5.1 Real world stories, issues and dilemmas
What's making the headlines?
It's good to remain flexible throughout the PPS course to incorporate what is going on in the news. This keeps the PPS course dynamic and relevant. You cannot predict when and where news stories will crop up but it pays to take advantage of authentic opportunities to put skills into practice in real world situations. Let's explore stories that are making the news and provides ideas for how they can be explored in lessons at the drop of a hat.
To discuss or not to discuss? And if we discuss, then HOW do we discuss?
Heads up, this is a difficult one and utterly challenging as an educator which is why I have written a blog style piece aimed directly to the educator. However, it has always been part of a teacher's reality that sensitive issues come up and it is not if we discuss them is as important as how we discuss them. Knowing strategies that show us how to navigate difficult discussions, ideas and events is just as reassuring for teachers as it is for students and contributes hugely to overall esteem and resilience.
‘Our challenge as educators
The imperative to look after our students and colleagues affected by war, to make sure they feel safe, is of paramount importance. On the other hand, it is not by avoiding discussing global events that we will help our students become caring, critical thinkers. Hence the challenge that faces us all. One thing is for sure, if we do not curate these discussions, social media will do it for us and that will not provide the scaffolding needed to nurture critically minded global citizens’[1].
Conrad Hughes, War: how to respond as international educators?',
accessed 28/02/2022
Analysis and Opinion
Conrad Hughes has written a sensitive and perceptive piece in War: how to respond as international educators?[1] about both the moral imperative to discuss difficult subject matters at a time of crisis but also practical strategies in how to do so. As ever, our role as educators is to remove barriers to learning and at the heart of everything we do. This situation is no different.
By listening to our students and endeavouring to create safe, open forums where students experience carefully scaffolded discussions and feel in control of their critical thinking, we are doing our best.
It can be frightening to go there and certainly it is genuinely not always an appropriate time or context to do so - your judgement and instinct will serve you well. But here is some food for thought and ideas if this is something that needs to happen in your classroom.
Throughout Hughes’ article, we can see how explicitly and deliberately utililising the Approaches to Teaching and Learning gives us the scaffolding we need as teachers - the stabilisers on the bike to employ a metaphor. They help us create the space to discuss sensitive issues. After all, they are sensitive because they are dealing with big ideas concerning humanity in immediate real life situations. Therefore teaching that encourages conceptual understanding is needed here but it is the interplay between the big ideas and the local and global examples that needs careful managing. And in this dealing with big ideas needs students to feel in control of the subject matter as far as possible. Any given day involves being bombarded with information from everywhere so leading with inquiry and asking students what the questions are that we are really wanting to ask is another caring step to take. Sometimes it is appropriate not to tackle the issue in hand with direct examples - unfortunately when it comes to matters of war and conflict, too many examples abound so it can be just as supportive to explore questions that have been raised by recent events in other real world examples. The student is still being given the opportunity to reflect as they transfer questions to other contexts.
However, in regard of recent news in Northern Europe, Hughes offers a careful set of questions that encourage communication, research and thinking skills. Certainly, we can see the influence of a philosophy and Theory of Knowledge class setting here, but these questions are no less relevant and useful to a PPS class as we explore ethical dilemmas.
Concerning the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, what empirical evidence would you need to form an opinion? Would empirical evidence be enough to understand the situation?
Three principles and three strategies
Hughes cleverly scaffolds his own suggestions into founding principles and strategies that establish the environment needed here to discuss such questions. They consider the cognitive, affective and metacognitive skills students need to employ and be supported in to feel comfortable in discussion. Included here are short excerpts from each area to summarise the principle and strategy.
‘Principle 1: ‘Everyone is safe here’
‘It is our first duty as educators to know our students, where they come from and the extent to which they might be affected by the conflict in question. No teasing, accusation or discriminatory behaviour can be accepted…’
Strategy 1: Create a safe space
‘Key in with students, ask them how they are, as a class and on a 1:1 basis. Be attentive to their mood, tone and behaviour and give them a chance to express how they are feeling’[1].
Principle 2: Critical thinking
‘The first casualty in war is the truth:… Knowing what to trust and how to form an opinion is difficult, and this is why students need to be introduced to an empirical criterion of meaning: what evidence supports views? Where are we getting our information and how trustworthy are the sources?’
