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…

Creating a positive classroom experience for students can be a challenge, especially when teaching a contested topic such as gender studies. Teaching and learning gender is teaching and learning against the grain, which can lead to feelings of comfort and discomfort among students. The objective is to capture different manifestations of…

Research into student experiences of learning about potentially emotionally sensitive topics tends to focus on the use of trigger warnings, with less attention paid to other teaching strategies and to broader context. This questionnaire study of 917 arts, humanities and social science students therefore sought to explore the extent to which…

This report focuses on the teaching of Critical Race Theory and radical gender theory in American classrooms. Taken together, those concepts comprise radical cultural left ideologies known as Critical Social Justice (CSJ). The findings of this report suggest that the teaching of applied versions of Critical Race Theory and radical gender theory is…

Recognizing the need to prepare elementary education teacher-candidates to implement state-mandated curriculum, a Genocide Studies Unit was developed. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Unit in building preservice teachers' knowledge-base and efficacy levels with a mind toward preparing teachers to implement difficult content more…

Sex and relationships education has been a controversial area of the curriculum in England for many years. Despite changes to the content and the approach to this material, many teachers and parents remained unhappy about issues such as: the right of schools to teach material that some think should be done in a family situation only; the problem…

Emergent technologies are commonly characterized as involving cutting-edge developments while lacking wide-scale public implementation. Although currently prevalent in many applications, gene technology is often considered emergent in that the science changes so rapidly. Science educators at all levels of formal education are faced with a unique…

A socioscientific issues integrated instruction was used in the study to resolve college students attitude towards sexually-themed science content. Some 200 college students participated in the study as experimental and control groups. The former consisting of 98 students from one college was taught the content using the socioscientific issues…

The authors enjoy the challenge of teaching classes on gender and violence, including violence against women, psychology of trauma, and psychology of gender. Although various sources provide suggestions for teaching classes that provoke strong reactions in students, they have found that one size does not fit all. Rather, they must first identify…

This study addresses how my freshman world history students come to understand controversial issues as provocative within the secondary social studies classroom, and in what ways does their engagement with provocative issues influence their understanding of the content and the world around them. In addition, this research study seeks to discover…

Incorporating controversial issues into pre-service teacher education provides teacher candidates with opportunities not only to gain effective civic competence but also to develop skills and experience in their teaching of controversial issues. The purpose of this study was to ascertain social studies teacher candidates' views on the…

On the basis of analysis of student responses to a case study titled "Drinks and Dinner," the authors evaluate the pedagogical potential of using constructive controversy case studies to teach about inequality. "Drinks and Dinner" is designed to capture the complexity of social interactions that defy simple solutions to engage students in…

An English professor used science fiction to introduce his students to a range of questions about alternative sexualities. While a course proposal for a science fiction class being taught as a "diversity offering" with an emphasis on gender and sexual orientation was working its way through the bureaucracy at Pennsylvania State…

The findings of a study that examined the impact of peace studies courses at the college and university level upon students is reported. The study involved 260 undergraduate students at 3 midwestern universities. At the beginning of each course, students filled out a questionnaire; at the end of the course, students were given identical…

Claims that undergraduate curricula show a tension between a commitment to diversity and a commitment to coherence. Argues that the issues of "minority" students--including Blacks, homosexuals, and women--must be included to teach the value of encountering, listening to, and establishing a connection with different lifestyles and…