The COVID-19 pandemic brought the importance of vaccination and public attitudes toward it firmly to the fore. However, vaccine hesitancy and refusal remain significant barriers to global uptake, with post-pandemic declines in routine immunization contributing to disease outbreaks worldwide. Research shows that education plays a vital role in…

Educating students for democratic life requires teachers to make difficult judgment calls about whether controversial issues are appropriate for "directive teaching" (i.e., teaching that attempts to persuade students to adopt a particular view about the thing being taught). To help educators make these decisions, theorists have proposed…

This paper examines data from a statewide survey of K-12 social studies teachers in one midwestern state regarding their perceptions on the ways in which they integrate issues of race and justice into their classes, or their reasons for not doing so in their role as Instructional Gatekeeper.

In the context of global crises, the priorities of vocational education and training (VET) need to be reconsidered. VET should educate critically reflective global citizens who are capable of acting to create a more just and sustainable world both in their workplaces and in society at large. This study examines VET teachers' views on addressing…

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) has a key role to play in promoting healthy living and preventing sexual health problems among adolescents. However, students in Bangladesh do not receive comprehensive sexuality education, which is a major concern. This study investigated barriers preventing home tutors from discussing CSE with their…

Dealing with controversial issues is one of the most important tasks teachers perform. In this article, the author presents a few core concepts and research findings that are essential for understanding what teaching controversial issues is all about and why it is so important to develop capability in this methodology.

Part of media education is showing students other ways of being, knowing, and making change away from social media. Such experiences can allow youth to reflect not only on the benefits and drawbacks of social media, but how they change the flow of our lives. They are then better positioned to choose when to use, or not use social media. Educators…

In the context of legacies of mass violence and political oppression during the recent past in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), history teaching is seen as an important factor in building sustainable peace and democracy. Caught between various national and international policy…

Avoiding the discussion of controversial topics in U.S. classrooms deprives students of an important part of their learning. Jonathan Zimmerman and Emily Robertson, authors of "The Case for Contention: Teaching Controversial Issues in American Schools" (University of Chicago Press, 2017) say Americans are terrible at having informed,…

The experience of learning about emotive topics in the classroom remains relatively under-researched. Within the social sciences, death studies is undergoing a resurgence yet little is known about the student experience of exploring such issues in an academic setting. This research focuses on final year undergraduate students at a British…

Teachers at a, mostly white, independent school met monthly for a year, discussing how to talk with children from pre-K through eighth grade about race. They looked at interactions that arose spontaneously in the classroom, from younger children's comments about skin color to racially tinged remarks in the older classes. Faculty members, who all…

Christine Sleeter wrote this essay in response to the topic "Even Laureates Were Beginners Once: Lessons Learned Along the Way," which was the title of the Laureate Panel at the Kappa Delta Pi Convocation in October 2017.

Quebec's Ethics and Religious Culture program (ERC) requires teachers to adopt a professional stance of pedagogical impartiality. This article examines the complex regulatory framework surrounding the impartiality requirement from the perspectives of teachers' legally recognized right to professional autonomy, their constitutional rights to…

When faced with unexpected and charged conversations about race, class, gender, and other social identities, faculty often seek a list a strategies for what to say or do. Yet numerous, sometimes contradictory, strategies for navigating these discussions already exist. This article explores the issue of how might faculty and/or the faculty…

As school and district leaders become more aware of how racial bias and racism affects interactions within the schools, some have sought to provide anti-bias training to faculty and staff. Drawing on the research into anti-bias and racial equity training, and their own experiences, Gislaine Ngounou and Nancy Gutierrez explain why it is beneficial…