Promoting global citizenship: Using controversial issues in Social Science lessons

Studies have shown that positive citizenship outcomes are associated with giving students opportunities to explore controversial issues, in an open and supportive classroom environment. Social Science taught without teaching controversial issues will have little or no effect on students' orientation towards citizenship, social justice and community participation. The study from which this paper is drawn uses unstructured interviews as well as audio and video stimulated recall to elicit participants' understanding of controversial issues, the approaches they use to teach controversial issues in the classroom and the constraints involved. Using Leximancer software to analyse the qualitative interview data, the study concludes that although teachers' understanding of controversial issues is by no means unanimous, there is nevertheless a deep understanding that teaching controversial issues to children makes a positive difference in helping them develop toward better citizens.