Should curriculum address controversial issues?
As we have found in the first two cycles of this course, the questions posed to us which appear to be simple and straight forward do not have simple answers.
To answer this question, first, one might have to broaden his/her scope of curriculum beyond what is taught explicitly within the framework of a given subject area. While we may address controversial issues directly within a course of study, I would imagine that I would be hard pressed to find a teacher today who has not had to help a child with some type of conflict resolution. Certainly, the way we deal with these situations sends direct and indirect messages to our students. Second, while I do believe that schools need to address controversial issues, I also believe that when determining which issues should be addressed and the depth to which the issues are addressed must be tempered by consideration of a few important factors.
The first consideration is the needs of the community. There are many issues which deserve our attention, but it is simply not feasible for schools/teachers to attempt to address all of them, at least not to a level which would provide for anything more than surface discussion/mention. Therefore, I feel that the issues which should be given the most focus in our schools are those which are most important to the members of the school community. Please do not misinterpret this statement to mean that I believe students should not have to look outside of their personal worlds’ to take notice of, understand, and take appropriate action regarding the issues facing the world. However, I think that we will be most effective in creating positive change if we put the bulk of our emphasis on the topics with which our students have immediate connection. Doing this would mean each school would be responsible for determining and understanding the needs of the families which they serve. It would also mean that different schools within a district may have to individualize aspect of their curriculum, and perhaps change it from year to year, based on those needs.
The second consideration is the age and/or the experiences of the learners. While some very difficult topics may need to be addressed at all age levels, it is my feeling that the manner in which they are addressed can be adjusted. For example, the two issues featured in our readings this week might look different depending on the age-level of the students. Presentations and discussions may need to be further adjusted based on the students’ experience with and/or exposure to the topic. The topics of prejudices against homosexuality and HIV/AIDS which were the center our readings are certainly issues worthy our time and attention. However, because they are tied to the topic of human sexuality it may be necessary to temper the information shared and discussed based on the learners. Most elementary teachers, especially those in the early elementary years K-2/3 aren’t completely comfortable addressing sexuality with their students. This is the case mostly because we don’t know to what degree those topics have been addressed or discussed at home. However, if students come to me with honest questions or concerns, I don’t want to ignore their sincere quest for understanding. I do want to preserve the innocence of childhood, but I do not want to turn a blind eye to the questions and concerns of the students in my class. This is where things get sticky.
I found it interesting that most of the readings from this week did not really address a major factor in how comfortable a teacher is with addressing controversial topics within the classroom. While some of the readings did make some mention, there was not a lot of discussion surrounding how teacher fear of parental reaction impacts how controversial issues are addressed in schools. At one point, Silin mentions the, “shadow of the school-family struggle” to explain the real reason for a parent’s concern surrounding HIV education. I think struggle is still very prevalent in our schools today. On the one hand, some parents are more than happy to have schools support the teaching of morality. However, from one family to the next, what is deemed appropriate is different. What one family would want us to avoid another would like us to expound upon. Often, fear of being persecuted for doing or saying the wrong thing makes us hesitant to say anything at all. As was noted in several places during this cycle, even this silence can send a message of acceptance or condemnation to a student.
Tackling Controversial Issues in my School
During this cycle, the topic to which I connected the most was the issue of bullying. Bullying is a “hot-button” issue in my district. It is an issue over which the parents have expressed concern and the district has taken notice. Early in September, each school had a special assembly for students, a separate professional development session for teachers, and an additional parent informational meeting all on the subject of bullying preventions and interventions. We were taught how to determine true bullying from other inappropriate behaviors. We were shown how to intercede when we are witness to or are told about instances of bullying or conflict. We looked at the roles of victims and victimizers but also at the roles of bystanders. (Follow these links to learn more about identifying bullying and prevention and intervention. What is bullying? What is not? Training Notes: Stopbullying.gov )
It was very in-depth and enlightening, and for a while, I think the kids were really in tuned to looking out for one another. However, as time has gone by, the kids have forgotten much of what they have learned. Yes, this is due in part to me. I should have done more to make what was explored in September part of our everyday language. I put the posters up and for weeks at morning meeting we referred to them or other ways of making the school a better place for all. Yet now, though we have done other things to promote good character, they have forgotten a good deal of the strategies they learned a few short months ago. I wonder what message I sent them by not continuing to emphasize the importance of the learning in that avenue. After this cycle, I am going to make a concerted effort to touch back upon what has been learned to better support my students when they are facing a difficult situation be it as a victim or a witness.
In addition, I am also about to begin a project with my students which I hope will address some difficult topics and also help to build good character skills. Essentially, I am tapping into service learning a bit for this. (What is service learning? ) With this project, the students will begin by completing a survey to determine which children’s health issues are most important. The survey will be sent home as tool for discussion with parents, the idea being that the students and parents will have a real conversation about what issues are important to their families. Beginning the conversation at home will also allow for some misconceptions on the issue to be cleared and in-depth questions to be developed. The hope is that it will also help create relevance and interest. When each student has completed the survey/discussion, they will choose an issue to research. Since they are free to select any topic which falls under the umbrella of kid’s health, it is possible that one or more students may select a controversial or difficult topic. Some students may focus on childhood diabetes or the need for healthy school lunches, but others may want to learn more about bullying or autism.
