From a Pedagogy of Death perspective, this study focuses on education for a more conscious life that includes an awareness of death. The objective was to ascertain in depth the views of adolescents on teaching about death in their particular context. The methodology adopted was qualitative and phenomenological. Seven focus groups were organised…

Gay academics in China face multiple risks when addressing queer issues on heteronormative and repressive campuses. Little is known about their experiences of navigating the social and political constraints placed upon them. Drawing on interview data from 40 gay academics in China, this article explores participants' strategies for addressing…

This study seeks to understand students' perceptions of self-agency and how they demonstrate their agency by engaging in discussions of a highly controversial wetland policy facing their community. Five focal students participating in this 13-month long curriculum were selected for further explorations. We traced their learning trajectories to…

This collaborative, descriptive research project in urban Texas looked at the at the development, implementation, and student perception of effectiveness of a multi-stage pedagogical intervention in a classroom to help preservice teachers become more confident during discussions of controversial identity issues; specifically, ableism, classism,…

Teaching sensitive and controversial issues (SCIs) is of growing interest in contemporary, increasingly heterogeneous societies. In democracies, different groups and institutions expect their values and worldviews to be conveyed at school. On one hand, there is the expectation that SCIs should be treated neutrally. On the other hand, there are…

Context: University-based teacher education programs are increasingly committed to teaching about race and racism, but programs continue to face challenges in preparing justice-oriented educators. Critical scholarship on teaching about race and racism has identified some core concepts that teachers should learn, including an understanding of…

This pilot study investigates the role of anxiety for early childhood pre-service social studies teachers as they learn methods to teach curriculum on slavery and associated issues such as racism or White privilege. The findings indicate that a variety of aspects cause pre-service teachers to experience anxiety around the thought of having to…

This critical analysis examined research on evolution in the United States between the years 2000-2014, spanning early classroom implementation of the National Science Education Standards to current research findings. First, we sought to understand how the research literature published between 2000 and 2014 contributed to knowledge of evolution…

Marginalized groups present part of our reality which we would prefer to forget about. Yet, the humankind remains (un)aware of the simple fact that there is merely a very tiny red line between the central and marginalized parts: any of us can at one point in life simply, unwillingly and abruptly wake up on the other side of this line!!!…

This research examines the problems that religious Jewish science teachers in Israeli high schools have in coping with science subjects (such as geological time) which conflict with their religious beliefs. We do this by characterizing the philosophical approaches within Judaism that such teachers have adopted for dealing with such controversy.…

Understanding what teachers need to be more comfortable and confident in their profession is crucial to the future of effective teachers and scientific literacy in public schools. This study focuses on the experiences of Arizona biology teachers in teaching evolution, using a clinical model of stress to identify sources of pressure, the resulting…