Strategy 2: Check your bias, get students to check theirs
‘Remember to stay balanced and open in your appreciation of viewpoints, aim to guide toward criticality rather than to influence…our job is to educate students how to think, not to tell them what to think’[1]
Principle 3: Higher order moral imperatives
‘…the teacher’s work is ultimately to lead the discussion to a higher level, more general and transferable to other situations... This means that the transcendent, overarching values that we agree on - or perhaps agree to disagree on - should be the conclusion of any discussion’.
Strategy 3: Take discussions higher
‘Walk with students to universal understandings ….such discussion conclusions can be healing. Such higher levels of thought might include universal understandings such as: "Human life is of absolute value" … . Sometimes we cannot end with an affirmation, but will end with a lingering universal question: "who should be given power?" [or] "Can peace ever be bad?"[1]
Activities to support discussion
Research Skills and Understanding 'Truth'
The following exercise is an excerpt from the page under Thinking Processes called Understanding 'Truth' where there are more activities on assessing trustworthiness in the media and the notion of truth.
Using the source 'The 8 Trust Indicators', discuss the remaining indicators as a pair/group/class. Then find a news site that takes part in the Trust Project and explore how they fulfil the 8 Trust Indicators.
Source: The 8 Trust Indicators from https://thetrustproject.org/#indicators
'We asked people what they look for in trusted media – and from their answers, we created ‘Trust Indicators’ for the press to build into news sites.'
Best Practices
- Who funds the site? What is its mission?
- What standards and ethics guide the process of gathering news?
- What happens if a journalist has ties to the topic covered?
Journalist Expertise
- Who made this?
- Are there details about the journalist, including contact information, areas of knowledge and other stories they’ve worked on?
Type of Work
- What is this?
- Do you see story labels with clear definitions to distinguish opinion, analysis and advertiser (or sponsored) content from news reports?
Citations and References
- What is the source?
- Does the site tell you where it got its information?
- For investigative, controversial or in-depth stories, are you given access to the original materials behind the facts and assertions?
Methods
- Why was it a priority?
- For investigations, in-depth or controversial stories, why did they pursue the topic?
- How did they go about the process?
Locally Sourced
- Do they know the community?
- Was the reporting done on the scene?
- Is there evidence of deep knowledge about the local situation or community?
Diverse Voices
- What are the newsroom’s efforts and commitments to bring in diverse perspectives across social and demographic differences?
- Are some communities or perspectives included only in stereotypical ways, or even completely missing?
Actionable Feedback
- What does the site do to engage your help in setting coverage priorities, asking good questions and finding the answers, holding powerful people and institutions accountable and ensuring accuracy?
- Can you provide feedback that might provoke, alter or expand a story?
When there is a long running news story with lots of twists and turns it is important to remain committed to distinguishing fact and opinion at the very least and consider the credibility of the news sources we are using. The following exercises can be applied to multiple contexts to review how to decide if a source is credible, clarify events through the creation of a timeline, explicitly identify facts from opinion and explore who the stakeholders are in this situation.
Making sense of excess information
This page focuses on different news stories each month and multiple contexts are suggested but students are also encouraged to widen their reference point and explore what else is out there. There are some suggestions of systems to use to understand if a source is credible and remember Understanding 'Truth' is an excellent resource to expand understanding. Pick one activity or do as a sequence... exercise your excellent teacher judgement!
ATL skills focus: Research skills
Introduction: What makes a credible source?
1. Find 5 sources from a range of news authorities across the world. You should aim to have at least three different countries represented.
Further teacher notes
This can be done as an introductory or revision activity if students have already explored in detail credibility of sources. However you can also take advantage of this time as an opportunity to explore the sheer breadth of news articles and opinion pieces and explicitly assess them for credibility using an agreed list of features. you can also make use of the Research skills page and the RAVEN system that is suggested above.
Synthesising and ordering events
Students need to identify the key events that took place that created an ethical issue in this situation. Once students have worked out the key events that influenced the outcome of opinion and division in this situation, have them order them from the date that they think is most significant.
Creating a visual timeline and evaluation
This timeline can be done as a timeline in a journal, post-its on a desk, A4 paper with agreed events ordered on a wall or students standing with events in a line. Discuss as a group or class the implications of all these points, the different stakeholders involved and the effect and outcome of each event.
