Safe Spaces or Off-Limits? Examining Teacher Responses to Teaching Localized Controversial Topics in Baltimore, Maryland

• In Event: 34.060 - There's No Neutrality in Teaching: Politics and the Profession

Abstract

Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors examined the perceptions, beliefs and teaching methods used by nine teachers in Baltimore following the police-community tensions spurred by the killing of Freddie Gray in 2015. Using Hess’ (2009) “Open and Closed Issues” framework for discussing controversial issues in the social studies classroom, we revisited the same nine teachers three years later to see if the passage of time changed their willingness to engage the topic. The findings highlight the difficulties teachers face in dealing with controversial localized issues in the classroom and the varying levels of comfort teachers faced in remaining objective in the discourse. The paper concludes with strategies and recommendations to help teachers address controversial topics in their classrooms.

Authors

• Sedrick Smith, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

• David Edward DeMatthews, The University of Texas at Austin