The research aims to investigate the responses of teachers and learners in a particular rural context to a chapter from a South African English First Additional Language textbook which is currently being developed for commercial publication. The activities and content of the chapter aim to encourage learners to think critically about power relations in teenage relationships. The material was used in two classes of Grade 11 English learners by two English teachers from the same school. Data from classroom observations, from learners’ writing and from interviews with teachers and learners was analysed in order to respond to a series of questions which focus on teachers’ and learners’ responses to a theme which was assumed to be a sensitive and controversial one and responses to the design features of the material. Firstly, the theme appeared not to be considered sensitive or controversial by either teachers or learners. Secondly, the teachers ignored almost completely the pedagogic design of the materials and in doing so negatively affected opportunities for learners to learn. Possible explanations for both findings are discussed.

The focus of this study was to understand my experiences of teaching sensitive topics in my professional capacity, as a female beginner teacher who has an Islamic upbringing and strong religious views according to which I live. The purpose of this study was to make sense of these personal and professional experiences when teaching sensitive topics as an Islamic beginner female teacher. In so doing this study sought to contribute to body of knowledge about key concepts namely sensitive topics, an Islamic context, female beginner teacher identity and autoethnography as research design. The literature reviewed for this research study was centred around the said key concepts and included scholarly work by Collins (2017), Lowe and Jones (2015), Du Bois (2014), and Anacona (2014). Theoretically, this study was underpinned by an interpretivist epistemological paradigm informed by Berg (2007) and from a conceptual point of view I drew on tenets of both the religion and feminist theory guided by the work of Rambo (1999). Data was generated in the form of short anecdotal self-reflective narratives spanning over 25 years and encapsulated the gist of my upbringing and later experiences which all influenced the ways in which I have experienced the teaching of sensitive topics as a female beginner teacher female within an Islamic context. Findings were divided into three main themes, namely the Islamic religion, Islam and gender and teaching sensitive topic as a Muslim, female beginner teacher. Findings were refined into relevant subthemes. The gist of the findings revealed that a strict Islamic upbringing contributed largely to the discomfort experienced by a female teacher when teaching topics of a sensitive nature, such as sexual education which is compulsory in the current Life Orientation curriculum. Findings further pointed to the fact that this discomfort can be alleviated through self-talk, engagement with scholarly work and deep thought incited by engagement with sensitive topics. Recommendations were suggested for classroom practice. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

The aim of the study is to illuminate upper secondary school teachers’ experiences of incorporating potentially sensitive topics in their teaching of English. To fulfil this aim, the degree project builds on six individual interviews with active English teachers at upper secondary schools in Sweden. The findings are that the chosen teachers can see four different effects on the learning of English related to the pupils’ motivation, participation, understanding of cultures, and vocabulary. Furthermore, the teachers incorporate five different strategies when teaching sensitive topics: trigger warnings, group discussions, remaining neutral, rules for discussions, and icebreakers. An implication of the results is that sensitive topics carry both benefits and drawbacks and that pupils may respond to such topics in varying ways. Additional implications relate to teaching experience, in that this can be seen to influence how many effects and strategies a teacher may be able to share.

Research tools to identify sensitive topics and thus new opportunities to design for have grown in popularity in the last twenty years within HCI, with many projects and areas to note. However, the research tools used are still underdeveloped (Crabtree, 2003), and many universal designs of the 20th century have failed to develop for more sensitive areas, bar the conventional young, non-disabled, white, cis-male (Clarkson, 2003). The topics discussed in the thesis are reviews and arguments for the use of an adapted cultural probe’s place to research sensitive topics, identify perhaps previously hidden “sensitive-HCI” (Waycott et al. 2015) design spaces. The focus is on the tools to gather data, and discover design opportunities, rather than the particular and actual findings from the study.