Research suggests that Swedish secondary school biology teachers experience challenges in providing students with discussion of controversial issues. They conceive lack of knowledge in methodology and content matter of relevance. This raises the importance of managing controversial issues in Swedish biology classrooms. Little is known about biology teacher students’ perceptions of controversial issues in Sweden. This study explores what a group of teacher students perceive as central in managing controversial issues and what makes them feel prepared to meet these issues in educational settings. 8 students from a southern Swedish University were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed 4 key themes: emotive, strategies, experience, and responsibility. This degree project demonstrates the great importance that teacher students conceive of the role of controversial issues in biology education. More need is asked of strategy development to be able to feel well prepared when dealing with controversial issues in the future teacher role. Future research should focus on perceptions in larger scale studies comparing differences regarding sex/gender, teacher educations’, programmes’ and classes’.

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Hur hanterar samhällskunskapslärare kontroversiella politiska frågor i undervisningen och vilka svårigheter finns det med det? Vilken roll intar läraren i klassrummet och vad har det för betydelse i fostransuppdraget enligt lärarna? Denna studie undersöker vad sex samhällskunskapslärare verksamma i Helsingborgs kommun har för förhållningssätt till kontroversiella frågor inom politik. Metoden i arbetet utgår från en kvalitativ studie där dels observationer och dels intervjuer har nyttjats med avseende att undersöka problemområdet. Flera olika komponenter har använts för att analysera resultatet av vår insamlade empiri. Slutsatsen är att lärare hanterar kontroversiella politiska frågor i undervisningssituationer på skilda sätt. Svårigheter ligger främst i att låta alla elever få uttrycka sig utan att gå utanför värdegrunden eller att kontroversiella frågor behandlas på ett sätt som någon elev upplever som kränkande. Studien visar även exempel på vilka olika roller och förhållningssätt som finns och vad de har för betydelse när en tar sig an kontroversiella frågor. Det som framgår i denna studie är att det inte finns någon konsensus i hur läraren ska vara. Avslutningsvis tyder studien på att kontroversiella politiska frågor inte bör undvikas, även om det är något som ofta anses vara komplext att ta upp i undervisningssammanhang. Detta eftersom det är en bidragande faktor till att eleverna utvecklas till förstående och goda samhällsmedborgare. / How do social science teachers handle controversial political issues in their teaching and how are those difficulties affecting their ways of teaching? What kind of role does the teacher adapt into while entering the classroom and what does teachers in general think of the fostering assignment that has been given to them? This study investigates what approach six social science teachers in the municipality of Helsingborg think of controversial policy issues in the classroom. The method of this study is based on a qualitative study where observations and interviews are the main sources to the following investigation in the problematic area. Several different components have been used to analyse the results of our collected empirical data. The conclusion is that teachers handle controversial political issues in their teaching situations in different ways. Difficulties mainly arises within situations where student are encouraged to unreservedly express themselves without violating anyone or when controversial issues are dealt in ways that students experiences as offensive. The survey contains examples of different roles and approaches and the effects after dealing with controversial issues. A conclusion of the survey is that there is no consensus on how the teacher should act. In assumption, the survey suggests, despite the fact that controversial political issues are often considered as a complex area in educational contexts, they are not to be avoided. This is because it is a contributing factor in the students developing process of becoming understanding and good citizens in our society.

Controversial issues are inevitable in today’s history classrooms and, therefore, history teachers must be able to handle them. Thus, this paper aims to provide knowledge about controversial issues in history teaching. To do this, a systematic review is used to answer which issues history teachers and pupils perceive as controversial, why controversial issues should be taught, which history teachers avoid or teach controversial issues, and how history teachers can go about teaching them. Firstly, the results show that immigration and history teachers and pupils’ backgrounds can make issues controversial. Secondly, the findings highlight that controversial issues should be taught since they can develop democratic values among pupils and foster critical thinking. Thirdly, history teachers teach controversial issues if they are supported, want their pupils to criticize the nation’s past, and value the benefits of such teaching. Contrary, history teachers avoid controversial issues if they aren’t supported, worry that controversial issues can threaten the national image, fear strong reactions from their pupils, and when they doubt their ability to deal with multiple perspectives. Lastly, the results demonstrate that when teaching controversial issues, history teachers should use their own and their pupils’ experiences, allow pupils to express their emotions, and thoroughly explain the connection between past and present. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of use of history, collective memory, teacher agency and, finally, the Swedish national curriculum.

The aim of the present thesis is to determine whether the Tea Party candidatesʼ attitudes towards selected controversial issues influenced their electoral success and the success of the Tea Party movement as a whole. The thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and empirical. In the theoretical part the author focuses on the historical perspective of the political and party system in the United States of America, bipartism and position of third parties in the system. It also includes a brief analysis of the Democratic and Republican parties. Next, the author examines the Tea Party phenomenon - its genesis, structure, purposes and ideals. The subsequent section deals with three controversial issues, i.e. abortion, LGBT rights, and race, which reflect an ideological cleavage among the american public. The empirical part presents a case study entitled The influence of controversial issues on the (non)success of the Tea Party candidates, which deals with attitudes of the House and Senate Tea Party candidates who won the 2010 congressional elections towards the above- mentioned controversial issues.

