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<\/a><\/p>\nFirst and foremost, it is important to identify what \u2018controversial\u2019 means. Students of different ages and levels of maturity will have different definitions, though will consistently accept that the term relates to areas where there are two (or more) opposing sides on an issue. They will often also agree that the sides struggle to accept the perspective of their opponents. When the controversial issue is historic, this tends not to engender an immediately massive emotional response: but the bulk of controversial issues have a modern equivalent, or can prompt comparisons from students.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of controversial issues that come into this category. Apartheid, Arab-Israeli Conflict, Climate Change, Elections, Environmental impact, Genocides, Globalisation, Human Rights, Justice, 9\/11. Poverty, Prejudice, Racism, Reconciliation, Syria, the War on Terror. They all crop up in one guise or another quite frequently. And they affect many students, their loved ones and their communities.<\/p>\n
How do you \u2018teach\u2019 about these relevant issues without \u2018preaching\u2019 or without watering down the significance of issues that are, quite often, incredibly real for students?<\/h3>\nRule 1: Establish the Facts.<\/h4>\n
Whatever the controversial issue, establish, with the class, what the hard facts are. This gives a basis upon which the different political views have been formed and can be referred back to when interpretations are discussed or misconceptions are raised.<\/p>\n
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Example: Bloody Sunday, Northern Ireland, 1972.<\/strong><\/p>\nEstablish the basic facts. The date, location and number of deaths and injured can be established through a variety of teaching methods. That could be as simple as having pupils complete a fact sheet from a variety of different sources. It could add in detail such as why the army were there. Which units. Who was marching on that day. What the stated reasons for the army presence were. What the stated reasons for a march were. These are all facts. They can\u2019t be argued with. They are the basis upon which the controversy is discussed and debated.<\/p>\n
Rule 2: Be objective.<\/h4>\n
With controversial issues there is always the danger that one side of the story will receive more coverage than the other. Planning needs to minimise the risk of that happening. Students may form their own opinion and push questioning down one particular avenue but the teaching and the resources need to present both (all) perspectives in equal measure.<\/p>\n
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Example: Modern Day Poverty<\/strong><\/p>\nUsing the example of the recent Olympics. Show a range of photographs from different parts of Brazil. Have statistics for GDP, Investment, Life Expectancy. Snippets of reports on the availability of clean water alongside adverts for luxury apartments. Information about how wealth has been generated. Information about what is being done to improve favela\u2019s. Extracts from external bodies about the situation.<\/p>\n
Why so much? It may well overwhelm some pupils if just \u2018dumped\u2019 on them but the wide range of information provides the big picture. There will be a contrast between the rich and the poor. However, there will also be enough there to tell the story of how things have developed and what the future holds. It isn\u2019t quite as black and white as just them and us, and students can understand that.<\/p>\n
For political issues such as the US presidential elections or reflections on the EU Referendum and subsequent Brexit vote in the UK could simply make use of flyers, speeches, video clips and newspaper reports to illustrate the arguments being put forward by each side.<\/p>\n
Rule 3: Use the Facts<\/h4>\n
The context differs from one controversial issue to the next. How details of political debate in the United States will be used in a classroom is hugely different to the way in which evidence relating to genocide or war, for example. However, there are several key elements that remain the same.<\/p>\n
The evidence will support a theory, back up an argument, suggest that there is weight to a point of view. This allows classification exercises to be done by students. If there is ample evidence, see above, then this provides lots of factual material and references to be used in extended writing about any of these topics.<\/p>\n
This lends itself to a variety of teaching methods:<\/strong><\/p>\n\u2013 debate
\n\u2013 groupwork
\n\u2013 presentations
\n\u2013 the Thesis \/ Antithesis \/ Synthesis for essay writing
\n\u2013 classification tasks
\n\u2013 sequencing tasks<\/p>\n
How can these work?<\/h4>\n
Debate<\/strong><\/p>\nDebates work well with mature students who can deal with controversial content sensitively. It is essentially putting argument and counter argument forward in verbal form. You can opt for the traditional \u2018sides\u2019 approach or adapt it based on the needs of your class and the nature of the controversy. I personally tend not to opt for a \u2018side\u2019 versus \u2018side\u2019 approach when dealing with controversial topics as it infers that there is a winner. There may be a stronger case presented in your classroom, that is as likely to be down to the strength of personality, or the conviction with which one or more talented orators perform rather than the sheer weight of evidence: it would hardly be controversial if a group of students could whitewash all counter-arguments, would it?<\/p>\n
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My personal preference is to adapt the debate into a trial. Take Climate change. A government or multinational corporation could be subject to a mock trial in the classroom. The evidence could range from \u2018expert\u2019 witness material found in research, through to anecdotal evidence suggesting that the government \/ corporation was, actually, just doing a) what the public wanted and b) what has been going on for years. (That is just an example).<\/p>\n
Debates and trials have their place. Perhaps best left to issues that don\u2019t relate to race or religion as they do tend to have students believing that there is a winner and loser.<\/p>\n
Groupwork<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019ve always liked structured group work for the big and \u2018difficult\u2019 things to teach. Groups of four or five students can be given a range of things to collaboratively research and present findings in a range of ways. In the US a rubric system is common to aid students planning and preparing for this type of task \u2013 I have found it o provide a lot of clarity when dealing with big or controversial issues when teaching in the UK.<\/p>\n
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Multi-Media Presentations<\/strong><\/p>\nThe topics may be controversial but I don\u2019t believe that this necessitates the removal of creativity from students\u2019 work and demonstration of their understanding. Many charities and non governmental organisations use film and the media to get their messages about controversial topics across, so why not allow students to do the same? Granted, this takes some setting up, appropriate ICT facilities and quite possibly a lot of storage space on the server for film clips, audio files and music.<\/p>\n
The Thesis \/ Antithesis \/ Synthesis for essay writing<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen discussing the teaching of controversial topics on twitter, I was reminded of this method. It is one that I am very familiar with as it was used extensively throughout my own A-Level lessons as a student, at University and became a part and parcel of the way that I taught essay writing. The tweet below has a link to a detailed outline of the model. While the examples in the page are not controversial issues per se, it is easy to see how the model can be utilised.<\/p>\n
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