Separating Fact and opinion.
Now identify the multiple stakeholders involved in this story: not just the obvious people - consider different news organisations, courts and government agencies. Clearly extract opinions as sound bites but keep them to less than 50 words. Post these along the timeline. What effect do these opinions have on the direction of events? What sources are these people using to form their opinions?
Wider implications of the whole story
Take a step back from the analysis of the news story. What are the wider implications of this story? What issues and dilemmas come out that have global implication rather than specific to the issue at hand?
Reflective Project debate:
Structuring your ideas
As you can find out from Starting discussions and debates in the Applied Ethics area of the Personal & Professional Skills area, debates need to follow a specific protocol (there are varieties of this but the formality of the process and structure is key). Here is a summary below. You can also use this summary to identify whether your research and arguments are detailed and shaped enough. To stand the test of a 1st proposer/opposer, 2nd proposer/opposer and summary as well as questions from the audience.
Stakeholder here is defined as: speaker, 1st proposer, 1st opposer, 2nd proposer, 2nd opposer, summarisers and audience members.Debating order
The order that is followed in a formal debate is:
- The debate is chaired by a 'speaker', who reads out the motion.
- The first proposer presents the arguments for the motion.
- The first opposer presents the arguments against the motion.
- The second proposer presents further arguments for the motion.
- The second opposer presents further arguments against the motion.
- This side-to-side debating of the motion continues until all the people involved have had their say ...and limited to each contributor speaking only once during the debate.
- An opposer then sums up the key points of the argument against the motion.
- A proposer then sums up the argument for the motion.
- The speaker re-reads the motion.
- The audience then votes 'for' or 'against' the motion.
Skill Development
What skills do i need to develop?
Researching, organising, synthesising, analysing, evaluating, presenting, persuading, empathising ... these are just some of the skills needed in the debating process so it can be hard to pinpoint exactly where to start in skill development and exactly how you want to improve. Here are three key questions with suggested thinking routines that aim to tackle just a few of the areas that students struggle with in this process. A good opportunity to reflect and develop in their visual journal.
How can I identify my own feelings about a topic separate to others' ideas?
3-2-1 Reflection
This reflection can take place part way through the debate as participants gather their thoughts or at the end as they are deciding how they will vote.
At the end of this lesson, reflect on:
3 Things I have learnt in this debate
2 Questions I still have concerning the debate
1 Challenge I face in my understanding
Extend: how can this help me in personal and professional situations?
adapted and elaborated on from https://thinkingpathwayz.weebly.com/3-2-1-reflection.htmlx
How can I make a decision how to vote?
Sticking Points
It can be hard to get to grips with complexities and controversies, especially in a classroom context in the middle of a debate or discussion. This thinking routine allows to consider different viewpoints on a big issue; this in itself will help you to communicate further and be able to colllaborate with others through ideas. It will also allow you to consider your own independent ideas and develop trust in your own opinions as you are using evidence to support them.
Look at the topic and motion in hand and take time to consider it from four facets:
Facts: What facts do people differ on? What facts do they agree on?
Values: What values do people differ on? What values do they agree on?
Interests: What practical interests do people differ on? (consider investments, land, loyalties etc...)
Policies: What policies (ie general actions to take) to people differ on? What policies do they agree on?
Extend: What ideas do I need to communicate in my role in this debate?
adapted from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/resources/sticking-points
Do I have to change my original opinion on a motion?
An outcome from exploring a topic in detail and debating the different perspectives that emerge, is that your original perspective or instinctive response might be unchanged. It is important to go through a process of explicitly acknowledging new ideas, evidence and perspectives to demonstrate a growth mindset as opposed to fixed. This is part of being open-minded an essential characteristic of the IB Learner Profile.
'I used to think ... Now I think'
This is a simple but powerful routine for reflecting on how and why your thinking might have changed about a debating motion. As you progress through your CP course, consider different ways that you could respond to this statement 'I used to think ... Now I think....'; for example you might think how your opinions have been challenged ethically or culturally or, indeed, both.
Write a response to the simple statements:
I used to think .... Now I think ....
Extend: How does this process allow me to value cultural understanding and appreciate diversity in this context?
adapted from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/resources/i-used-to-think-now-i-think