Social studies teachers' views and practices on teaching of controversial issues

Today, many issues have become debated in the globalizing world. These controversial issues affect both society and individuals, who are a part of society. Society expects individuals to realize debated issues that exist in the entire world and in their own society and generate solutions to these debated issues. Social studies class helps individuals acquire these skills. Thus, controversial issues are important for social studies that contain social issues. Teachers play an important role in the teaching of debated issues. Social studies teachers that involve controversial issues in their classes may not only teach their students how to be sensitive to the national and the world problems, but also develop their citizenship competence. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the opinions and applications of social studies teachers concerning the teaching of debated issues. The study was conducted by using the mixed method, which uses both the qualitative and the quantitative method. The study data were collected by using questionnaire and semi-structured observation forms. Developed by Yazıcı and Seçgin (2010) for preservice teachers; the scale was applied to 646 social studies teachers in 26 provinces. Quantitative data were evaluated by using frequency, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, t-test and one-way analysis of variance. Observations were performed in the province of Kırşehir in the second term of the school year of 2014-2015. Classes of eight social studies teachers working at four schools with different socio-economic levels were observed. The data acquired via the semi-structured observation form were evaluated with content analysis. As a result of the study, it was determined that even though social studies teachers involved debated issues in the classroom environment, they paid attention for these issues to be generally selected from the curriculum. The issues that are considered debated by social studies teachers in Turkey are different from debated issues that are brought into the classroom environment. Teachers state that they abstain from expressing their opinions and remain objective in the teaching of debated issues. On the other hand, they express their opinions in debated issues in practice. Teachers state that they bring debated issues into the classroom environment for the purpose of creating a democratic classroom environment. In the teaching of debated issues, teachers experience problems about not only students, but also academic, professional and emotional aspects.