Download to read offline
Uploaded byRenee Hobbs
Controversial Issues in the Classroom
The document discusses the importance of addressing controversial issues in the classroom, emphasizing media literacy and activism as means to reform corrupt institutional systems. It highlights various instructional methods such as discussion groups and advocacy campaigns to facilitate learning about topics like race, immigration, and propaganda. The text advocates for fostering intellectual curiosity and critical thinking among students to engage effectively with these issues.
More Related Content
Similar to Controversial Issues in the Classroom
Controversial Issues in the Classroom
- 1. Exploring Controversial Issues in theClassroom October 28, 2021 Renee Hobbs University of Rhode Island Media Education Lab, USA Twitter: @reneehobbs
- 3. The Dystopia –Utopia Continuum
- 4. The Dystopia –Utopia Continuum Dystopia Utopia Emotions Social Norms Information
- 5. Emotions Social Norms Information Institutional systemsare corrupt and anti-democratic The Dystopia – Utopia Continuum
- 6. Emotions Social Norms Information Institutional systemscan be reformed through activism The Dystopia – Utopia Continuum
- 7. Fear Cultivates Mistrust,Alienation & Engagement Emotions Social Norms Information Institutional systems can be reformed through activism Institutional systems are corrupt and anti-democratic
- 8. How should theinternet & social media be regulated? How can I control who uses my data? How should our nation respond to the needs of migrants and immigrants? How do we reduce racism & inequality? What rights do people have to self-expression? What are the limits? Should students be able to use their mobile phones in school?
- 9. BEING ONLINE Access &Inclusion Learning & Creativity Media & Information Literacy WELLBEING ONLINE Ethics & Empathy Health & Wellbeing E-Presence & Communication RIGHTS ONLINE Active Participation Rights & Responsibilities Privacy & Security Consumer Awareness Council of Europe (2018). Digital Citizenship Education (DCE).
- 12.
- 13. If we banishfrom our minds, our libraries, and our classrooms any examination of politics, religion, race, environment, sex, justice, and the like, we might protect ourselves from the possible discomfort we might experience. All we have to do is trivialize the curriculum to the point that few will be bothered by anything. If we can make instruction completely insignificant, utterly irrelevant to anyone’s emotional and intellectual life, then absolutely no one should rise up to protest the threat we pose to treasured beliefs, valued affiliations, or well-established habits of thought and action. --Kylene Beers, “A Curriculum of Irrelevancy”
- 14. Media Literacy EducatorsMust Specialize in Teaching the Controversies
- 15. The Dynamic Natureof Controversy When you were growing up, what were some topics that were not at that time considered controversial but today would be considered controversial? immigration race relations gender identity attitudes towards federal government sexuality vaccines
- 18. What is Propaganda? •Propaganda appears in a variety of forms • Propaganda is strategic and intentional • Propaganda aims to influence attitudes, opinions and behaviors • Propaganda can be beneficial or harmful • Propaganda may use truth, half-truths or lies • To be successful, propaganda taps into our deepest values, fear, hopes and dreams • Propaganda uses any means to accomplish its goal
- 19. Propaganda and otherpersuasive genres are rarely examined or analyzed in schools even though new forms of persuasive technologies aim to influence emotions, attitudes, and beliefs without awareness
- 20.
- 21. GLOBAL SPENDING ON ADVERTISING In2021 $749 BILLION Google, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba and ByteDance received 46% of global ad spending Sponsored Content Influencers Geo Location Targeting Dark Patterns Nudging Personalized Advertising Product Placement
- 22. Settled issues Questions forwhich there is broad-based agreement that a particular decision is well- warranted. Open issues Questions that are matters of live and current controversy in the public sphere Two Types of Controversies
- 23. Controversial Issues areSituational & Contextual
- 24. Propaganda is usedto disrupt social consensus, helping settled issues become open controversies Propaganda is also used to develop social consensus, helping open controversies to become settled issues
- 29. What are someeffective instructional methods of teaching the controversies?
- 31. DISCUSSION Groups of studentsare randomly assigned to small groups to read about an issue, consider various policy proposals, come to a consensus about a policy they would all endorse, and then present their ideas to the others.
- 32. DEBATE Small groups ofstudents read about an issue and then form two opposing teams. Teams are given time to prepare arguments, and each student delivers a one-minute persuasive statement before the sides can engage in a back- and-forth exchange of ideas. The goal is to influence a jury or panel of peers who determine which team is the winner. DISCUSSION Groups of students are randomly assigned to small groups to read about an issue, consider various policy proposals, come to a consensus about a policy they would all endorse, and then present their ideas to the others.
- 33. Debate produces anxietywhile deliberation increases feelings of respect & self-esteem
- 34. Deliberation supports consensus-building Debatecreates divisions in attitudes McAvoy, P., & McAvoy, G. E. (2021). Can debate and deliberation reduce partisan divisions? Evidence from a study of high school students. Peabody Journal of Education, 96(3), 275-284.
- 35. CLOSE READING Students workin small groups to examine a media text and demonstrate their comprehension of it by explaining key ideas in their own words. They identify information about the author & purpose and analyze how language, image and other techniques are used to attract attention, arouse emotion, and convey values. Close reading helps learners recognize values, ideology, and point of view Parkhouse, H. (2018) Pedagogies of naming, questioning, and demystification: A study of two critical U.S. history Classrooms. Theory & Research in Social Education, 46:2, 277-317, DOI: 10.1080/00933104.2017.1389327.
- 38. CREATE TO LEARN:ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN Small groups of students learn about an issue and then develop a media campaign to promote a particular policy or action aimed to influence a target audience, working in teams to identify desired attitude or behavior change. They create a slogan, logo, and other campaign materials including video, meme, infographic or podcast, circulating their own messages using their social network. Create to learn activities help learners visualize themselves as change agents Henry, A. (2019). Online media creation and L2 motivation: A socially situated perspective. Tesol Quarterly, 53(2), 372-404.
- 39.
- 40. Hilo High School,Hawaii
- 41. Replace Fear withIntellectual Curiosity Emotions Social Norms Information Institutional systems can be reformed through activism Institutional systems are corrupt and anti-democratic
- 42.
- 43.
- 44. Renee Hobbs University ofRhode Island Media Education Lab Email: hobbs@uri.edu Twitter: @reneehobbs Web: www.mediaeducationlab.com Exploring Controversial Issues in the Classroom