LibGuides: Teaching and Learning: Critical Thinking

Teaching Controversial Topics

Teaching Controversial Issues: The Case for Critical Thinking and Moral Commitment in the Classroom by Nel Noddings & Laurie Brooks
Call Number: LB 1590.3 .N64 2017
"They offer specific, concrete strategies for addressing a variety of issues related to authority, religion, gender, race, media, sports, entertainment, class and poverty, capitalism and socialism, and equality and justice. The emphasis is on the use of critical thinking to understand and collaborate, not simply to win arguments."
The Case for Contention: Teaching Controversial Issues in American Schools by Jonathan Zimmerman & Emily Robertson
Call Number: LC 72.2 .Z56 2017
"Armed with a detailed history of the development of American educational policy and norms and a clear philosophical analysis of the value of contention in public discourse, they show that one of the best things American schools should do is face controversial topics dead on, right in their classrooms."
Teaching about Race and Racism in the College Classroom by Cyndi Kernahan
Call Number: LB 2331 .K42 2019 & eBook
"In this book, Cyndi Kernahan argues that you can be honest and unflinching in your teaching about racism while also providing a compassionate learning environment that allows for mistakes and avoids shaming students. She also differentiates between how White students and students of color are likely to experience the classroom, helping instructors provide a more effective learning experience for all students."
The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education by Diana E. Hess & Paula McAvoy
Call Number: LC 89 .H44 2015
"Based on one of the largest, mixed-methods studies of civic education ever undertaken, award-winning author Diana Hess and Paula McAvoy provide a systemic analysis of various approaches to teaching young people about democracy and democratic participation that exist in high schools throughout United States. By bringing the tools of social science and philosophy into conversation, this book engages readers in an examination of some persisting, important, and challenging dilemmas that are inherent in the process of educating young people to actively participate in political and civil society."

Discussing Controversial Issues in the Classroom
The controversy over controversial issues
Using controversy as a teaching tool

n a time of hyperpolarization and hyper partisanship, preparing students to deliberate about their differences becomes even more important. In this interview, Diana Hess, dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-author of The Political Classroom, describes the challenge of ensuring that students have access to multiple and competing viewpoints about issues of public importance. In her research with co-author Paula McAvoy, Hess said she learned that students value hearing their teachers’ viewpoints as long as teachers aren’t pressing those views on students but that hearing a teacher’s viewpoint didn’t often change a student’s own opinion.