How can young people make use of digital tools and methods to get to grips with the risks and dilemmas arising out of contemporary science, technology and society relations? This chapter addresses the forms of agency enabled through a set of techniques for exploring and visualizing controversial technoscientific issues on the web. Given the…

Historians collect and verify evidence and then interpret it in an acceptable way. A general consensus is that history does not present us with an absolute truth -- the most we can hope for is historians' reliable, evidentially based interpretations of the historical topic. History not viewed as interpretation has long raised alarm bells in…

It has been argued that to remain relevant in today's society, Extension must expand its role to provide public issues education. We conducted a web-based survey to determine whether Extension agents in Florida were prepared to deal with contentious issues. Survey respondents identified issues affecting their clientele, levels of frequency with…

The co authors of this article write that their own roles as teacher educators, student advocates, and social movement workers provide motivation for engaging in critical conversations to make sense of education in the era of Trump. They wonder how they should engage pedagogically with their contemporary political movement deep in the heart of…

In this article, Cindy Coe describes how after wrapping up her eighth grade "To Kill a Mockingbird" unit, one of her students came to her about derogatory terms being used around school and expressed that she wanted to do something about it in light of their recent unit. In a meeting with the principal, the student shared her frustration…

This article presents the first systematic review of all the existing peer-reviewed literature (n = 20) on gay and lesbian parents and their children in early childhood education settings. The review includes articles that were empirical or pedagogical practice oriented, focused exclusively on early childhood education (Birth to 5 years), and…

In 2005, the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners in Tampa, Florida, took steps to forbid government support for gay pride events. The issue came under scrutiny when a public library created a gay-themed informational display. When the commissioners learned of the display, they voted overwhelmingly (5 to 1) in favor of a policy prohibiting…

This paper examines the idea of using advertising to facilitate difficult conversations about diversity, politics, race and gender in the classroom. In our current tense political climate, I explore how cultural competence can be developed in the classroom by introducing topics related to diversity through the viewing of Super Bowl 2017…

The Confederate flag has been a hotly debated symbol of heritage or hate in the United States. In 2015, 54 per cent of Americans polled saw the flag as a symbol of 'Southern pride' whereas 34 per cent saw it as racist. However, 27 per cent of Whites compared to 69 per cent of Blacks saw the flag as racist. In this article, I suggest how…

Citizenship education is one of the main aims of the mandated subject of social studies in secondary schools in the Netherlands. Moreover, the learning outcomes of social studies refer to constitutional rights. Internationally, citizenship education and human rights education are considered to be mutually reinforcing. One may, thus, expect that…

This qualitative study sought to explore reasons why social studies teachers chose to teach controversial issues and counternarratives in their classroom in an era where doing so is dangerous for teachers and their job security, and how they go about doing so in their classrooms. The theoretical framework of this study encompassed the notion that…

Ice-breaking discussions around race and personal perspectives can be challenging in any classroom, they also are crucial to cultivating racial consciousness among those espousing that they know better. This provides the groundwork needed to implement--in a non-threatening manner--the creative, alternative methods that will combine students'…

In 2016 an important anniversary is coming up for "The Beutelsbach consensus". It will have its 40th birthday. This consensus is of vital significance for the German dispute and discussion on teaching civics. "The Beutelsbach consensus" contains, and describes three points: (1) Prohibition against overwhelming the student. It…

At our predominantly white university, students often shy away from controversial conversations. How can the classroom encourage students to value and engage in potentially explosive conversations? We develop a concept of "empathic scaffolding" to articulate an approach that integrates diversity and inclusion into the classroom. Empathic…

Faculty at Bethany College, Kansas found that when engaging with controversial topics like social justice, students needed lower-stakes spaces to think--and history and writing, together, provided these needed spaces. When taught in combination, these two subject areas prompted engagement and self-reflection, and the interdisciplinary synergy…