One of the distinctive challenges of contemporary citizenship and political discourse is that young people (and many adults) are inundated with instantaneous but unreliable information and images, including intolerant or extremist opinions, which can be encountered through everyday communication. Against this backdrop, existing approaches to teaching about controversial issues and online information may not engage with students’ myriad situated experiences, strong emotions, or digital cultures and capabilities, which often remain disconnected from planned school curriculum.
This project includes research teams in Canada, Croatia, and England, working with schools to explore teachers’ and young people’s experiences of how schools address divisive issues and intolerance. In each school we are:
- Talking to teachers to find out about their teaching practices and their experiences engaging with divisive contemporary issues in their local contexts.
- Talking to students about the divisive issues that affect them and their experiences of whether / how schools engage with these issues.
- Working with students and teachers to co-construct learning activities and resources to tackle divisive issues in schools in positive ways.
For information about the 4Cs project you can contact the country leads:
