A note for the teacher regarding teaching sensitive and controversial topics
In all parts of this e-module (i.e. the topics of freedom, manipulation and misinterpretation of history), it is inevitable to open issues that might be considered sensitive and controversial. Hence, it is highly recommended to use politically correct and “neutral” inclusive language which is devoid of any kinds of unequal and unfair treatment of minority perspectives, freed from both auto- and hetero-stereotypes as well as ethnic, racial, religious or gender prejudices. All established issues and questions are opened to the pluralist principles of dialogue, negotiation, mediation and discussion including Rawlsian “overlapping consensus” and liberal notion of free and peaceful of the dialogue between competing worldviews. During the whole realization of the programme, these principles and methods are treated as necessary for maintaining the pluralist and safe environment of the community of enquiry:
- Establish common and consensual principles of work in groups
- Implement safe and obligatory rules of free, democratic and non-offending discussion
- Setting the difference between “exchange of views” and “personal attacks”
- In the case of collision of ideas, the teacher is expected to argue and explain, not to criticize and evaluate
- Make sure that students can identify with the group that they work in and that they can accept the rules and principles of role-playing games and simulations
- All members of the group can feel both freedom as well as responsibility for the common collective work and should take the sensitivity of the controversial topics into account
- All topics, arguments and examples should be discussed with respect to social, cultural, political, geographical contexts and differences
- All the work should support and respect the principle of free proliferation of data, information, ideas and sources
- All arguments should be based on the free, relevant and responsible work with sources of knowledge and information
- All fake news, irrelevant sources and misinterpretation should be identified, analysed and rejected for the needs of free democratic debate
- The particular needs and opinions of each student should be taken into consideration; hence, the teacher should flexibly and continuously change the activities, methods as well as approaches
- All members (teachers and students) are expected to use non-discriminatory language and ethical approaches in the discussion
- All students should feel free not to take part in any phase of the project or to decide not to carry on in the project in the case that their worldview or personal mindset would not correspond with the essential principle of any of the employed activities (i.e. the teacher constantly takes care of their own and students’ comfort and safety).
The exercises are theoretically and more thoroughly analysed in: Květina, J. (2022). The Pluralist Paradigm in the Czech Educational Process: Teaching about Collective Identities and Democracy in the Constructivist Educational Project. In. Górak-Sosnowska, K., Markowska-Manista, U. Inclusive Education in Central and Eastern Europe: Comparative studies of Teaching Ethnicity, Religion and Gender. Bloomsbury.
