The present study examines individuals' thinking during and after reading controversial historical accounts and the possible contribution of epistemic beliefs, emotions, and prior-knowledge in this context. Young adults (n = 39) were asked to read two accounts about a recent war in their country, an own-side account -- from a historian of their…

A generation of learners is growing up in one of the most polarized eras in modern US history, where demands for credible connections and pluralistic policies are countered with divisive rhetoric. The urgent need for honest dialog emanates from the public square, mass media, news, popular culture, schools, and universities. As controversial events…

This paper presents a secondary analysis of data collected during an intervention study in which students learnt to synthesise pairs of texts presenting opposite views on controversial issues. The original intervention study included two treatments and examined the effects of two instruction conditions when instructional materials and tasks were…

This microgenetic case study explores how an undergraduate student (Nolan) in a second-year seminar mastered an argument weighing scheme and used it to organize his writing. The students in this seminar completed argumentation vee diagrams (AVDs) prior to discussing controversial issues. Students also completed preessays and postessays on a…

As secondary social studies education in the United States moves toward inquiry and constructivist models of teaching, much of the history that is taught is stuck in a fairly rigid narrative. This narrative has been written and refined by historians and high school textbook writers until the canon is homogenous across the United States (Brinkley…

A major aim of science education reform documents (Achieve, 2013) is for K-12 students to engage in scientific practices to facilitate a better understanding of the processes and the aspects of doing science (Bybee, 2014). In this design case we present the design of a teaching unit on a socio-scientific issue (SSI) that can potentially engage…

This chapter shares reflections from two university housing administrators on using dialogic practices to build skills for addressing issues of social justice and equity that surface in residential community living settings.

In 2015, the mass murder of nine people in a South Carolina church by a White supremacist led to greater public questioning of symbols of the Confederacy. This questioning led to action in the spring of 2017 when four large Confederate monuments were removed in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the citizens of Charlottesville, Virginia, voted to remove…

Science is an area of study that can have far reaching implications, influencing and influenced by all aspects of society including politics, ethics, and personal opinions. Science is about more than just the facts, but the process of development and the implications of science knowledge. The main objective of this thesis project is to create…

The 2018 "English Journal" young adult honor list selections are an amazing mix of truth and fiction, fact and fantasy. The protagonists, five females and one male, all demonstrate what it means to follow your heart and speak your truth. Consideration of young adult books for inclusion in the 2018 Honor List begins in January and…

This study aims to develop a more fully theorised concept of biocitizenship as part of the teaching of intersex in critical approaches to sex education. It advances a perspective in which the options of students, as future parents and as biocitizens, are not limited to compliance to biomedicine, but one in which formal education experiences might…

As teacher educators who teach a variety of courses that engage "difference," there comes a moment almost every semester where a reading or set of readings discusses sexuality in education as sexuality impacts student and teacher bodies, curricula, and educational policy. Invariably, such readings cause a student or two to raise any…

This paper examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) come to understand the role that media plays in perpetuating and reinforcing stereotypical views of marginalized groups through engagement in weekly news groups. This study sought to look at how critical media skills influenced the ways PSTs interacted with media content. Findings suggest that by…

This study reviewed incorporating a lesson about immigration in pre-service teachers' (N = 45) respective curricula. Additionally, it discussed participants' responses, their level of preparedness, and in some cases their hindrances to teaching controversial lessons. Crafting a framework to teach future teachers about complex subjects such as…

Discussions about texts can offer valuable opportunities for critical conversations about power and privilege. While we know such conversations are important to have in school, many teachers report feeling unprepared to facilitate them. In an effort to understand the in-the-moment decisions preservice teachers (PSTs) make in response to children's…