Encourages the use of constructive controversy as a teaching method that combines cooperative learning with structured intellectual conflict. Contrasts the controversy teaching format with recitation and group discussion, and explains the method's five-step process, which moves from preparing the best possible case for a given position to dropping…

Discusses how, because of its richness and controversy, the study of slavery has captured the interest and imagination of many different theorists. Today, with new technologies and research trends, the study of slavery is entering an accelerated cycle. (EV)

Moments of intense controversy often provide the best opportunities to demonstrate and strengthen the commitment to free yet civil discourse. In this article, the author shares the most dramatic instance of this in his experience which came several years ago, when a noisy but nonviolent shouting match between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian…

Here we describe a method for teaching the NOS called "Science as Storytelling," which was designed to directly confront narve realist preconceptions about the NOS and replace them with more sophisticated ideas, while retaining a moderate realist perspective. It was also designed to foster a more sophisticated understanding of the…

This study examined the perspectives of a sample of Appalachian middle and high school social studies teachers regarding the teaching of controversial current events. Specifically, the survey ascertained the teachers' familiarity with school district administrative policies regarding the teaching of controversial current events, their perceptions…

In this article, we study third-year university students' reasoning about three controversial socio-scientific issues from the viewpoint of education for sustainable development: local issues (the reintroduction of bears in the Pyrenees in France, wolves in the Mercantour) and a global one (global warming). We used the theoretical frameworks of…

In this article, the author examines the newly revised speakers policy in Boston College. The revised policy, defended by administrators as being consistent with past practice, differs in two important respects from the speakers policy it replaced. Lest the scope of this unfortunate policy be exaggerated, it is important to note that the policy…

Optimal learning occurs when students are interested in the subject matter, are motivated with challenging and quality learning opportunities, and when immersed in atmospheres that make learning enjoyable. One technique to promote optimal learning is through the use of constructive controversies. The purpose of this study was to provide an example…

Classroom debates used to be familiar exercises to students schooled in past generations. In this article, the authors describe the technique called "intimate debate". To cooperative learning specialists, the technique is known as "structured debate" or "constructive debate". It is a powerful method for dealing with case topics that involve…

In this article, we examine how youth in one urban high school talked about race and racism while participating in a curriculum that introduced the analytic lens of story types (stock stories, concealed stories, resistance stories, and counterstories) to look at race and racism and engage these issues through storytelling and the arts. We draw on…

This paper deals with the discourses related to race and anti-racism in a social sciences textbook for grade 12 Ontario students that was published in 2002. It is argued that the complexities of race and anti-racism are not dealt with systematically and cohesively. The textbook does not adequately address the topics of race and racism within the…

In this article, I present a qualitative analysis of third graders' experiences with a unit from their district-mandated commercial reading curriculum in which the children made strong connections between a fictional account of a Depression-era farm family's economic hardships and their own 21st century lives in a city with one of the highest…

This paper points out that creationists have developed a skill unique to their trade, namely, that of misquotation and quotation out of context from the works of leading evolutionists. This tactic not only frustrates scientists but it misleads school board members, legislators, and the public. A representative sampling of scientists' responses to…

Focuses on the censorship controversy in Peterborough County, Ontario, from 1976 to 1985, and examines the attack on, defense of, and counter argument to teaching Margaret Laurence's "The Diviners." Generalizes the anticensorship stance often taken by English teachers to defend the teaching of controversial literary works. (JK)

For schools, teachers, and principals, there is no censorship insurance--especially against attacks directed at learning techniques involved with problem solving and higher order thinking skills. Pincipals faced with disputes must work for consensus before, during, and after a controversy and mitigate self-righteousness and arrogance on either…