In addition to any questions they have, they search for answers to questions like who is affected by the issue, how it impacts those people and the students themselves, which organizations are connected to the topic, and what are some ways that people can get involved or make a difference. They will then take what they have learned to create a PSA on the iPad which can be shared with others in the community to encourage them to get involved. It is my hope that this project will help students understand that they are part of the world around them and that they can make a positive difference.
Additional resources:
Bullying info for educators http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-you-can-do/educators/index.html
Richard Paul http://www.richardpaul.com/blog/
Anti-bullying songs http://bullyingpreventionnow.com/anti-bullying-songs/
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI would first like to thank you very much for insightful comments regarding the topic for this cycle. Your approach to thoughts and comments on this topic was well organized and presented. It is clear you were able to take some of the topics from the readings and critically engage them into your own teaching, which is very interesting to see from another teacher.
The considerations for teaching controversial topics in the classroom you mentioned were very important. I think the second consideration that you mentioned was critical to having any controversial topics be meaningful in the classroom. How students will respond and what they will “take away” from the teaching are critical components whenever a teacher is thinking about addressing a controversial topic. I did not address this concept in my writing for this week, but this stood as an important reminder to me to think about as a component of teaching controversial topics. Thank you for addressing it.
Another aspect that you addressed, which I did not, was the comfort of the teacher on the controversial topic. I found this section very important from the readings this week and in the way you included it into your thoughts as well. When you discussed Sillin’s “struggle” between teacher and parental oversight many personal experiences ran through my mind. This is a very complicated aspect of teaching and especially when dealing with any controversial subject. Although I do not have any statistical data, I think many teachers are afraid of potential backlash from any perceived controversy in their classroom. Especially troubling is the issue that teachers will ignore a potentially controversial issue in the classroom and by their own silence, unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally) provide students a perspective about that topic.
Teachers must be very careful when deciding to “teach” a controversial topic for a variety of reasons. You brought up many of them in your writing. Something that you did not mention but I thought about during this cycle was the implications of teachers who choose to avoid controversy in their classrooms. I do believe educators have the responsibility to challenge students, if the topic is deemed important to the curricular goals. Although in today’s climate of teacher evaluation I fear many teachers will shy from any controversy, if a topic is important to your course, it should be appropriate taught.
Finally I wanted to comment on your personal experiences discussed about the bullying program at your school. I think this is great to hear that other places are doing this type of work (my district is as well), but more importantly getting the teachers to buy into the concept to impact the students is critical to having the program be successful, I hope it works well for the students in your district. I also think your project is a fantastic concept. I would be very interested to see how students respond to it, what they accomplish, and what impact it has on the students and/or the school community at your school. It is reassuring to see a teacher who wants to challenge students in a positive way to impact their own world. Keep it up.
Thanks for writing,
Jeff Richards
Hi Maria,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post and the dialogue it started. I agree with Jeff that this is an awesomely written and thoughtful post.
I really liked the way your organized your post, and your three suggested points to keep in mind when dealing with controversial issues. Let me respond to each of them.
First, community needs. I think you are right on target. We have to be responsive to what we see around us. Otherwise, we risk divorcing school experience from life experience, and risk making school look irrelevant to "real life." Personally, I don't see this so much as about opinions as about facts. If the local community is a food dessert, I think topics on healthy food are so important (and bigger questions about why supermarkets won't locate in poor neighborhoods). If AIDS is a concern, then I think we have to hit it. My own rule of thumb is that I want to be out in front of the community, but only a bit. If I get too out in front, I lose credibility. If I lag too much, I am not making my community a better place to live. In my own teaching, I found parents mostly gave me the benefit of the doubt, once I had established my loyalty to the place where I worked and lived.
I agree that age matters. But I would say, following Silin, that age is only a rough proxy for life experience. It's true that most kindergarteners don't know much about sex. But I'm sure we can imagine a classroom where that is not true. In that case, I would worry, personally, less about an abstract notion of "developmentally appropriate," and more about what the kids in my class really know and have experienced. I think we are on the same page there.
I agree that teacher fear is a big deal, especially now that tenure is going away. How do we preserve some form of academic freedom for teachers? That is the big issue for me going forward.
Ultimately, I don't think we can avoid some things. Larissa, a kindergarten teacher in our class, says she corrects her students (sometimes) when she hears them say that two men can't get married/live together. That is taking a pretty active stance. It's also one that could stir up controversy. As a parent, I appreciate that, but I know not everyone would.
I think your own approach in the service learning project combines a lot of what I just said above. Ultimately, I would love each local school to become a repository of data on the health (broadly defined--civic health, social health, environmental health, physical health) of the local community. Clearly, you are taking steps in that direction.
What a great post!
Thanks!
Kyle