Controversy, as a vital principle of democracy, plays a central role in education for critical democratic global citizenship. Controversial issues, however, raise pedagogical challenges for teachers in that they are not only explicitly political, but also potentially threatening to the reproduction of status quo ideals and embedded national narratives – themselves keystones of citizenship education. The findings from this dissertation study report survey data on teachers’ attitudes toward teaching controversial issues from 202 Canadian teachers, as well as findings from interviews conducted with 16 Alberta teachers about how their multiple identities, and those of their students, intersect with their attitudes toward teaching controversial issues. The findings are discussed against indicators of critical democratic global citizenship education (CDGCE) which I advance in the thesis following from my investigation into the relationship between critical theory of a) democracy, b) globalization, and c) education. I engage the findings through the lens of critique and possibility and the reproduction and interruption of hegemonic discourse. Read through this lens, I found that hegemonic discourses of neutrality and universalism are being both reproduced and interrupted in complex ways that do affirm, but mostly refute, the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization. Discourses of neutrality and universalism are being reproduced through insidious practices that affirm difference-blind and blank slate ideals and these need responding to. These have implications for how students in Canadian classrooms may be being prepared for critical democratic global citizenship education. Despite the misguided emphasis on the danger of teachers’ expressing extreme views in dominant discourses of education that question the place of controversial issues in school, I argue that the greater threat to deepening democracy is not teachers who express extreme views; it is curriculum and teachers who do not question familiar ones. In turn, I call for critical discursive and reflexive practices for teaching and learning with controversial issues that foreground identity, difference, and feelings as explicit material for learning. Finally, I delineate specific recommendations that are crucial responses for realizing the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization.

Controversy, as a vital principle of democracy, plays a central role in education for critical democratic global citizenship. Controversial issues, however, raise pedagogical challenges for teachers in that they are not only explicitly political, but also potentially threatening to the reproduction of status quo ideals and embedded national narratives – themselves keystones of citizenship education. The findings from this dissertation study report survey data on teachers’ attitudes toward teaching controversial issues from 202 Canadian teachers, as well as findings from interviews conducted with 16 Alberta teachers about how their multiple identities, and those of their students, intersect with their attitudes toward teaching controversial issues. The findings are discussed against indicators of critical democratic global citizenship education (CDGCE) which I advance in the thesis following from my investigation into the relationship between critical theory of a) democracy, b) globalization, and c) education. I engage the findings through the lens of critique and possibility and the reproduction and interruption of hegemonic discourse. Read through this lens, I found that hegemonic discourses of neutrality and universalism are being both reproduced and interrupted in complex ways that do affirm, but mostly refute, the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization. Discourses of neutrality and universalism are being reproduced through insidious practices that affirm difference-blind and blank slate ideals and these need responding to. These have implications for how students in Canadian classrooms may be being prepared for critical democratic global citizenship education. Despite the misguided emphasis on the danger of teachers’ expressing extreme views in dominant discourses of education that question the place of controversial issues in school, I argue that the greater threat to deepening democracy is not teachers who express extreme views; it is curriculum and teachers who do not question familiar ones. In turn, I call for critical discursive and reflexive practices for teaching and learning with controversial issues that foreground identity, difference, and feelings as explicit material for learning. Finally, I delineate specific recommendations that are crucial responses for realizing the promise of education for deepening democracy under conditions of globalization.

Denna uppsats har undersökt syftet om hur lärare ska arbeta med kontroversiella frågor i undervisningen i ämnet samhällskunskap. Undersökningen har utgått ifrån vetenskapliga didaktiska teorier med fokus på den didaktiska triangeln med grundfrågorna vad, hur och varför.

The council of Europe have declared the teaching of controversial issues a matter of educational urgency and therein presenting teachers with the difficult task of teaching these issues to pupils. This paper aims to provide an understanding of which kinds of issues are considered controversial to teach in social science classes in Swedish middle schools. Through the presenting of six interviews with seven middle school teachers, this paper will help to provide insight into some of the issues and challenges middle school teachers face whilst teaching these issues. Teachers are faced with didactic challenges involved with presenting these controversial issues to pupils in order to present a wider range of viewpoints and help give a deeper understanding of the issues presented. This paper will also show how controversial issues in Swedish middle schools are generally the same issues as in society as a whole, that is to say, mostly concerning politics and religion.

