In 1925, Williams Jennings Bryan, a former congressman from Nebraska and a former Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, spent two agonizing weeks defending his religious faith that cost him his life a month after. Bryan was a prosecutor of high school teacher John Scopes, who had violated Tennessee state law by teaching the theory of evolution.…

Teaching about intersecting, fluid and historically contingent identities has been taken up extensively within the sociology of race, class and gender and women's studies. Oddly, the case of Jewish women has been virtually left out of this robust literature. This article explores the challenges raised through teaching the course "Jewish Women in…

Background Context: There has been much recent discussion on the role of spirituality in higher education, and much emphasis in the past 20 years on the importance of attending to diversity and equity concerns, though for the most part these discussions have been separate. This paper takes up the suggestion of scholars such as Barbara Wallace who…

Homophobia is accepted and encouraged by society, particularly in the sterile world of academia which allows, promotes, and creates homophobia by not providing lesbian/gay specific texts, examples, assignments, and role models. Composition teachers can make the classroom a safer place for lesbian/gay students, teachers, texts, and issues by: (1)…

The extensive social-scientific interest and continuing relevance of environmental study assure its immediate and long-range importance in the social studies. But the crisis atmosphere surrounding this issue threatens a thoughtful, systematic approach to the subject, and poses the danger of a careless rush to activity. As social studies educators,…

States that the proper treatment of issues relies upon the conversion of an interpersonal conflict into an intrapersonal one. Without such conversion, a student is prone to argue with other students and the teacher, rather than himself. Describes five types of statements useful for promoting thoughtful discussions of controversial issues. (JDH)

Practical and theoretical problems associated with incorporating values clarification as an element of health education are explored. Guidelines for teaching values clarification are offered. (DF)

To help educators deal with controversial issues, the references in this list of resources address the types of objections frequently raised about instructional materials, ideas for school policy, the position statement of a professional organization on the teaching of controversial issues, teaching suggestions, and related legal considerations.…

Inquiring into controversial issues in the classroom is increasingly important. Teachers meeting opposition might assess representation of the total community in the opposition, determine specific points of disagreement and de facto official support. Remedial and preventive course of action should be explored. (VW)

Eighty-four sixth-grade students were assigned to three conditions, and studied two controversial issues with materials representing both pro and con views. Controversy, compared with concurrence seeking and individualistic study, promoted higher achievement and retention, greater search for information, more cognitive rehearsal, and positive…

Describes how a course on censorship taught at an all-girls high school in Tacoma, Washington, drew on current event controversies to initiate discussion. Outlines the course's four units and uses Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" to frame course questions. (TB)

A ninth-grade English teacher at an urban California high school taught writing through focusing on tolerance. Books by young people who grew up with war, coupled with guaranteed anonymity, inspired and liberated her students to write about real, controversial topics in their journals, gaining them national recognition. Revising, peer editing, and…

Describes a teaching/learning technique that emphasizes a dialogue approach to critical thinking and learning in the classroom, by using a point-counterpoint procedures to examine open-ended, controversial psychological issues from at least two opposing perspectives. The course teaches students to examine and evaluate information from opposing…

The author asserts that it is time for social studies teachers to engage students in a review of the rift between historical reality and mythology about Viet Nam, especially in light of recent comparisons that many have made between the Viet Nam War and the current situation in Iraq. Few teachers dealt with Viet Nam at the time of the war, and…

In September 2002, Salter's Nuffield Advanced Biology ("SNAB") began a three year pilot phase in schools, representing the first major innovation in UK biology education since the 1970s. One part of the AS level coursework was a report on an "Issue of Biological Interest". This could be based on an actual visit outside school…