In a world characterized by constant changes and increasing diversity, controversialevents unfold in society on a daily basis. Given the School's role in educating democraticcitizens, it is imperative for educational institutions to adapt and incorporate current andcontroversial topics into their curriculum. This thesis explores the perspectives of socialstudies teachers on controversial issues in the classroom. Employing a phenomenologicalapproach and conducting in-depth interviews with social studies teachers, the studyanalyzes their subjective experiences, definitions of the subject, and approaches toteaching controversial topics. Therefore, our purpose and research questions are groundedin three themes, which are also pervasive throughout the work: Teacher management,teacher experience, and teacher definition of controversial issues in education.In summary, the results from our interview study reveal that teachers acknowledge theemotional impact associated with these issues, a finding supported by prior research. Thechallenge lies in the complexity of these topics and the ability to strike a balance betweenintellectual challenge and emotional understanding. The study highlights the difficultyteachers face in maintaining objectivity while navigating through their own values, andthe intricate interplay between subject content, emotions, and the teacher's ownperspective. It is evident that a conscious effort is required to create a classroomatmosphere that fosters open dialogues and respectful confrontations to promotedemocratic values, where diverse perspectives can be included.

This study aims to obtain a deeper understanding of upper secondary teachers’ didactical choiceswhen teaching about controversial or sensitive topics; and what the challenges and possibilities arewithin a subject. Controversial and sensitive topics are a part of our everyday life. This study wantstherefore to contribute to the understanding of what can be regarded as controversial or sensitive intoday’s classrooms. To do this we carried out qualitative interviews with semi-structured questionswhich allowed openness in possible follow-up questions. Five civics teachers were interviewed, theirviews recorded, and transcribed. An inductive approach was initially taken when analysing thetranscripts. The three didactical questions what, why, and how, were used as a guide when coding thetranscription. In addition, the data was conceptualised, and themes were identified. These themeswere then used as markers for the result and discussion. The teachers' statements aligned with whatprevious research told us. All teachers interviewed identified at least one controversy, and stated theyfelt positively about their use in schools to aid students in learning. These included recently emergingtopics such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine, national party politics, LGBTQI+, andvictimology. The topics could be used as a tool to give perspective to the information flow in societyand social media surrounding the students. Discussions were also deemed as important whenhandling matters that could cause the class distress. The teachers often used their own or others’ pastexperiences with a subject when handling a topic, often with the students' possible connection andbackground in mind. Even though they found the student’s relation to the subject to be the toughestchallenge and not the topic itself. The teachers' beliefs were that nuancing the subject and discussionsabout controversial and sensitive topics are vital in civic education. / <p>Godkänd 2024-01-19</p>

Discussing controversial issues in the classroom is important. Through discussing controversial issues students can both learn and develop a more democratic ethos. The teachers in Sweden have a clear task to defend and mediate democratic values to the students. This leads to a conflict in the duty of the teacher because the curriculum also dictates that teachers have to let the students develop a sense of critical thinking and this opens up for potential criticism of the concept of democracy when students discuss controversial issues. Another conflict in the curriculum that appears when discussing controversial issues is the fact that teachers both have to respect the student’s opinions but also have a duty to challenge these opinions. That is why the aim of this essay is to analyse how social science teachers handle controversial issues in the classroom. The study was conducted by interviewing four social sciences teachers at high school level.   The result shows that teachers see controversial issues as issues that relate to human beings and that the discussion of these issues can arouse emotions and make the participants emotional. Further the result shows that teachers have a very open mind towards controversial issues and are open to discussing anti-democratic issues. In ensuring that the discussion of controversial issues leads to learning teachers mostly use strategies that ensure that student feel comfortable to express their opinions. In handling the above mentioned curricular conflicts that appear in the discussion of controversial issues three of four teachers saw that such a conflict existed. The other three gave answers that suggested that they did not think the conflict was so problematic and that their strategies for handling it where effective.

Detta arbete syftar till att bidra med kunskap om undervisning i kontroversiella frågor på skolor med en hög andel elever med utländsk bakgrund. Mer precist syftar arbetet till att synliggöra hur och varför lärarna låter kontroversiella frågor utgöra en del av undervisningen samt hur lärarna beskriver sin roll i undervisningssituationen och varför de väljer att göra på så sätt. För att svara på detta görs intervjuer med sex högstadielärare i de samhällsorienterade ämnena. Två utgångspunkter för undersökningen är att olika frågor upplevs som kontroversiella baserat på individens kultur, tro och identitet samt att lärarnas didaktiska överväganden påverkas av elevgruppens bakgrund och situation. Två analysverktyg nyttjas i syfte att sortera in lärarnas svar i olika kategorier där deras didaktiska överväganden behandlas. Resultatet pekar resultatet på att det inte finns någon generell preferens bland lärarna på dessa skolor att anta ett särskilt förhållningssätt till undervisning i kontroversiella frågor men att samtliga lärare delvis utgår från elevernas bakgrund i deras didaktiska överväganden kring undervisning i kontroversiella frågor. / This paper aims to contribute with knowledge about teaching controversial issues in schools with students of foreign background. Concretely the aim is to showcase how and why teachers teach controversial issues aswell as how and why teachers teach in a specific way when they teach controversial issues in the classroom. To answer this six interviews with secondary school teachers in the subjects of social studies, religion, history and geography is carried out. The premiss in this paper is that different issues are considerd controversial by individuals of different age, culture, faith, and identity, and also that teachers make different considerations in their teaching based on the students background and situation. Two analytical tools are used to sort different answers in to categories where the teachers considerations are brought up. The result of the study shows that there are no clear preferences among the teachers as to how controversial issues should be handled. However, the reslut also shows that all teachers base many of their considerations on the students background and situation and there are some preferences as to why controversial issues should be handled.