Beyond allowing ventilation: How to connect the social-emotional and the cognitive in teachers’ handling of controversial political issues (CPI)?

Twenty-first century teachers are expected to have a holistic approach to teaching including addressing students’ self-determination, interpersonal awareness, cultural sensitivity, empathy and self-regulation. Discussions of controversial political issues (CPI) provide opportunities to examine the interplay between emotional and cognitive components, the former having rarely been studied. As part of a larger study, teachers were asked to provide a description of a CPI discussion in class. The 387 valid responses were analysed qualitatively, and the model that emerged connected triggers, motivations, responses and outcomes. The students and teachers were found to have different motivations and needs: while students were concerned with emotional needs, teachers had educational goals in mind. Teachers wanted to quell the emotional unease, to prevent racist remarks, to keep control of the classroom, and to tie the discussions to the curriculum. Teachers mainly used cognitive responses and somewhat allowed students to ventilate, or used moderating responses, all of which produced partial results. Some teachers avoided the discussion altogether, which was the least useful. The smallest proportion used a mixture of responses, which met both educational and emotional needs. Implications to teacher training, including the importance of training in social-emotional aspects of teaching, are discussed.