Controversies in Education

Controversies in Education PDF Author: Helen Proctor
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319087592
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
This book is the outcome of a colloquium series organized by The University of Sydney in which leading and emerging researchers were invited to name what they took to be the deep flaws at the heart of contemporary educational and policy and practice in Australia and globally — to voice their potentially ‘heretical’ views on what most urgently needs to be done. The chapters in this collection are paired to offer two takes on each topic, from supplementing to critiquing to countering and most points in between. The issues addressed in this volume include: the place of education in national and international marketplaces, mass testing and standardisation, the future of ‘multiculturalism’ in schools, the public funding of private schools, the complicated relationship between evidence and policy and the shifting politics of inequality. This book is based on the idea that recognising deep disagreements on big issues is a necessary accompaniment to imagining and developing productive ways forward.

Controversies in Education

Controversies in Education PDF Author: Helen Proctor
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319087592
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 219

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book is the outcome of a colloquium series organized by The University of Sydney in which leading and emerging researchers were invited to name what they took to be the deep flaws at the heart of contemporary educational and policy and practice in Australia and globally — to voice their potentially ‘heretical’ views on what most urgently needs to be done. The chapters in this collection are paired to offer two takes on each topic, from supplementing to critiquing to countering and most points in between. The issues addressed in this volume include: the place of education in national and international marketplaces, mass testing and standardisation, the future of ‘multiculturalism’ in schools, the public funding of private schools, the complicated relationship between evidence and policy and the shifting politics of inequality. This book is based on the idea that recognising deep disagreements on big issues is a necessary accompaniment to imagining and developing productive ways forward.

Controversy in the Classroom

Controversy in the Classroom PDF Author: Diana E. Hess
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135897344
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
In a conservative educational climate that is dominated by policies like No Child Left Behind, one of the most serious effects has been for educators to worry about the politics of what they are teaching and how they are teaching it. As a result, many dedicated teachers choose to avoid controversial issues altogether in preference for "safe" knowledge and "safe" teaching practices. Diana Hess interrupts this dangerous trend by providing readers a spirited and detailed argument for why curricula and teaching based on controversial issues are truly crucial at this time. Through rich empirical research from real classrooms throughout the nation, she demonstrates why schools have the potential to be particularly powerful sites for democratic education and why this form of education must include sustained attention to authentic and controversial political issues that animate political communities. The purposeful inclusion of controversial issues in the school curriculum, when done wisely and well, can communicate by example the essence of what makes communities democratic while simultaneously building the skills and dispositions that young people will need to live in and improve such communities.

Teaching Controversial Issues

Teaching Controversial Issues PDF Author: Nel Noddings
Publisher: Teachers College Press
ISBN: 080777488X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
In this book, eminent educational philosopher Nel Noddings and daughter Laurie Brooks explain how teachers can foster critical thinking through the exploration of controversial issues. The emphasis is on the use of critical thinking to understand and collaborate, not simply to win arguments. The authors describe how critical thinking that encourages dialogue across the school disciplines and across social/economic classes prepares students for participation in democracy. They offer specific, concrete strategies for addressing a variety of issues related to authority, religion, gender, race, media, sports, entertainment, class and poverty, capitalism and socialism, and equality and justice. The goal is to develop individuals who can examine their own beliefs, those of their own and other groups, and those of their nation, and can do so with respect and understanding for others values. Book Features: Underscores the necessity of moral commitment in the use of critical thinking. Offers assistance for handling controversial issues that many teachers find unsettling. Proposes a way for students and teachers to work together across the disciplines. “Brooks and Noddings offer a timely and inspirational guide for teaching critical thinking in American schools. With deep roots in American philosophy and traditions, this book inspires us to teach students to question authority while fostering meaningful conversations about the difficult issues confronting our nation. This book offers a recipe for nurturing the next generation of caring and critical democratic citizens.” —Andrew Fiala, professor, California State University, Fresno “Chock-full of contemporary and historical examples, this book offers educators myriad examples of how to help students learn to talk with and listen to others and to understand the fullness of our collective humanity.” —Suzanne M. Wilson, University of Connecticut

The Controversial Issues Being Faced in Education

The Controversial Issues Being Faced in Education PDF Author: M. Scott Norton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1475850441
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 125

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Book Description
M. Scott Norton discusses the major controversial issues facing K–12 education, including educational standards, gun control, funding, teacher licensure, and many more. The reader will be able to determine just how the controversial issues weigh heavily on school program success and student learning. Although it will be difficult to reach a final recommendation or solution, the available research and reader’s ability to become familiar with the topic will lead to a better understanding of why the controversies tend to go on and on.

Educational Controversies Towards a Discourse of Reconciliation

Educational Controversies Towards a Discourse of Reconciliation PDF Author: Pamela Lapage
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134489412
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
For the last 100 years, people have argued vigorously about a vast number of educational issues. At the heart of the arguments lies the question: What is the purpose of education? This conflict of educational purpose has seen rifts between academics, educators, politicians and parents. The authors of this book don't believe the conflicts need to be so hysterical, nor that the oppositions are incompatible. Rather, that it is in the manner in which debate is conducted that is so damaging. In this book, the authors contend that there are political, social, moral and civic needs for a new stance to debate the way forward. Examining a number of key controversies in educational discourse the book suggests ways in which controversies may be reconciled by looking for interrelations, mutual dependencies and links of importance. It develops current debate and provides suggestions for developing nurturing and supportive learning communities and so lead to educational change.

