Cycle Three: Should the curriculum address controversial issues?

The curriculum should definitely address controversial issues. Teachers do not have to spell out the answers or their opinions, but it is important for students to think and address questions surrounding important issues. After all, as educators, we need to help prepare our young people to become adults who will be able to weigh both sides of an issue and make educated and thoughtful conclusions.

Stephen Thornton’s chapter, Silence on Gays and Lesbians in Social Studies Curriculum, discusses the importance of including “gay history and issues” in K-12 social studies instruction. One reason Thornton provides for this addition to the curriculum is that adults who have not attended college are more prone to be prejudiced against gay people; therefore, what is learned in K-12 education becomes that much more important.  However, although the book, written in 2009, seems current, I contend that society has changed even since then.

I live in a county where only 13 percent of the residents have earned a bachelor’s degree. The majority of my students are considered at-risk. While the number of students in our building on free or reduced lunches has gone up steadily over the past several years, the attitudes concerning homosexuality seemed to have softened during that time. In the fall, as part of a building-wide election unit, my students studied the two presidential candidates’ stances on numerous issues. They were to then write an argument paper where they chose three of the issues to support their claim of which candidate would make the best president. I was astounded at the number of students who chose gay rights as an important issue. Even though most of my students do not have highly educated parents, many of them supported Obama because of his more liberal stance on gay rights. Some even mentioned having homosexual or lesbian relatives as a reason for their opinions. I couldn’t help but take note of what I considered to be a rapid change in society’s, and indeed, my conservative county’s, acceptance of gays and lesbians. I know there is still much prejudice, but my students, even in the recent past, did not seem to be as knowledgeable or as comfortable with the idea of alternative lifestyles until recently. I can’t help but think the media’s portrayal of homosexuality as a common and acceptable occurrence has desensitized much of the population, even those who are not college-educated.

Even with changing attitudes toward homosexuality, I understand that including lessons about gays and lesbians in our curriculum could cause controversy. The segment of society that would object, typically the religious right, tends to be very vocal about such issues. Even if they are in the minority, they can cause a lot of trouble for school districts. School boards and administrators can also pressure teachers to stay away from what they might consider touchy subjects. In fact, our neighboring school district, Corunna Public Schools, recently dealt with a well publicized case on this very issue. In 2009, Corunna High Schools diversity club displayed a showcase in honor of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month. The school board became involved, and the showcase was removed. The ACLU then objected and the showcase was allowed, but the teacher who headed the club ultimately lost her job. Early this month, the teacher filed a lawsuit alleging that her rights had been violated. If her allegations are true, she certainly paid the price for trying to raise awareness in her school.

Thornton’s article made me think about ways to incorporate gay and lesbian rights into my English curriculum. However, the happenings in Corunna are a reminder that I would have to be very careful about how the issue is presented. I am already in the midst of planning a unit on social injustice. I had planned to bring in literature about the Holocaust, about the ongoing plight of Native Americans, and the Japanese internment camps during World War II. This article gave me the idea of incorporating the book, suggested in the article, called Reading Jack. The book is about a boy dealing with his father being gay. It appears to be appropriate for middle school students, so that makes it appealing to me. I also plan to gather materials and ideas from the magazine, Teaching Tolerance, and its website.

I loved the readings this week because they sparked ideas for me to use in my classroom.  The issues are timely and would work well with the philosophies of International Baccalaureate and inquiry-based learning. Getting students to think about and discuss controversial issues is one way to prepare them for adulthood.