Att undvika eller omfamna kontroverser : En intervjubaserad studie om lärares förhållningssätt till att undervisa omIsrael-Palestina konflikten

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to examine how social science teachers teach about controversial issues with an emphasis on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The method applied is qualitative semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework consists of Diana E. Hess four approaches to teach controversial issues, Denial, Privilege, Avoidance and Balance and Itay Pollaks et al. two approaches to teach controversial issues, Sidestepping and Scholastizing. Previous research indicates that teachers avoid addressing controversial issues due to lack of knowledge and concerns about potential disruptions in the classroom. The teaching of the Israel-Palestine conflict is approached cautiously and even though it is done by cautious methods it leads to challenging classroom discussions which are permeated by prejudices and generalizations. Despite these challenges, previous research underscores the importance of teaching controversial issues as a means to develop essential skills, for students to become democratic citizens. The analysis and results indicate that teachers don’t stick to one fixed idea of controversial issues. The challenges the teachers bring up align with previous research, where teachers feel inadequately informed about the Israel-Palestine conflict and that students form prejudiced conclusions about the conflict. The potential of teaching about the Israel-Palestine conflict lies in students developing skills such as societal awareness, critical thinking and tolerance. The results demonstrated that teachers adopt various approaches but the majority of the teachers used Hess balanced and Pollaks et.al scholastizing approach. A new approach was found in the analysis that was not addressed in the theoretical framework, a relational approach.