The teaching of key scientific topics such as evolution are imperative for scientific literacy, but educators face pressure to eliminate or downplay these topics due to perceived controversy. Although teachers usually bear the burden of ensuring that these topics are taught appropriately, some of this responsibility must also fall upon…

By deepening students' discussion skills, schools can play a key role in bridging communication divides in our society. As the nation has become increasingly politically polarized, how can educators teach constructive dialogue in the classroom? The authors--education experts and researchers--offer seven strategies for helping students engage in…

This research examines the impact of social studies teachers' personal practical knowledge on their roles as gatekeepers to controversial topics in the classroom. The findings indicate that the context of the school and community directly impact the teachers' decision-making process. Furthermore, the teachers perceived the content area standards…

School-based sex education has been a controversial issue in the province of Ontario, Canada. When an updated sex education curriculum was introduced by the provincial government in 2015, the media heavily covered negative reactions to the curriculum, and one distinct genre of reporting became modestly popular: the fact-checking article. These…

Young people around the world show considerable engagement with climate change. How can education draw on this engagement in order to benefit students and society? In this article, we discuss how inquiry-based dialogues can support students' development in their societal engagement. We argue that such dialogues should include real-world problems…

The United States still has one of the lowest evolution acceptance rates in the world. Biology educators have been diligent in their methods to increase evolution acceptance and knowledge, with much success. However, misconceptions still arise through education, textbooks, and even social and religious settings that may influence our citizens' low…

Recent legislation restricting the topics teachers may discuss with students raises the issue of what role the teacher should play in society. We argue that this legislative scrutiny of teachers is symptomatic of an aversion to defining what a teacher is. We argue that, though a reluctance to provide an explicit definition of "teacher"…

Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and/or Queer (LGBTQ+) education laws are defined as laws that prohibit or limit schools from discussing same-sex relationships, broader sexuality, and gender issues in their sexual education curriculum. This study presents a historical context of anti-LGBTQ+ sex education laws, examines the extant literature on…

Prior research has explored the complex issue of how future teachers learn to engage in socially just and antiracist teaching practices. This research revealed reasons why pre-service teachers do not engage in racialized conversations, including not believing that it is appropriate to talk about race with young children, and exhibiting resistance…

This mixed-methods study investigated how secondary social studies educators mediate their own and their students' emotions while engaging in pedagogical reasoning and teaching about difficult content within a highly charged sociopolitical landscape. This research was informed by sociocultural theory, Shulman's (1987) model of pedagogical…

Recently we have seen a heightened public assault on critical race theory (CRT), anti-racist ideologies and practices, and on scholars, faculty, and activists who employ CRT in their work. In this article we draw upon CRT, Latina/Chicana feminism, and critical raced-gendered epistemology, to situate the experiences of Latina faculty in…

Dialogic teaching -- in which teachers and students address controversial issues -- has become increasingly common in school education to promote civic participation in deliberative democracy. This study addresses this question: when leading whole-class discussions on controversial issues, what discursive moves could teachers adopt to enact…

Collaborative argumentation has been recognized as a powerful means to facilitate conceptual change of scientific concepts for which students have robust misconceptions. However, eliciting and maintaining collaborative argumentation that yields such productive outcomes is known to be difficult. Specifically, social-motivational antecedents have…

Drawing on theories of deliberative democracy, this article analyzes initiatives in educational settings to develop deliberative capabilities--defined here as a person's motivation and abilities to explain their views based on thoughtful considerations, reciprocal engagement, and more inclusive and respectful communication. Building and expanding…

Teaching about religion in public schools is a complicated and nuanced topic. Though religious illiteracy has been named as a widespread concern throughout the United States, little research has been conducted that critically analyzes what teachers are asked to cover. Preservice teachers often confess they do not understand what they are and are…