Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-86 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Journal of Philosophy of Education |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2018 |
Abstract
How should we teach controversial issues? And which issues should we teach as controversies? In this paper, I argue that educators should heed what I call a ‘psychological condition’ in their practical efforts to address these questions. In defending this claim, I engage with the various decision criteria that have been advanced in the controversial issues literature: the epistemic criterion, behavioral criterion, political criterion and politically authentic criterion. My argument is that the supporters of these various criteria have focused too closely on the socio-political and epistemic qualities of controversial issues in deriving their controversial issues pedagogies and have thereby overlooked the necessary subjective conditions for teaching controversial issues. If our pedagogical efforts to cultivate students’ reason by means of controversial issues are to be successful, then we must understand controversy as fundamentally a psychological phenomenon consisting in an intellectual tension in the minds of students. In the final pages, I conclude by recommending several forms of directive teaching that promise to be instrumental for creating such intellectual tension.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Education
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Philosophy
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- History
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In: Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 52, No. 1, 02.2018, p. 71-86.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Thinking Controversially
T2 - The Psychological Condition for Teaching Controversial Issues
AU - Yacek, D.
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - How should we teach controversial issues? And which issues should we teach as controversies? In this paper, I argue that educators should heed what I call a ‘psychological condition’ in their practical efforts to address these questions. In defending this claim, I engage with the various decision criteria that have been advanced in the controversial issues literature: the epistemic criterion, behavioral criterion, political criterion and politically authentic criterion. My argument is that the supporters of these various criteria have focused too closely on the socio-political and epistemic qualities of controversial issues in deriving their controversial issues pedagogies and have thereby overlooked the necessary subjective conditions for teaching controversial issues. If our pedagogical efforts to cultivate students’ reason by means of controversial issues are to be successful, then we must understand controversy as fundamentally a psychological phenomenon consisting in an intellectual tension in the minds of students. In the final pages, I conclude by recommending several forms of directive teaching that promise to be instrumental for creating such intellectual tension.
AB - How should we teach controversial issues? And which issues should we teach as controversies? In this paper, I argue that educators should heed what I call a ‘psychological condition’ in their practical efforts to address these questions. In defending this claim, I engage with the various decision criteria that have been advanced in the controversial issues literature: the epistemic criterion, behavioral criterion, political criterion and politically authentic criterion. My argument is that the supporters of these various criteria have focused too closely on the socio-political and epistemic qualities of controversial issues in deriving their controversial issues pedagogies and have thereby overlooked the necessary subjective conditions for teaching controversial issues. If our pedagogical efforts to cultivate students’ reason by means of controversial issues are to be successful, then we must understand controversy as fundamentally a psychological phenomenon consisting in an intellectual tension in the minds of students. In the final pages, I conclude by recommending several forms of directive teaching that promise to be instrumental for creating such intellectual tension.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042356743&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1467-9752.12282
DO - 10.1111/1467-9752.12282
M3 - Article
VL - 52
SP - 71
EP - 86
JO - Journal of Philosophy of Education
JF - Journal of Philosophy of Education
SN - 0309-8249
IS - 1
ER -