Syftet med det här examensarbetet är att belysa, undersöka och försöka förklara hur internationella relationer framställs i olika samhällskunskapsböcker under två olika tidsperioder. Syftet är samhällskunskapsdidaktiskt eftersom det är meningen att läromedlet samhällskunskapsboken ska spegla samhället och den värld vi lever i under en viss tidsperiod. Det valda läromedlet är av stor betydelse för undervisningen i ämnet samhällskunskap. För att läromedlet ska kunna uppfylla de krav som ställs på undervisningen är det viktigt att välja det bästa läromedlet som svarar mot dessa undervisningskrav. Läromedelsanalysen av hur internationella relationer framställs i olika läroböcker under två olika tidsperioder är tematisk. Till min hjälp för detta examensarbete och undersökning har jag använt mig av fyra samhällskunskapsböcker från två olika tidsperioder och två kursplaner för ämnet samhällskunskap för dessa tidsperioder. Resultaten visar på att alla fyra läroböcker uppfyller respektive läroplans kriterier och riktlinjer. När jag ser till resultaten från den tematiska analysen jag gjort och relaterar dessa till när de olika läroböckerna skrevs så kan vi se att innehållet i lärobokstexterna förändras över tid beroende på vilka utrikespolitiska förhållanden som råder i världen. När jag relaterar resultaten till ”teaching controversial issues education” så visar dessa resultat på att det finns stora möjligheter för lärare i samhällskunskap att undervisa om aktuella händelser och kontroversiella samhällsproblem samt vikten av att lärare tränar elever på att diskutera ochförstå exempelvis olika internationella eller ideologiska perspektiv.

The purpose of this study was to understand how secondary level United States History teachers approached controversial issues in their standards-based, high-stakes testing classrooms. Controversial issues consisted of multiple points of view, were socially constructed, and had the potential to challenge belief systems. The audience and their perception of a topic determined the degree of controversy. The questions explored were what factors did secondary level United States History teachers identify as influential in creating controversy in their classrooms and how did they introduce what they considered controversial issues into their standards-based, high-stakes testing classrooms? To answer these questions, twelve secondary level teachers who taught 6th, 7th, or 11th grade United States History participated in this study. Information was garnered through interviews of individuals and focus groups. Some participants provided resources used in their lessons and scenarios of their teaching experiences. My principle findings were: • Place played a role in teachers' willingness to incorporate controversial issues into their classrooms. This was due to students' preconceived notions developed by their geographical location and family. • The experiences of teachers and students influenced discussion of controversial issues. This included how long the teacher had taught the content or past experiences with parents and administrators. Students' experiences were derived from their family and community, which influenced incorporation of controversial issues. • Teachers were influenced by the standards they were required to teach. Though some saw these as a restriction in teaching, others used them as a springboard to what they perceived as deeper, meaningful teaching. / Ph. D.

Denna studie bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med verksamma samhällskunskapslärare angående kontroversiella frågor i samhällskunskapsundervisningen. Bland respondenterna arbetar vissa lärare på yrkesinriktade och andra på studieförberedande gymnasieskolor. Resultatet visar att respondenterna ställer sig positiva till att arbeta med kontroversiella frågor, samtidigt som de uppfattar det som ett svårt ämne. Samtliga respondenter har erfarenheter av kontroverser som uppstått i klassrummet och har därför fått arbeta aktivt med kontrovershantering. I studien klargörs vad kontroversiella frågor är, hur man kan arbeta med det i klassrummet samt vad de tillfrågade anser vara viktigt i det arbetet. Detta kopplas till internationella forskningsresultat såväl som svenska. / This study is based on qualitive research interviews with actively working teachers in the subject civics about controversial issues in civics education. Among the respondents some work in labour-oriented upper secondary schools and others work in preparatory upper secondary schools. The result indicates that the respondents are positive about the work with controversial issues, meanwhile viewing it as a difficult topic. All of the respondents have experiences from controversial issues that has risen in the classroom, and therefore been dealing actively with controversial issues management. In the study the term controversial issues is clarified as well as how to deal with it in the classroom and what the respondents view as important in the process. This is connected to international as well as Swedish research findings.

No description available.

This qualitative study investigates how the views of student leaders (and some of their staff advisors) illuminate the discussion in the broader literature around issues of student leadership, conflict, diversity and social justice in secondary schools. Eighteen one-hour, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve student leaders and six teachers from six provinces across Canada. This study contributes to educational research by considering the ways student leaders (rather than adult administrators) can impact social justice. While students envision their leadership role in terms of social justice with the goals of inclusion and societal change in mind, the present schooling structure, established expectations and strategies chosen for initiatives often hinder the realization of such a role. Schools also seem to avoid local controversial issues by encouraging student leaders to focus on international concerns. This study explores opportunities for schools to address equity issues through reconceptualizing student leadership and its goals.

The focus of the thesis is set on the controversial issues connected with a legal institute of Czech criminal law called "self-defence", and how these controversial issues were dealt with within judicial practice. The first chapter serves as an introduction to the whole topic. The second chapter describes the concept of self-defence, as well as its prerequisites. The self- defence was classed into the system of criminal law. The goal of the third chapter is to define preconditions which are necessary in connection with application of the self-defence institute. The main parts of this chapter describe firstly attacking, first of all and secondly defence. Subsections of this chapter analyse the term of attacking itself, the attacker and his characteristics, the term of harmfulness of such attacks towards society. As for the second part of the third chapter it focuses on the defence itself, its proportionality etc. The fourth chapter is about the role of judicial practice within the context of Czech legal system. This chapter serves as a relevant contribution to the main part of the thesis, which is chapter five. Chapter five introduces specific cases, especially those which were at some point controversial. The specific case is briefly described and the controversial issue is named and further...