1. Session 3 The role of the teacher
Welcome the group and do introductions.
Session 3 The role of the teacher

2. Introduction
Aim
to explore the role of the teacher when teaching controversial issues
Objectives
to develop understanding about the teacher’s role when teaching controversial issues
to explore the challenges when teaching controversial issues
to encourage teachers’ self-reflection
Refer to the slide.

3. Activity 1: Share your views
What are your thoughts on your role as teacher when teaching controversial issues?
Work individually.
Write on a Post-it your initial thoughts about your role when teaching controversial issues.
Share your ideas with a partner.
Introduce Activity 1 to teachers.
In this activity you will think about and discuss:
your views on the teacher’s role when teaching controversial issues
how safe both you and your pupils feel in given situations.
Facilitate discussion using the questions below. Refer to the instructions on the slide to tell teachers what to do.
Note: Questions 2-4 refer to the continuation of Activity 1 on the next slide.
What are your views on your role as teacher when teaching controversial issues?
Which of the four situations raised most concern for you as teachers? Explain your answer.
Which has the potential to raise concerns for your pupils?
Why is it important for both teacher and pupils to feel safe and secure when exploring controversial issues in the classroom?

4. Activity 1: Share your views (cont.)
In pairs, discuss your perspectives on the following teaching situations:
managing overheated discussions
trying to avoid bias in your teaching
lack of confidence in choosing appropriate strategies
lack of expert knowledge on current issues
Allow teachers to continue Activity 1 by discussing the teaching situations mentioned on this slide.
Then facilitate further discussion by using the questions below.
Questions
What experience do you have of dealing with or teaching controversial issues?
How would you deal with managing an overheated discussion?
How can you avoid bias when teaching a controversial issue?
Would you be able to use a range of teaching strategies when teaching these types of issues?
What level of knowledge would you need in order to feel comfortable teaching a controversial issue?
Do you think that you need to be an expert on the issue in question?

5. Common teacher concerns
Teaching styles/Facilitator roles
Avoiding unintentional bias
Protecting pupils’ sensitivities
Teachers’ lack of topic knowledge
Managing the discussion
Expand on the points raised in the slide. Use the notes below to help you.
Some challenges for teachers
These are some of the most common concerns expressed by teachers when teaching controversial issues.
Teaching styles/Facilitator roles: this refers to roles that teachers can adopt when exploring controversial issues, for example devil’s advocate, ally, advocate, neutral chair, declared interests and official views.
One of the teacher’s challenges is to decide which of these styles to adopt, and if and when they should reveal their own perspectives on an issue to their pupils.
Avoiding unintentional bias: the way you teach a controversial issue may be unintentionally biased. Sources of unintentional bias include misrepresenting the views of others or using a limited selection of sources.
Protecting pupils’ sensitivities: some controversial issues raise difficult personal feelings for pupils. They may become overprotective during discussions which can lead to overheated comments and inappropriate behaviour. The challenge for a teacher is how to manage these situations.
Teachers’ lack of topic knowledge: many recent controversial issues have very few sources of authoritative information and those which exist can be confusing and underdeveloped.
Managing difficult discussions: managing the discussion and group dynamics presents challenges. You need to be able to facilitate an inclusive discussion. This can be difficult when some pupils do not want to engage in the discussion. Other pupils may want to dominate the conversation and some may not take it seriously. There is also the problem of dealing with individuals or groups with strong opposing views. Some pupils may take comments personally and respond emotionally.
Ask teachers to discuss the following question once you have covered all the points above.
How will you meet these challenges?

6. The teacher as facilitator
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7. The teacher as facilitator
Balanced approach: presents a range of viewpoints without revealing their views
Neutral facilitator: chairs the discussion while staying neutral
Devil’s advocate: presents the opposing view, or initiates argument to provoke a class reaction
Declared interests: states their own position
Ally: supports the views of an individual or group
Official view: states official position
Teachers can take on different facilitating roles to enhance and stimulate discussion.
Refer to the roles on the slide.
Give teachers examples of the different roles.

