In a highly polarized political environment, political discourse on divisive topics is all the more important. Heeding the many calls for higher education to teach political discourse skills, this study investigates the impact of political discourse lessons in a college-level, political science classroom. Further, it explores the effectiveness of…

As Social Studies teachers with decades of combined experience and as teacher educators at a predominantly white midwestern university, the authors center their curriculum around teaching challenging and whole histories, analyzing primary sources, and creating classroom community spaces where difficult dialogues can safely happen. While the…

Scholars and journalists alike have pointed out the poor state of political discourse in contemporary American politics. Younger generations echo these concerns, reporting that they choose to avoid engaging in political discussion because it is too partisan and riddled with rhetoric to be productive. While many offer little hope that the level of…

This article details a four-faceted approach we developed to help structure discourse about topics in partisan arenas, many of which intersect with issues of equity and social justice. The article's narrative centers on challenging and emotionally charged discussions that unfolded in a classroom management class in our teacher preparation program…

The scholarship of interdisciplinarity provides a potentially powerful response to anti-intellectual and anti-democratic impulses. It recognizes that proof and disproof are generally impossible, and that scientists can be biased in their evaluation of the evidence. Yet it proposes a set of strategies for transcending scholarly disputes in order to…

Teaching diversity courses in graduate preparation programs is likely to trigger difficult dialogues that evoke a range of emotional responses. Difficult dialogues on diversity topics must be managed effectively in order to enhance multicultural competence. This interpretive study examined the experiences of faculty who teach diversity courses in…

The purpose of this study was to examine how teacher talk influenced the way issues of race, culture, and disability were addressed in literature discussion groups. Discussions of one teacher with two groups of students, of varying reading levels, were studied. The research questions were: 1) How does the teacher's perspective on the students…

This work is based on data collected for a research project aiming to critically investigate issues of primary school sex and relationships education. Teachers are important stakeholders of any educational process, especially when the focus is on sensitive and controversial issues such as the provision of sex education. The aim here is to present…

This paper reports a qualitative study on students' informal reasoning on a controversial socio-scientific issue. Twenty-two students from four science classes in Norway were interviewed about the local construction of new power lines and the possible increased risk of childhood leukaemia. The focus in the study is on what arguments the students…

Develops a theoretical framework for understanding the principles that regulate the expression and reception of "everyday" knowledge (attitudes about sex, drug usage) in the classroom. Investigates three different school-based contexts: the formal classroom, small group interaction during lesson time, and group interviews (outside the classroom).…