Teaching Controversy

Controversy has become an inescapable aspect of classroom teaching in the twenty-first century. Not only are teachers expected to discuss contentious political policies, unjust historical practices, and violent international conflicts in a variety of subject areas; they often encounter deep ideological divides among students, parents, and other stakeholders. Despite the challenges, teaching controversy can have many benefits, such as improving students' rational and critical thinking skills and increasing empathy and understanding of different views. What do educators need to capitalize on these important advantages, while avoiding the pitfalls of political controversy? What ethical and political conditions should be in place to ensure their success? Offering an interdisciplinary selection of leading scholars and researchers from around the world, Teaching Controversy provides a comprehensive resource on the theory and practice of teaching controversy. It combines educational insights from USA, Europe, and India, and examines the role of controversy in higher education, K-12 education, religious education, and a variety of academic subjects. Further, the volume offers insight into the educational conditions that support civic learning and community-building in the classroom, and those that can undermine these goals. By providing careful theoretical and empirical reflections on the nature and boundaries of controversial issues, Teaching Controversy aims to empower educators to navigate the hazardous political terrain of public schooling, ensuring that controversy serves as a tool for empowering and uplifting democratic education.

Johannes Drerup is Professor of Philosophy of Education and Educational Theory at TU Dortmund University and Guest Professor at Free University of Amsterdam. His research interests include philosophy of education, educational theory, philosophy of childhood, and political and moral philosophy. Dorothee Gronostay is Professor of Didactics of Social Sciences with an emphasis on empirical research in political education at the TU Dortmund University, Germany. Her primary fields of research are video studies in civic education, students' political competencies, and teachers' professional development. Douglas Yacek is a Senior Lecturer of Ethics and Multiculturalism at the University of Applied Sciences for Policing and Public Administration NRW. His research interests include student motivation, educational ethics, moral and democratic education, and the history of educational thought.