8. Activity 2: Pros and cons of roles
Work in groups of four or five.
Write down the pros and cons for your group’s given role.
Share your ideas.
Introduce Activity 2.
One of the challenges is deciding on the appropriate role when teaching a class. Each of the roles have advantages and disadvantages or pros and cons. In this activity you will explore the pros and cons of each role.
Ask teachers to get into groups.
Give each group a different facilitator role from slide 6: balanced approach, neutral facilitator, devil’s advocate, declared interests, ally or official view.
Facilitate group discussion in this activity using the points below as prompts.
Balanced approach
Pros: provides a range of views and new ideas, encourages thinking about different perspectives.
Cons: may create the impression that all views are of equal weight and based on evidence.
Neutral facilitator
Pros: reduces teacher influence, allows pupils to shape the discussion.
Cons: may lead to pupils making ill-informed, inappropriate or prejudiced comments, may reinforce certain perceptions and attitudes.
Devil’s advocate
Pros: allows classes to explore minority or less popular views; creates a reaction and stimulates discussion.
Cons: can give the impression that these are the teacher’s views; puts the teacher at risk especially if these views are unpopular, minority or extremist views.
Declared interests
Pros: helps to make pupils aware of the teacher’s position and their bias or prejudices.
Cons: Pupils may accept the teacher’s position without challenging it.
Ally
Pros: can help weaker or marginalised pupils to voice and develop their views.
Cons: creates a sense of favouritism.
Official view
Pros: gives legitimacy to the argument; develops pupils’ understanding of the position of official bodies.
Cons: the teacher may feel compromised if official views conflict with theirs; can give the impression that these views are more important than others.

9. Activity 3: Should you take sides in a discussion?
Work in groups of five or six.
Each group will receive one of six statement cards.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your chosen statement and write them on your flip chart sheet.
When finished, move to another table, read the comments and add your own comments. Return to your original position.
Introduce this group activity to teachers (Activity 3).
Teachers are entitled to their views like anyone else. However, this does not necessarily mean that they ought to share them with pupils, nor that they should favour the pupils who share their views. So how is a teacher meant to respond to conflicting opinions and arguments in class? Whose side should they take?
Print out the cards from Resource Sheet 3: Should you take sides in a discussion?
Give out one card to each group. Refer to the instructions on the slide.

10. The six cards 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Always make your views known
Never let anyone know your views – be neutral 3.
Give a wide variety of views 4.
Challenge pupils by arguing the opposite view 5.
Support pupils by arguing on their behalf 6.
Always give the official view
Each group will receive one of these six cards.
Once each group has completed the activity, follow up with the feedback questions below.
Group feedback
Share your views about the advantages and disadvantages of your chosen statement with another group.
Were their comments similar or different to yours?
In what areas did you differ?
Would adopting these roles safeguard teachers from the pressure of having to disclose their own views to pupils?

11. Unconscious bias You can introduce unconscious bias by:
setting yourself up as an expert
presenting inappropriate/unbalanced materials which do not offer alternative viewpoints
not challenging certain positions
misrepresenting the views of others
giving nonverbal clues (like body language) about your views
Introduce the topic of unconscious bias.
We have already discussed how your values, views and feelings can influence pupils views. They are a potential source of bias which you can reduce by being aware of them.
You can also introduce unconscious bias to the lesson through your teaching approach. So you should also be aware of these potential sources of unconscious bias and avoid them.
Use your own examples to expand on these points for teachers.

12. Avoiding unconscious bias
Be reflective
Give equal importance to all views
Present information as open to challenge
Do not reveal your views in unconscious ways (e.g. tone of voice, body language or facial expressions)
Challenge consensus views
Expand on the points in the slide.
You can avoid unconscious bias by:
being reflective: thinking about how your values, views and feelings may influence pupil views and responses;
giving equal importance to all views: acknowledging the value of an individual’s contribution to a discussion;
presenting information as open to challenge: by encouraging pupils to challenge information and to consider bias and hidden agendas;
not revealing your views in unconscious ways, such as through your tone of voice, body language and facial expressions; and
challenging consensus views: consensus views are not necessarily ‘right’ or ‘good’ just because most people agree with them.

