...important life skill after interpersonal skill. In a 1994 survey of over 11,000 college graduates, the "ability to think critically” ranked as the second most important skill out of 16 in their daily life (#1 was interpersonal skills). Source: Cooperative Institutional Research Program, "1994 Nine Year Follow-Up Survey (of 1985 Freshmen),” Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 1995. 3.Learning and discussing controversial issues in school helps students become more informed and more active citizens. A 2007 survey of 5,400 secondary students found that: "Students who regularly take part in classroom discussion are more likely to: •Vote in later life •Support basic democratic values •Take part in political discussions •Follow political news in the media •Be interested in the political process •Have confidence in their ability to influence public policy” Source: Keith Barton and Alan McCully, "Teaching Controversial Issues...Where Controversial Issues Really Matter," Teaching History, June 2007. 4.Learning about controversial topics in school increases students’ political participation. Studies by Lee Ehman in 1966...
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...essay “Why Banning Books Isn’t Always Bad” discusses how many “concerned group of parents regularly pressure school boards to keep controversial classics out of the classroom” because of the violence and immoral values they portray for underage students. Books like “Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (about three young women who abuse drugs to escape the pressures of show business); The Godfather by Mario Puzo (about the Italian-American mafia); and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (about two real-life mass murderers)” are what should be kept out of high schools because those types of books for students who are exposed to the everyday dangers of drugs, gangs, and violence in schools make it seem okay in these books. Dawkins goes further on explaining how many high school teachers, including herself, agree with parents in the sense that these books are not age appropriate to be taught in a high school classroom especially in a setting where all of these issues are present everyday. I totally agree with Rebecca Dawkins that high school students would not relate to most characters in controversial books, teachers have no time to teach long controversial books, and books such as Capote’s and Puzo’s do present behavior that is immoral. First, I agree with Rebecca Dawkins that high school students would not relate to most characters in controversial books. Although many high school students face the dangers of drugs and violence at schools, they would not relate to any of the...
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...With controversial events constantly occurring, there has been debate as to whether or not teachers should discuss these topics in school. I believe that teachers should address controversial topics in schools because it prepares students to be more educated and more involved citizens of society. If a teacher discusses controversial topics within the classroom, it allows students to be more aware of the various information behind controversial issues. Discussing controversial topics helps students to practice developing and expressing their opinion, and being respectful towards others’ opinions. Also, teaching about controversial topics allows students to be aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens. One main reason why teachers...
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...Famous Creative Thinkers PHL/458 August 12, 2013 James Hal Cone and Cornel Ronald West are two individuals famous for using creative thinking to impact society and history. Hal Cone is a black theologian and Cornel West is a philosopher. This paper will focus on each individual’s unique contributions to society, ideas used to solve a specific issue, how the ideas were applied, personal and political background, creative thinking process, and a critique of their thoughts. From religion, oppression, educational segregation, and the Civil Rights movement, Hal Cone and Cornel West made a remarkable amount of progressive contributions to society. The contributions made by Hal Cone and Cornel West are often over-looked by today’s youth. Black American youth and young adults in particular have become somewhat distant form Black history because the way things appears in today’s society. What is overlooked, and should often be recapped is; without the endurance and dedication within the creative minds of these two creative thinkers, it’s possible that oppression and segregation would still remain a part of our society. Many Civil Rights leaders are responsible for the equality growth in our culture, and Hal Cone and Cornel West has been influential in ensuring Blacks continued to advance in America’s society. Both men contributed an important view to Civil Rights, and is known as leaders who changed the way...
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...University ESL 523 August 2010 Abstract “Over the last twenty-five years, there have been major changes to the theory and practice of second language teaching and learning. These changes have been driven by changes in educational theory, changes in the way we think about language and learning, and the development of an active research agenda which has provided important insights and ideas for classroom practitioners.” Second language acquisition (SLA) methods are a controversial issue among scholars on the best approach to teaching a second language. At this time there is no official playbook on the exact best method for teaching a second language. Professor Rod Ellis from the University of Auckland in New Zealand wrote an article entitled “Principles of Instructed Second Language Acquisition.” In this article Ellis describes ten principles for effective second language instruction (SLI). These principles demonstrate both arguments of each in order for educators to reflect upon the processes. Language acquisition is the process of learning a language. The best method for second language acquisition is controversial subject among researchers. Rod Ellis’s article “Principles of Instructed Second Language Acquisition” demonstrates ten principles in which can be used as a guide line and reflection for educators to use for teaching a second language. This essay will summarize Ellis’s article, and how each of these principles can be applied in immersion classes. Professor...
