Discussing controversial issues in the classroom: Exploring students' safety perceptions and their willingness to participate

Teaching and Teacher Education, vol. 125, pp. 104044

Abstract

Discussing controversial issues is an important means to support secondary school students' democratic citizenship. Using questionnaires, we investigated how students' (N = 284) willingness to participate in such discussions is associated with their safety perceptions (identity threat, classroom opinion climate, teacher interpersonal behavior) and personality traits (extraversion). We used the controversial Dutch tradition of Black Pete as a case. Exploratory network analysis showed that students’ willingness to participate increased when they experienced identity threat. Our findings suggest that teachers can encourage student participation in discussions about controversial issues by creating a safe classroom environment.

Authors 4

1. Bjorn Wansink corresponding

   Utrecht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Education, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands

2. Hanneke Mol

   Utrecht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Education, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands

3. Jaël Kortekaas

   Utrecht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Utrecht University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Education, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, the Netherlands

4. Tim Mainhard Aachen Faculty of Social Sciences

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Educational Sciences, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, the Netherlands