Schools have an important role to play in helping to educate their students about the controversial topics of the day in a balanced and impartial way.
With emotions running high in today’s so-called “culture war”, the Department for Education has released timely guidance on how to navigate such fraught issues. Although including no new statutory requirements, the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi wrote that it would help all parties to understand how schools should go about meeting their legal duties, allowing issues to be resolved through constructive dialogue and agreement rather than unnecessary escalation”.
To be sure, there is no limit on the range of political topics and viewpoints schools can teach about. From the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to climate change activism, it is recognised that debating controversy is an essential part of a modern education that helps nurture virtues such as critical thinking and awareness of other perspectives.
Nevertheless, the starting point for teaching such sensitive subjects is to ensure impartiality on the one hand, while actively promoting “British values” on the other, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Additionally, the guidance states that “schools designated with a religious character are free to teach according to the tenets of their faith”. For Jewish schools, this means that where traditional Jewish beliefs may be perceived to be in tension with British values, such as in relationships and sex education, teachers may promote the school’s religious viewpoint alongside teaching tolerance and respect for other lifestyles. Moreover, schools are accountable for the external agencies and speakers they work with, making sure students receive a balanced account of the issues covered and never working with organisations that adopt extreme political positions.
Of course, part of the problem has been about how we define issues of controversy. This is vital to help teachers frame the topic under discussion and so decide whether to take a directive or non-directive approach. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict stands out as a highly sensitive and controversial political issue. Despite entrenched positions on different sides of the debate claiming “right” on their side, teachers are advised to maintain “neutral impartiality”, fostering a discussion of controversy without disclosing their own view.
It is crucial that in the classroom the conflict is taught in a non-partisan and non-directive way so that the factual content is presented fairly, while differing narratives are also included, with the best arguments offered for all sides of the conflict — within the parameters of British values. At the same time, in keeping with a school’s Jewish ethos, it is entirely acceptable to celebrate Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
Yet teachers must recognise that neutrality isn’t always the correct approach. For example, in July 2019, William Latson, the headteacher of the Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton, Florida, was sacked after telling a parent he would remain neutral on whether or not the Holocaust happened. He said: “I do allow information about the Holocaust to be presented and allow students and parents to make decisions about it accordingly.”
However, as Deborah Lipstadt, a leading historian of the Holocaust, candidly tweeted: “This principal —who’s neutral on whether the Holocaust happened — should be fired because he’s an idiot. The Holocaust has the dubious distinction of being the best documented genocide in the world.” To doubt the Holocaust, or even remain neutral on it, flies in the face of basic educational norms.
Rather, each viewpoint needs to be judged by the evidence or reasoned arguments in their favour. Where only one view enjoys such support, the teacher should take a directive approach, teaching that racial prejudice, for example, is wrong — no matter how many people may disagree.
Quite simply, not all opinions are equal. While many people may make unsubstantiated claims about climate change caused by human activities, schools must reject such misinformation that fly in the face of scientific evidence.
Teachers have a clear duty to help guide their students through the minefield of competing narratives from a largely unregulated social and news media. Even where they may lack direct expertise in the subject matter at hand, the DfE’s guidance can set the boundaries to ensure a purposeful learning environment that thinks about controversy in terms of evidence, reasoned argument, and British values.
Glenn Bezalel is director of teaching and Learning at St Helen’s School for Girls in London and a trustee of the Jewish Community Trust. He will be presenting at this week PaJeS teacher training session on Dealing with Controversial Topics in the Classroom
