Article Review

The article I reviewed was focused on teaching controversial issues in our social studies classrooms and how it seems many teachers are shying away from doing this these days. There are numerous constraints that effect both the content and the depth of the history that is currently being taught. While this article briefly touches upon the lack of teacher subject knowledge and access to resource material, I feel the largest constraint discussed in this paper relates to the controversial issues of history and the restrictions that modern society has placed upon the freedom for teachers to teach history without the worry of offending individuals and their personal beliefs. Teachers have to be concerned with religious, personal and cultural beliefs and use caution within the classroom structure. This in turn leads to teaching the basic facts rather than having the freedom to engage the students to take a critical approach, to debate and to take a risk.
I believe the points made in this paper are a very accurate statement for the challenges all teachers face in the classroom today. In trying to make sure that no one individual and their personal beliefs are offended it becomes easier to just pass on facts rather than trying to get students to relate history to their own lives. It is extremely difficult, in a world that is so multi-cultured to have the confidence to discuss controversial issues.