Teaching Controversial Issues
The teaching of value laden issues has generated much controversy. Some argue that in a pluralistic society, there can be no broad consensus on values. People who adopt this assumption argue that social studies education has to be objective and value free in order to avoid offending certain points of view. A second position is to provide students with opportunities to clarify their personal values, work out the consequences of those values and decide for themselves what they will or will not accept. A third position is to argue that there is some basic consensus on fundamental moral and ethical values in our society and that these values can be taught in some meaningful way.
The approach World Issues takes is that there are some fundamental values on which there is some agreement. World Issues also accepts that there are many disagreements and that students need to learn to deal with controversy. The social studies and history curricula provide students with learning experiences that will help them identify some of the fundamental value positions of society and how these arose. This curriculum deals with controversy, even invites it. However, it does not suggest that any belief is as good as any other belief. Our society does not accept that, and we should not give that impression to our students. Therefore this curriculum makes no attempt to be objective in the sense of being value free.
There is a fine line between education and propaganda. World Issues treads this line by giving students opportunities to examine controversial issues. Debating these issues will allow students the scope and motivation to learn to use and apply concepts and higher order thinking skills to organize information meaningfully. In this process, students can begin to understand the role of values as the basis for making inferences. From this, it is a short step to understanding that values provide us with evaluative criteria and that we depend upon the traditions of society to provide us with these guidelines. A short list of these criteria would include human dignity, basic rights and responsibilities as defined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and respect of and tolerance for individual differences based on human dignity.
In determining what is appropriate for the student in the areas of Values Objectives
, teachers should be aware of family and community standards. Educational decisions related to value objectives in the classroom should reflect these standards as well as those in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If a controversy arises between positions taken by family and community and that of the Charter, students should be encouraged to engage in dialectical thinking about the various positions before arriving at their personal value position.
Evaluation
Evaluation of Student Learning
The curriculum guide includes three categories of objectives: knowledge, skills/abilities, and values. Each category includes specific learning objective statements which define the expectations of the curriculum. From these statements the teacher will need to identify, in specific terms, those dimensions of the learning objectives that the teacher considers appropriate for the students. The course as a whole and each unit has a set of foundational or core objectives which all students are expected to achieve. The remaining time can either be used for enrichment or for additional help and support. Evaluation should, at the minimum, be based on these foundational objectives.
Evaluation of Values Objectives
Teachers should avoid evaluating students' value positions as either right or wrong. This is only appropriate in situations relating to fundamental human rights. In most cases, there are quite a variety of acceptable positions in a pluralistic society. Therefore, teachers should try to pursue with students the reasoning that lies behind the value position.
Values Objectives
in the curriculum guide call for the student to appreciate the complexity of many issues related to various aspects of social life. This is not a demand that students adopt a certain value position, but rather a suggestion that students should begin to understand some of the underlying moral, ethical, and aesthetic conflicts and contradictions of the social issue in question. Objectives of this sort lend themselves much more readily to informal methods of formative evaluation.
From individual, group, and class discussions, teachers can get a "feel" for what students have learned about a values objective that has been taught in the classroom. Teachers should chart changes which occur in student values rather than evaluate the quality of students' values. These changes may be recorded through the use of anecdotal records and checklists.
A major objective of social studies and Core Curriculum is to teach critical and creative thinking. Teachers must not deny this process to the students by insisting on a single value position in the classroom. Rather, the teacher ought to use these opportunities to stimulate discussion and independent thinking about issues.
Encourage students to develop the thinking and communications skills that allow them to develop legitimate value positions and to express and defend them in open debate. Teachers may evaluate students' work from this perspective, provided it is clear that the skills of thinking, logic, and communication are being evaluated rather than a specific value position. Being specific as to what these skills are and the stages in development that occur in them aids the teacher in constructing assessment instruments to gather such information. Note: For a more detailed discussion of these issues see pages 46-49 of Saskatchewan Education (1988), Understanding the common essential learnings: A handbook for teachers.
Evaluation of Skills/Abilities
It is important in evaluation to show clearly that there is a relationship or congruence between what has been taught and what is being evaluated. If an important teaching objective has been skills/abilities, then test instruments should also measure skills/abilities. It is important in meeting the objectives of this course to emphasize skills/abilities as well as information in any evaluative instrument used.
It is equally important when evaluating skills that students be asked to demonstrate that they know the skill needed in a particular situation and how to apply it. Students should be asked to apply the skill to new material, so that they are not able to use preformed generalizations as a crutch in the evaluation.
Types of Evaluation
It is useful to distinguish between the terms assessment and evaluation. These terms are often used interchangeably, which causes some confusion in their meaning. Assessment is a preliminary phase in the evaluation process. In this phase various strategies are used to gather information about student progress. Evaluation is the weighing of assessment information against some standard (such as curriculum learning objectives) in order to make a judgment or evaluation about the performance of the student. This may then lead to other decisions and action by the teacher, student, or parent.
There are three main types of student evaluation:
- Formative evaluation is an ongoing classroom process that keeps students and educators informed of students' progress towards program learning objectives. The main purpose of formative evaluation is to improve instruction and student learning. It provides teachers with information which can be used to modify instructional objectives. Students are provided direction for future learning and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own progress.
- Summative evaluation occurs most often at the end of a unit of study. Its primary purpose is to determine what has been learned over a period of time, to summarize student progress, and to report on progress relative to curriculum objectives to students, parents, and educators.
- Diagnostic evaluation usually occurs at the beginning of the school year or before a unit of instruction. Its main purposes are to identify students who lack prerequisite knowledge, understanding, or skills, so that remedial help can be arranged; to identify gifted learners to ensure that they are being sufficiently challenged; and to identify student interests.
Teachers conduct all three types of evaluation during the course of the school year.
Guiding Principles of Student Evaluation
Recognizing the importance of evaluation as an integral part of the curriculum, Saskatchewan Education, Training and Employment has developed five general guiding principles which are closely linked to the Evaluation in Education report and provide a framework to assist teachers in planning for student evaluation. For a more extensive treatment see Saskatchewan Education (1991). Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook.
- Evaluation is an essential part of the teaching-learning process. It should be a planned, continuous activity which is closely linked to both curriculum and instruction.
- Evaluation should be guided by the intended learning outcomes of the curriculum and a variety of assessment strategies should be used.
- Evaluation plans should be communicated in advance. Students should have opportunities for input to the evaluation process.
- Evaluation should be fair and equitable. It should be sensitive to family, classroom, school, and community situations; it should be free of bias. Students should be given opportunities to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understandings, skills, and attitudes.
- Evaluation should help students. It should provide positive feedback and encourage students to actively participate in their own learning.
Phases of the Evaluation Process
Although evaluation is not strictly sequential, it can be viewed as a cyclical process including four phases: preparation, assessment, evaluation, and reflection. The evaluation process involves the teacher as decision maker throughout all four phases.
