Global citizenship guides: teaching controversial issues

The complexities and inequities of the 21st century mean today’s youth are growing up facing social, political and economic issues on a scale that previous generations did not have to confront. The need to develop skills which enable young people to develop critical thinking about complex global issues, presents a big challenge to educators the world over.

This Global Citizenship Guide is a publication full of strategies and activities to help teachers tackle controversial issues in the classroom. It presents a multitude of participatory teaching and learning methodologies, including discussion and debate, role-play, ranking exercises, and communities of enquiry. The Guide is suitable for use at all ages, from under 5s to post-16s, and across a wide range of curriculum areas.

The Guide specifically explores:

• what controversial issues are
• why controversial issues should be taught
• why some issues are, or can become, controversial
• what guidance exists for handling controversial issues
• classroom strategies for handling and exploring controversial issues
• some practical activities for teaching controversial issues.