Learning is what most adults will do
the cost. We’re having to pay for people
who just come without permission.
Don’t we have to think about that, too?”
There’s silence for a moment and then
another student asks, “Do you think
we’d be so upset if the immigrants today
were coming from Canada?” A lively,
but respectful discussion about ethnic
prejudices ensues.
Why Tackle Controversial Issues?
High school is the last universal stop on
the path to adulthood and full citizenship. Here, students can and should
learn to wrestle collectively with important public issues they will encounter as
21st century citizens, including controversial issues.
The 2003 report The Civic Mission of
Schools calls for education practices that
will develop competent and responsible
citizens who are informed on a range of
public issues, equipped to participate
thoughtfully in public debates, and
aware of their own ability to make a
difference. As one of its six key
approaches, the report calls on educators to “incorporate discussion of
current local, national, and international
issues and events into the classroom,
particularly those that young people
view as important to their lives”
(Carnegie Corporation of New York &
CIRCLE, 2003, p. 6).
More recently, Diana Hess (2009)
argues in Controversy in the Classroom:
The Democratic Power of Discussion that
planned, moderated discussions of
controversial political issues teach
essential skills for a healthy democracy.
Drawing on qualitative data from her
longitudinal study, Hess provides advice
about how to define controversial issues
and teach political discussion in
classrooms.
Teachers can introduce controversial
issues into the social studies curriculum
in multiple ways. In some cases, student
interests may shape the issues to be
addressed. In other cases, the teacher
may use prepared materials that provide
the foundation for discussion. One
resource for such materials is our
Choices Program at Brown University’s
Watson Institute for International
Studies ( www.choices.edu).
1 As director
of the program, I have worked with
many teachers who are addressing
controversial issues in the core high
school curriculum. Here is what
happens in the classrooms of several
such teachers.
Choices About Immigration
Barbara Williams teaches at Buena High
School in Sierra Vista, Arizona, just 25
miles from the Mexican border. The
discussion described earlier is typical of
what takes place as her students study
immigration policy. Armed with an
appreciation of the various roles that
immigration has played in U.S. history
and an understanding of the forces at
work in the current immigration debate,
group argues for one of the options.
Addressing a highly contested public
issue in this way enables Williams’s
students to explore multiple—often
difficult—perspectives without having
to commit themselves to one point of
view before they have explored a range
of options and discussed them with
classmates.
“Having engaged in this role-play as a
way to set the stage,” she says, “they get
braver in discussion—less able to hide
in silence as we deal with the issues,
and less apt to rely on bombastic repetition of extreme talk from one position
or another.” A student such as Michael,
who was openly antagonistic when the
subject of immigration was first raised,
may be able to step back and look at the
issue from multiple points of view.
Williams reports that, for Michael, the
turning point seemed to come when the
class was exploring immigrants’ stories
“The students want to understand why the
war started and where we’re going from here.”
students in her classroom work in small
groups to explore four contrasting
options for current U.S. policy: ( 1) open
ourselves to the ideas and energy of the
world around us, ( 2) cooperate with
others to provide development assistance to poor countries to make emigration unnecessary, ( 3) be selective and
admit the talent we need, or ( 4) restrict
immigration.
This framework of options—each
described in a short narrative and
fleshed out with an explanation of the
resulting policies, underlying beliefs,
and arguments for and against—brings
tough issues out into the open where
they can be safely explored and
discussed. Using a role-play of a hearing
before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims as the setting, each
early in their unit. As his group pored
over the story of Daniel, an illegal
Mexican immigrant, he became quieter.
When the other groups in the class
presented their stories, he listened
intently. As a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims
during the role-play, he listened with
deep concentration as each group
presented its assigned option, then
posed thoughtful questions to the
presenters. As the class discussion drew
to a close, Michael made the last
comment: “You know, this isn’t as easy
as I thought it was. I keep thinking of
my Irish great-great-grandfather. . . .
He’s not all that different from Daniel in
the stories we read. I’m not changing
my mind . . . but I think I’d better think
about all this some more.”
