This article describes a study that took place in Helsinki, Finland in late 2015. A Canadian education professor conducted individual interviews with Finnish educators: six practicing teachers in Helsinki schools, two education professors at the University of Helsinki, and the advisor to the president of Finland's teachers' union. Although all…

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…

The current study aims to explore how Thai preservice biology teachers make decisions upon and informally reason about two culture-based socioscientific issues, which are different yet contextually related. Participants included 46 fourth-year preservice biology teachers (12 males and 34 females) who completed a written questionnaire asking about…

In this article, we critically analyze our experiences in preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) to teach for social justice. We utilized an intersectional lens to identify and validate our different positionalities and pedagogies. It is this interplay of validating our differences and commonalities that enabled us to form a sense of solidarity in…

Objective: Socially-relevant and controversial topics, such as the climate crisis, are subject to differences in the explanations that scientists and the public find plausible. Scaffolds can help students be evaluative of the validity of explanations based on evidence when addressing such topics and support knowledge gains. Method: This study…

In Vietnam, academic freedom is not guaranteed. This is especially so in relation to politically sensitive subjects such as human rights. This paper discusses how human rights education (HRE) can develop in such contexts. The Government of Vietnam is a signatory to various UN treaties and, consistent with its obligations, has encouraged the…

As educational interventions that integrate death issues in the school curriculum are rarely designed, implemented and evaluated, our action research (AR) project aimed at investigating the complexities of integrating the concepts of loss and grief in the primary school curriculum of Cyprus. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze…

This article discusses the results of an empirical study that examined third grade Latinx children's discussions of literature dealing with themes of immigration. The study focused on the reading of six picture books by Mexican-origin children at a public elementary school located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. The data were collected by…

This article reports the findings of a web-based survey of Ontario health and physical education teachers conducted in 2017. The purpose of the study was to understand teachers' views of the aims of the 2015 revised "sex ed" curriculum and the public debate that surrounded it, as well as to explore their own values around the teaching of…

All too often, race discourse in the United States devolves into shouting matches, silence, or violence, all of which are mirrored in today's classrooms. This book will help individuals develop the skills needed to facilitate difficult dialogues across race in high school and college classrooms, in teacher professional learning communities, and…

This article proposes the "badge of complexity"--a model that embodies the arguments for and against Holocaust stories for children--followed by a poetic and thematic mapping of Israeli Holocaust literature for young children.

Students feel strongly about the controversial topics elevated by recent and historic Supreme Court cases. Supreme Court cases provide materials for teaching about contested public issues in relevant and meaningful ways that help students develop critical decision-making skills, gain civic content knowledge, improve communication skills, and…

The teaching of socioscientific issues (SSI) holds promise for advancing functional scientific literacy, promoting critical thinking, and providing an interesting context for learning required science content, but few teachers actually employ this teaching method in K-12 classrooms. One common reason cited by teachers is their concern about the…

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 construction, visualization and stabilization of public problems require the mobilization of civil society groups concerned about these issues to actively engage in the demand for actions and policies. This paper explores the institutional campaigns against human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Spain between 2008 and 2017 and their role…