DISCUSSING CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS IN THE CLASSROOM - CREATING A CONTEXTFOR LEARNING

Efforts to initiate classroom discussions of controversial topics ofte n provoke either uncomfortable silence or unthoughtful responses from students. In this research, we focus on one factor that makes discussi ons of controversial topics difficult: students' assumption that they will suffer negative repercussions from any discussion of controversia l topics. We outline an exercise that encourages students to analyze f rom a sociological perspective the classroom dynamics, including their own discomfort, which make discussion of these issues difficult. The exercise addresses the problem by demonstrating to students that their world will not fall apart if they join class discussion, and that the ir assumptions are rooted in traditional middle- and upper middle-clas s expectations and norms. By clarifying the roots of their fears and t he factors involved in their past experiences, we begin to construct a lternative expectations and interaction patterns that will guide futur e group discussion in our class.