Inclusive Education: Global Issues and Controversies

Inclusive Education: Global Issues and Controversies PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004431179
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This edited book considers the main issues and controversies within the current educational context of inclusive education, from an international perspective. Authorities in the field such as Norwich, Kauffman, and Boyle, amongst many other international scholars, provide an enticing insight into many of the issues and controversies around inclusive education, and whether it is achievable or not. We have reached a point in time where inclusive education has been the prevailing doctrine for universal education policies. However, there are still many challenges facing those working within the inclusive education space, with some countries actually becoming less inclusive. International and national legislation has continued to move towards inclusive education, yet there seems to be many gaps between the philosophy and the principles of inclusive education and systemic practice. The book aims to address the current debates surrounding the implementation of inclusive education, and also offers insights into the inconsistencies between policies and practices in inclusive environments. Moreover, it analyzes contemporary research evidence on the effectiveness of inclusion and identify directions for future research. Contributors are: Kelly-Ann Allen, Dimitris Anastasiou, Joanna Anderson, Adrian Ashman, Jeanmarie Badar, Christopher Boyle, Jonathan M. Campbell, Heather Craig, Leire Darretxe, Julian Elliott, Zuriñe Gaintza, Betty A. Hallenbeck, Divya Jindal-Snape, Marguerite Jones, James M. Kauffman, George Koutsouris, Fraser Lauchlan, Gerry Mac Ruairc, Sofia Mavropoulou, Daniel Mays, Brahm Norwich, Angela Page, Kirsten S. Railey, and Federico R. Waitoller.

Hard Questions

Hard Questions PDF Author: Judith L. Pace
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1475851987
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Teaching controversial issues in the classroom is now more urgent and fraught than ever as we face up to rising authoritarianism, racial and economic injustice, and looming environmental disaster. Despite evidence that teaching controversy is critical, educators often avoid it. How then can we prepare and support teachers to undertake this essential but difficult work? Hard Questions: Learning to Teach Controversial Issues, based on a cross-national qualitative study, examines teacher educators’ efforts to prepare preservice teachers for teaching controversial issues that matter for democracy, justice, and human rights. It presents four detailed cases of teacher preparation in three politically divided societies: Northern Ireland, England, and the United States. The book traces graduate students’ learning from university coursework into the classrooms where they work to put what they have learned into practice. It explores their application of pedagogical tools and the factors that facilitated or hindered their efforts to teach controversy. The book’s cross-national perspective is compelling to a broad and diverse audience, raising critical questions about teaching controversial issues and providing educators, researchers, and policymakers tools to help them fulfill this essential democratic mission of education.

The Case for Contention

The Case for Contention PDF Author: Jonathan Zimmerman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022645634X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
From the fights about the teaching of evolution to the details of sex education, it may seem like American schools are hotbeds of controversy. But as Jonathan Zimmerman and Emily Robertson show in this insightful book, it is precisely because such topics are so inflammatory outside school walls that they are so commonly avoided within them. And this, they argue, is a tremendous disservice to our students. Armed with a detailed history of the development of American educational policy and norms and a clear philosophical analysis of the value of contention in public discourse, they show that one of the best things American schools should do is face controversial topics dead on, right in their classrooms. Zimmerman and Robertson highlight an aspect of American politics that we know all too well: We are terrible at having informed, reasonable debates. We opt instead to hurl insults and accusations at one another or, worse, sit in silence and privately ridicule the other side. Wouldn’t an educational system that focuses on how to have such debates in civil and mutually respectful ways improve our public culture and help us overcome the political impasses that plague us today? To realize such a system, the authors argue that we need to not only better prepare our educators for the teaching of hot-button issues, but also provide them the professional autonomy and legal protection to do so. And we need to know exactly what constitutes a controversy, which is itself a controversial issue. The existence of climate change, for instance, should not be subject to discussion in schools: scientists overwhelmingly agree that it exists. How we prioritize it against other needs, such as economic growth, however—that is worth a debate. With clarity and common-sense wisdom, Zimmerman and Robertson show that our squeamishness over controversy in the classroom has left our students woefully underserved as future citizens. But they also show that we can fix it: if we all just agree to disagree, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Teaching Controversial Issues in the Classroom

Teaching Controversial Issues in the Classroom PDF Author: Paula Cowan
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441136932
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A thorough exploration of the issues in teaching controversial issues in classroom, drawing on international case studies sharing teachers' and pupils' experiences.

Jefferson’s Revolutionary Theory and the Reconstruction of Educational Purpose

Jefferson’s Revolutionary Theory and the Reconstruction of Educational Purpose PDF Author: Kerry T. Burch
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303045763X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
This book newly interprets the educational implications of Thomas Jefferson’s revolutionary thought. In an age where American democracy is imperilled and the civic purposes of schooling eviscerated, Burch turns to Jefferson to help bring to life the values and principles that must be recovered in order for Americans to transcend the narrow purposes of education prescribed by today’s neoliberal paradigm. The author argues that critical engagement with the most radical dimensions of Jefferson’s educational philosophy can establish a rational basis upon which to re-establish the civic purposes of public education. Bracketing the defining features of Jefferson's theory throughout each of the chapters, the author illuminates the deficiencies of the dominant educational paradigm, and charts a new path forward for its progressive renewal.