by Monica Constantin, journalist and Fulvio Oscar Benussi, journalist and AIDR Foundation member
What do you think of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians? But when will the war in Ukraine end? Do you think there will be a third world war?
These are the disturbing questions that the kids and children who attend our schools ask.
The question to ask is:
How should teachers behave in class when these questions are posed to them?
- The questions must be evaded: "we are already behind with the program and we cannot dwell on these questions..."
or,
- These are fundamental and emotionally engaging questions for young people and children and it is therefore necessary to take charge of them
We think that it is a precise duty of teachers to accompany their students or pupils in reflecting on the implications and different possible points of view on the issues raised. If we avoid talking about it at school we risk kids going online where there is no control over what they see and read...
Additionally, schools are the best place for young people to talk about difficult topics.
The question therefore becomes: what activities and methodologies should be used to do this?
First of all: how should the teacher manage his or her individual position on the topic? It would be very serious if the teacher took the opportunity to state and promote his own personal interpretation of the facts.
Article 33 of the Constitution states that: Art and science are free and their teaching is free. We believe that this article affirms the need for "freedom of teaching" to protect "freedom of learning". That is, freedom of teaching must be interpreted to protect the "small citizens" who are the students and pupils of our schools. In this sense we think that the freedom indicated in art. 33 of the Constitution must be linked to the duty to allow students to express their opinions freely without possible consequences on their academic performance. It is vital to teach students and pupils that multiple points of view exist, with full rights to be expressed. This must be done by teachers capable of being impartial guides.
Methodologically, the debates that take place at school on the current issues indicated above will be proposed by reporting historical data and information from authoritative sources.
To avoid the risks we mentioned earlier that "kids go online where there is no control over what they see and read...", and to encourage reflection based on data from authoritative sources, it may be useful to follow the WebQuest strategy . The WebQuest is a teaching strategy that allows students to obtain information from the internet through a teacher-guided process. It is a learning method oriented towards research and investigation, which promotes the development of critical thinking. The WebQuest is a very precious tool because it is the teacher who selects the materials to use and this allows students to work critically, avoiding fakes, false news and conspiracy theories present on the Internet.
In high schools, denying debate would be particularly negative because it would risk "fueling anger, hatred and polarization". Debates should help students develop their critical thinking and learn the importance of kindness and respect in discussions of controversial issues. The classroom is the best place to learn this way of behaving.
Many teachers probably feel unprepared to talk about conflicts and know that if they do, they are expected to remain impartial. This impartiality must be understood as an intrinsic ethical duty of the teaching profession.
On controversial topics in England the urgency of encouraging reflection in schools is strongly felt. For this reason, the Government has set up a website to accompany parents, teachers and school leaders in this complex task: https://www.educateagainstthate.com/. We suggest that a similar information, training and support service for schools be made available in Italy too.
The arguments discussed in the article lead us to propose a final reflection.
The art. 42 of the National Collective Labor Agreement for staff in the Education and Research sector for the period 2019-2021 specifies:
The professional profile of teachers is made up of disciplinary, IT, linguistic, psycho-pedagogical, methodological-didactic, organisational-relational, orientation and research, documentation and evaluation skills which are interrelated and interacting, which develop with the maturation of teaching experience, the study and systematization of teaching practice.
Given the above, we believe that among the skills to promote "free learning" the following should be considered: the ability to manage conflicts and promote debates also using digital resources available on the Internet, as well as the development of students' ability to manage intersubjective mediation methods. . These practices would also facilitate the development of soft skill expertise.
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