Shaping New Aims and Practices of Teaching Controversial Issues in Response to Conservative Critics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10801123 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sarah M Stitzlein (0000-0002-2486-2831, University of Cincinnati, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 45-67 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Philosophy and Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0039-3746 • E-ISSN: 1573-191X |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11217-024-09961-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4403143386 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 39 |
While the teaching of controversial issues has generally been supported by schools and education scholars, new laws and public outcry have impacted whether and how controversial issues are taught. Calls to ban or limit teaching of controversial issues have largely been spurred by conservative parents, policymakers, and political groups. Some teachers and many education scholars are deeply concerned and want to preserve teaching about controversial issues. This situation suggests that inquiry is needed into changes in the educational aims held and practices endorsed by various stakeholders. This article reconsiders the aims used to justify teaching controversial issues and situates them within larger understandings of good citizenship, revealing important differences in the explanations and values endorsed by opposing groups. It categorizes the aims more generally held by teachers, philosophers of education, and citizenship education scholars as: reasoning, engaging, communicating, and sustaining democratic communities. Then, those aims are compared to aims circulating within the discourse of opposing parents, policymakers, and political organizations. Finally, this article argues that pragmatic adjustments to educational aims held by many teachers and education scholars are both warranted and wise. It provides potential ways to better justify the teaching of controversial issues, including through approaches that more strongly ground teaching in American principles, historical examples, and a commitment to living together well
Engineering ethics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Higher education · Pedagogy · Philosophy of education · Political science · Sociology · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Engineering · Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences · Law · Philosophy · Service-Learning and Community Engagement
Two Concepts of Civility
Controversy in the Classroom
What Should We Teach as Controversial? A Defense of the Epistemic Criterion
Teaching and Learning about Controversial Issues and Topics in the Social Studies
Discussion and inquiry
An Empirical Moral Philosophy Perspective on Classroom Discussions of Controversial Issues
Teaching Politics in Secondary Education
The Political Classroom
Conflict in the Classroom
Contemporary Discourses of Citizenship
Talking to Strangers
Cultivating Humanity
Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools
Teaching to discuss controversial public issues in fragile times
Thinking Controversially
Teaching Controversial Issues
Trying to “See Things Differently”
Why teachers address unplanned controversial issues in the classroom
Exploring the emotional dynamics of a political discussion
The Teaching of Controversial Issues During Elementary-Level History Instruction
Divisive Concepts in Classrooms
Public Discourses in Schools
Educating for Democracy in a Partisan Age
Voice in the Classroom
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |