"Divisive concepts" legislation, which seeks to restrict teaching about topics like race, gender, and sexuality, for example, has proliferated across the United States, creating confusion and challenges for students, teachers, and teacher educators who want to include discussion of complex topics in their classrooms (Ervin & Gannon,…

Amidst the backdrop of rising censorship legislation, it is important to understand the influence of teachers' particular contexts on their perceptions of potentially controversial texts and subsequent instructional choices. This study explores five in-service teachers' acts of positioning observed in year-long antibias antiracist professional…

This study explored school Australian teachers' beliefs towards, and comfort around, socialising with same-sex attracted and trans and gender diverse people, as well as beliefs about inclusive school-based policy and other school strategies to enhance the wellbeing of same sex attracted and trans and gender diverse students. Teachers (n = 109) in…

In this report, drawing on the spring 2022 American Instructional Resources Survey, the authors examine teachers' awareness of and responses to limitations on how they can address race- or gender-related topics in their instruction. Teachers experienced limitations that infringed on their instructional autonomy, which included their choice of…

This study examined secondary science teachers' conceptions of democratic citizenship and their beliefs about how citizenship relates to science education. These beliefs and conceptions were studied through a framework comprised of theories of belief, citizenship education, and civic engagement with science. Data were collected from 10 teachers…

This chapter focuses on effective preparation for civic reasoning, discourse, and problem solving. It reviews literatures, including major synthetic reviews and studies from the science of learning and development (SoLD), civics education, and mathematics education. Based on these reviews, the authors make the case for a more comprehensive form of…

Evolution is often seen as a site of contestation within the school curriculum. The topic of evolution is therefore often considered to be 'controversial'. I first examine what is meant by 'controversial' and conclude that while, in an everyday sense, the topic of evolution can indeed be considered to be controversial, this term can mislead. A…

In this article, the authors highlight four children's picture books that can be used to discuss gender diversity with young children in social studies.

If high school history courses are meant to introduce students to the paradoxes and debates of American history, then they should study the 1619 Project, the authors argue in this article. College history students regularly debate the extent to which slavery was formative to the development of American systems of law, business, medicine, religion…

This book presents a state-of-the-art, robust, and adaptable process, the Theory of Being, that offers strategies for working across Difference, and for embarking on constructive dialogue around the issues that drive us apart, both individually and collectively. Whether around racial, gender, and/or social class inequity, core beliefs, uses of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers' constructions of youth inform their text selections, particularly as they relate to a problematic author. Design/methodology/approach: As part of a larger, national study, the authors use interview data from 18 participants -- 9 who still teach and 9 who no longer teach Alexie -- to…

Evolution is controversial among students and religiosity, religious affiliation, understanding of evolution, and demographics are predictors of evolution acceptance. However, quantitative research has not explored the unique impact of student perceived conflict between their religion and evolution as a major factor influencing evolution…

Amid hyper-partisanship, increasing critiques of civic education reform priorities from conservatives, and growing signs of democratic backsliding, can schools provide foundational support for democratic norms, commitments, and capacities? Drawing on a unique national survey of high school principals conducted in 2018, we examine how political…

Most courses are taught almost exclusively using lecture and, despite gaps in textbook coverage of empirical economics, do not incorporate academic readings. The authors of this article present a "jigsaw literature review" cooperative learning activity to address these shortfalls. The jigsaw guides students through formulating a position…

Over the past decade, Terror Management Theory (TMT) has been widely studied for its role in conflict management and in shaping the behavior of target populations, including in the classroom. Emerging from research on the importance of self-esteem, TMT submits that much of our behavior is driven by death anxiety and its effects are particularly…