A teacher said this to me at a recent training event, as part of an explanation about their fear of teaching about some of the more controversial or divisive political and social events, changes and questions.
It is common and understandable to avoid teaching certain topics, debates and issues in our classrooms, as we might around the dinner table or at a family party. Teachers often fear complaints, or are concerned about their own lack of subject knowledge, quality of resources or ability to explain complex and potentially divisive things. Avoiding the more controversial is human nature.
But should we be braver?
Vivienne Porritt and Keziah Featherstone’s book ‘10% Braver’ and the #WomenEd movement on social media, encourages female educators to be braver in their careers, taking the small steps to overcome fears, speak up and lead.
If we applied this 10% braver approach to the ‘what’ of our curriculum, how different could it, or would it be? Taking small steps to be braver in tackling and including challenging themes and questions, teaching things that don’t have a clear answer, and challenging ourselves to grow as teachers and facilitators of thinking about these complex issues, could transform learner experiences.
Because I have always thought one of the many things that our leaners need from education is to be exposed to the most important debates, discussions, and issues that have divided opinion or where there are complex and differing views and perspectives. Surely we are doing our young people a disservice if we don’t? Because the world is complex.
Take politics as an example. At the moment we have the rise of more extreme political opinions in Uk and worldwide. Our young people are seeing complex issues like migration, economic development, international aid, all being pushed towards them on social media, in often simplified, biased, or inaccurate ways. How can young people navigate the swamp of mis- and dis-information without the knowledge of the issues, and the skills to look at the evidence, consider the opinions, discuss, reflect and think critically about their own viewpoints.
Because often, very often it seems, people develop views and opinions that become entrenched in their own identity. And people don’t easily or often change their views, even if new evidence comes to light, or the validity of their view is called into question. We are quick to develop opinions, often without considering the evidence, or thinking deeply about the issue. I recall numerous A level essays where the student stated what they thought about the issue at the start, presented a huge range of evidence that countered their opinion, and yet still held firm to their original view in their conclusion!
So, I plan to produce some teaching materials that help us all to teach our young people to understand and think deeply about complex things, and to develop their own views based on this thinking and reflection. It may take a while, but I will have some materials for schools to trial during the Autumn term. Get in touch if you want to help pilot the materials in your school.