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Friday, October 24, 2008
Teaching “controversial” topics
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spent Thursday at Emory University attending a workshop on teaching evolution. Every high school biology teacher is required to teach evolution, but the topic has faced challenges.
Back in 2004, State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox proposed striking references to evolution and other related concepts from the state curriculum. She changed her mind after a public backlash.
Cobb County schools faced its own battles over placing stickers in textbooks questioning evolution.
At the Emory conference teachers shared stories about students crying in class when the evolution unit started. Others said some students received training on what questions they could ask to challenge and disrupt the lessons. A few admitted they dread the unit because of the number of complaints they get from parents and others in the community.
I don’t want us to get into a debate over evolution vs. creationism vs. intelligent design. Instead, I’m curious as to what teachers and schools do with lessons considered controversial.
For example, do you send notes home to give parents a heads-up? Do you address the controversy with students in class or do you go about your lessons like it’s any other activity?
Is there a way to remove the controversy - whether real or perceived - from our classrooms?
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