Q&A: Addressing controversy in the classroom

I sat down with Julie Keane, head of research at VIF International Education, to discuss ways to effectively approach controversy in the classroom. Implementing local investigations, examining current events, studying world religions and many other topics can lead to controversial discussions — Keane offers her perspective on what to do and what not to do when addressing controversy in the classroom.

How do you define “controversy in the classroom”?

Controversy in the classroom is really talking about difficult issues. Almost every topic, from slavery to North Carolina’s history, can quickly lead to discussions where there’s not a set opinion or consensus, and helping kids and teachers navigate different topics through discussion is so important. Controversy is often glossed over in the classroom because of nervousness on the adult’s part. It’s understandable. Parents and guardians may get upset, so schools avoid it. But students are going to see controversial issues everywhere — whether on TV or social media — so if controversy isn’t dealt with in their educational settings, students won’t be equipped with the tools and understanding to build solid arguments.

Why is bringing controversy into the classroom important?

I am a firm believer that the role of education is to educate kids not just for jobs, but for citizenry. We have to prepare kids to live in a democratic society so that they can live as political actors, have opinions about important issues and vote. Controversy in the classroom covers talking about current events which students need to investigate in school to understand and be prepared to live in a democratic, pluralistic society.

Why do teachers fear controversy in the classroom?

Standing in front of a class can be a scary proposition. A lot of teachers really want to maintain order. The fear is that once you unleash kids’ opinions, it will quickly spiral away from that order.

Some teachers don’t want to provoke sensitive parents or community members. But if these are issues that students will one day be voting on, then they have every right to discuss and form opinions around them. Promoting inquiry in the classroom, by definition, means facilitating open-ended questioning. You have to be prepared for kids to ask difficult questions.

How do you address controversy in the classroom in a respectful, thoughtful way?

The first thing I recommend for teachers is to create a trusted environment. Establish at the beginning of the school year that these are things that are going to be talked about. They’re domains of human knowledge that don’t have answers. Students are bored in school because they think, “these are just dusty old textbooks that we have to memorize because that’s what you’re supposed to do.” But the fact is that almost everything in those books is still being investigated, and they should be treated as open topics of investigation. At the beginning of the school year, make sure students know learning isn’t about memorizing historical dates or the steps of scientific process. Local investigations are great methods to engage students and build knowledge. We’ve included tools in our local investigations guidebook to help teachers implement them.

Being respectful is clearly a key factor when addressing controversy in the classroom. Make sure students know that there are rules of conduct in class discussions. There should be a focus on respectful listening. If students disagree with something, teach them to explain their arguments with facts. When you watch political debates today, it’s unfortunate that the behavior you see is disrespectful. Students themselves should understand that these are terrible examples of what counts as political debate. It all ties back to providing students with a trusted environment and place of respect.

What are some examples of controversies that could be addressed successfully in the classroom?

It isn’t fair to students to pretend that they aren’t seeing or hearing about major social events or news topics outside of the classroom. Figuring out the right way to address these things without being over inflammatory is critical. There are a lot of great examples of teachers talking about issues like the “Black Lives Matter” movement, the ongoing fight for gay rights and even controversy regarding environmental changes and availability of resources. Here are resources teachers can use in their classrooms:

• Black Cloud: Environmental Studies Gaming: A school in south central Los Angeles was using an environmental sensor that detected air quality around the city when they discovered the most toxic environment was their own classroom. This project started as a way for students to learn about conducting an environmental study in their local community, but resulted in the students reaching out to community members and school leaders to make a change. Read here about how the students responded and how controversy was handled.
• Discussion-based Teaching and Handling Controversial Topics in the Classroom: The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan reported that discussions build students’ problem-solving skills more effectively than do lectures. Check out their tips and resources on how to approach controversy in the classroom.

Julie Keane, Ph.D., leads research and evaluation for all VIF programs, contributes to professional development curriculum design and is a key contributor to the development of VIF’s digital badging system.

To learn more about harnessing students’ curiosity about the world around them, download the Let Students Lead guidebook.