13. Teacher self-reflection when planning teaching
Acknowledge your personal values, views and feelings
Reflect on how these could influence pupils’ views about a contentious issue
Introduce the topic of teacher self-reflection.
I am sure we are all very aware of how our views may influence pupils’ views about an issue. So it is important when planning teaching about a controversial issues that we self-reflect and acknowledge our own views, values and feelings and consider if they might influence pupils’ views if we share them.
Essentially, your main role is to support pupils to develop their capacity for independent critical thinking. You need to encourage pupils to develop their own views about issues.
However, that is not to say that on occasions you may feel it is appropriate to express your thinking about an issue to stimulate debate, while acknowledging that it is just another perspective and not necessarily ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ or ‘good’ or ‘bad.’
Your role is to facilitate an evidence-based balanced discussion which explores multiple perspectives.
Introduce Resource Sheet 4: Reflecting on my values and views and feelings. Explain to teachers how they can use this sheet.
You do not have to use this now but you might find it useful when planning teaching controversial issues. It will help you think about your own position and the role you will take in facilitating the discussion.

14. Activity 4: Dealing with pupil sensitivities
Think of an issue that might provoke extreme views from pupils.
How might other pupils with different views respond to these views?
Talk about your ideas with a partner.
Share your ideas with the group.
In this activity, ask teachers to explore how they might deal with pupils’ experiences and opinions, particularly where pupils and/or their families may be directly or indirectly involved in a controversial issue.
Ask the teachers to do Activity 4 in pairs. Refer to the instructions on the slide.
When they have finished, facilitate a discussion using the follow-up questions below.
Follow-up questions
What were the issues you chose to share with your partner? Were they about religion, identity, community, culture or another theme?
Why might some pupils hold strong views about the identified issues?
What type of impact might expressing these extreme views have on other pupils?
If pupils express extreme views, what impact might this have on your role as a teacher?

15. Level of topic knowledge
Level of topic knowledge A major concern for teachers is the problem they have keeping their own knowledge up to date with recent controversial issues and the lack of appropriate teaching resources which enable them to explore these issues in a balanced way with their pupils.
Refer to the slide and then facilitate discussion using the questions below.
Questions
How do you currently deal with teaching an unfamiliar topic within your area of learning?
How would this be different when dealing with a current controversial issue that is not familiar to you?
What extra challenges do social networking sites and media reporting on recent issues present for pupils and teachers?
How can you overcome these challenges?
Below are some suggestions of ways to overcome challenges that you can discuss with the group.
Suggestions to overcome challenges
Develop a whole-school co-ordinated approach to compiling a bank of resources on controversial issues.
Set up a small group of teachers with representatives from each department to develop and update resources.
Set up a pupil research group. Give them a clear brief on how they can research and gather up-to-date information about controversial issues.
Use examples of pupils’ work.
Develop networks and partnerships with outside agencies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that can provide expert support or training.

16. Managing discussion strategies
Develop pupils’ empathy
Depersonalise language
Use enquiry-based or problem-solving activities
Use distancing strategies
We are all aware of the challenges of managing discussion about a controversial issues where pupils have strong feelings and views. One of the most important aspects of this is to plan your activity. You can also try to anticipate pupil responses and be prepared for the unexpected.
Here are some more approaches that have been suggested in research (Stradling, 1984) for you to consider:
Develop pupils’ empathy: use activities which allow them to see an issue from the perspective of others. Encourage pupils to think about why others may hold a particular view or how they might feel.
Depersonalise language: avoid language like ‘you’ and ‘yours’. Instead, reframe questions and comments using ‘we’ and ‘society’.
Use enquiry-based or problem-solving activities: these allow pupils to develop their capacity for critical thinking and helps them to formulate their own views about complex issues.
Use distancing strategies: using role-play techniques allows pupils to see an issue from a distance.
((Stradling, 1984)

17. Debrief: self-reflection
On a scale of 1−10, rate:
your confidence in using different teaching styles during discussions
your ability to deal with issues that pupils may find sensitive
your self-knowledge and how this might influence how you manage sensitive controversial issues in the classroom
Facilitate discussion using the debrief points in the slide.

18. The role of the teacher: questions
Which aspects of your role would you find most challenging when teaching controversial issues?
Why are these challenges difficult for you?
What CPD would you require to help you to meet these challenges?
How can your CPD needs be met?
Summarise the key points of the presentation for teachers.
Then, allow teachers time to think about and discuss the questions on the slide.