaching sensitive subjects such as rape, disasters, and nuclear war; and presents ideas about preparing classes on these subjects. Comments and data are drawn from experience in teaching family violence classes, students comments, journals, and conversations with colleagues. (BSR)

Using academic conflicts for instructional purposes is one of the most dynamic, involving, and least used teaching strategies. Teachers fear divisiveness and also lack fitting instructional models for structuring controversial discussions. This article discusses the controversy process and how teachers can organize and use it to enhance cognitive…

States that because of the lack of depth in history texts, the oral history of Vietnam veterans is a valuable teaching alternative. Provides details for preparing students and veterans for interviews. Concludes that this method helps students understand complex issues by placing them in the middle of historical inquiry. (GEA)

Describes teaching a course, "Vietnam Literature," to high school seniors and reviews some books about the war, including Philip Caputo's "A Rumor of War," James Webb's "Fields of Fire," Tim O'Brien's "Going After Caciato," Michael Herr's "Dispatches," and Al Santoli's "Everything We…

Current scientific and technologiical issues should be incorporated into more active classroom, laboratory, and extracurricular learning so that students can perceive the future as personally relevant. (MJL)

Examines the contribution that the teaching of controversial issues could make to student learning in the science classroom. Discusses the nature of controversial issues, some general guidelines for handling them, and various classroom techniques that might foster open-ended problem solving using small group discussion. (Author/MKR)

Lists selected resources for issues centered education. Includes books about methods for issues centered education, reference and student materials for middle and high school students, and tradebooks for elementary classrooms. Lists criteria for the selection of materials that were included (presentation of alternative view, accuracy, and…

Presents a number of class activities and methods for the writing classroom that center on how students experience violence and what they think about it. Shows how the teacher can help students be heard, help them identify forms of violence, and personalize violence. Leads to asking students to design a plan of action to undercut violence. (HB)

Analyzes Albert French's novel "Billy" and its exploration of the United States' use of capital punishment for young criminals. Addresses the underlying causes of Billy's execution. Discusses specific themes and issues that teachers can use for classroom discussions of capital punishment. (RS)

This paper examines the role adopted by teacher and youth work practitioners engaged in a project to carry forward practice in the handling of controversial issues in the contested society of Northern Ireland. First, it briefly outlines the development of work in the field during the 34 years of the present conflict, suggesting that to date too…