As the new school year starts, the media is filled with stories about local and state assaults on teaching about racismgender and sexuality, as well as the rights of LGBTQ students and teachers. While these threats to public education are deadly serious, educators can confront them with knowledge and forward-thinking strategies instead of succumbing to fearful self-censorship.

Hundreds of bills are pending in 44 states, and laws or executive actions have been passed in 18 states that are intended to restrict or ban teaching about race, racism, gender and sexuality. Virulent attacks have targeted districts, school boards, schools, libraries and individual administrators, teachers and librarians. They are often led by non-parents and outside agitators working for political groups such as Moms for Liberty.

Whether these efforts are understood as the anti-critical race theory movementconflict campaign or culture wars targeting supposed woke education, the chilling effect on teachers and school leaders is real. Educators are confused about whether their state has passed laws that restrict teaching, what those laws say and how they might be affected by them. They are getting mixed messages as restrictions on teaching contradict the charge to strengthen the teaching of meaningful civicscontroversial issues and honest history.

This framework for reflective practice, derived from a research project on preparing teachers for controversial issues, embodies contained risk taking and encapsulates these strategies. The research examined how four educators at universities in Northern Ireland, England and the Midwestern U.S. prepared teacher candidates for controversy in history, social studies and citizenship classes, and what those student teachers learned and put into practice. The framework is now used by K-12 teachers, school leaders and teacher educators. Here is specific guidance for educators based on five of its elements.

  1. Prepare Thoroughly: If your state, local government or school district has relevant laws or policies, make sure you read them completely.
  2. Communicate Proactively: Keeping open lines of communication with stakeholders, including students, parents and administrators, can head off many potential challenges before they begin.
  3. Choose Resources and Teaching Methods: Use sources and approaches to inquiry and discussion that foster an exchange of ideas among students and develop their media literacy.
  4. Cultivate a Supportive Environment: Safe and supportive classrooms and schools make students more open to learning how to engage in civil discourse across differences on significant issues. Take time to develop expectations (with student input), relationships and community.
  5. Think Through Teacher Stance: Given accusations of indoctrination, educators must reflect on their own perspectives and consciously decide when and how to express them.

Read the full article about helping teachers with diversity and democracy by Christopher Clark and Judith L. Pace at The 74.