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...The majority of the states continued to define marriage as the union between man and woman, however, some still opposed this controversial definition of marriage. In recent years, the debate of homosexuality and same sex marriage has become even more of a hot topic due to the media, politics, and society in general. So, what does the definition of marriage mean to an individual? Christian conservatives say that marriage is strictly the formal union between man and woman. However, some general Christians may argue that marriage means to live a happy and joyful life with an intimate partner regardless of gender. Within these countless arguments about banning same sex marriages are the small but controversial topics that heat up the debate even more. The biggest issue that fuel the fire even more are the constant debates regarding the definition of the word “marriage”, people around the world have different definitions of the word marriage based on their environments, religion, and other external sources. Another issue that debaters, politicians, and people of the country are constantly debating and arguing about is the concept that can be simply put as “is homosexuality natural?”, believe it or not this one question is the most debated and argued topic between people who oppose same sex marriage and people who approve of same sex marriage. The final issue is the disagreement of the pros of same sex marriage, every time there is a positive note that comes out of same sex marriage...
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...The ethical issue I will be discussing is IVF, in relation to the Christian religions Catholic and Anglican. IVF is used in cases of infertility –where the woman’s fallopian tubes are absent or blocked, the men’s sperm count is low, or the couple’s infertility is unexplained. It is an assisted reproductive technology in which one or more eggs are fertilized outside a female’s body. To do this, eggs are collected from the ovaries and placed in a dish with a large number of sperm for approx. 18 hours. The eggs are then placed in a special growth medium which allows fertilization to occur. Afterwards the embryo is either transferred back into the woman’s uterus or frozen and stored for later use. IVF has been a source of moral, ethical and religious controversy since its development. Although members of all religious groups can be found on both sides of the issue, the major opposition has come from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1987, the church issued a doctrinal statement opposing IVF on 3 grounds; the destruction of human embryos not used for implantation, the possibility of IVF by a sperm donor other than the husband-thus removing reproduction form the marital context, and finally the severing of an essential connection between the nuptial act and procreation. The use of IVF is said to violate the delicate innocence of those created, as God, their creator has not given them the gift of life, and therefore the fundamental value of ...
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...traumatic events. The nuance of this controversial topic Trigger Warnings has arisen and we have to take in consideration that if students are asking for them, because there’s a whole reason for it. Trigger warning advocates a voice of students that can’t speak for themselves, about their fears, and what affects topics affects them in a classroom setting. Trigger warning and content notes are two different things that we need to understand. Trigger warnings is a clear and specific way of alerting students of certain information that would be discussed in class, example panic attacks due to strong material related to race, abortion or, war related material with high graphical content that could cause a student with PTSD could have flash backs. On like Content Notes, is different, it is a theoretical value to a neutral meaning that allows people to make a decision whether they want to engage in a material or not. But content notes doesn’t really serve the purpose as trigger warnings, although it could be associated, but in rare cases it talks about trauma content, or larger societal issues that provokes individual harm. We are not God or mind readers to judge people because of the way they accept certain school related material in life differently then others. We really need to be open minded and it does not mean that we need to baby students, its about understanding each other and take a step further in coming up with different approach, in teaching sensitive material in class....
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...Education I’m interested in education aspect of sociology. The literal definition of education is as simple as such; the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools. Education is the simplest form of success. The saying that goes as the following, “Knowledge is Power” is the absolute truth. Without knowledge or and education of any type, failure is sure to come. The social issue of education fits into the field of sociology simply because there are so many different opinions on education. Sociology is the science of society, and social relationships. Specifically the systematic study of the development, interaction, structure, and accumulative behavior of organized groups of human beings. Some believe the education regiments of today are way to forthright, and force certain career paths. When in other opinions difference lays, others think education isn’t what it used to be. Most think education has slipped throughout the years to fit the liberal ways of equality. Education in the 21st century has changed drastically compared to the teaching techniques of the ladder years. According to Murphey, “In today’s world, the average student is bombarded with essays, problem sets, tests, quizzes, and any other assignment thinkable. In fact, he staggers so greatly under the heavy pile of papers on his desk to be completed each night, that school becomes a battle, not a place of personal and communal enrichment.” In other words, the education...
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...success to key figures and aspects including: The Apologist that defended the true meaning of the doctrines, Athanasius, who refuted the false teachings of Arius, the Council of Nicea that drafted a creed affirming Jesus Christ, and St. Basil who clarified the ambiguous terminology put forth by the Council of Nicaea. Christianity started out as small and illegal movement. The First Apology states that classical philosophers believed Christianity was an atheistic and lower class religion(Placher, 33). However, Tertullian, a highly educated Roman citizen was convinced...
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...Teaching Creation and Evolution in Schools Why are we here? Many people ask that question at some point in their life. The answers are different no matter who ask. Some people believe a higher power created the universe and our purpose here is to serve that higher power. Others say we exist because of the Big Bang and our purpose for living is to survive. The first theory for this is known as creationism. The other is evolution and most schools have encouraged this. Why is one not right and the other false? Is there no balance between these two issues? The lack of evidence makes creationism hard to believe, and many holes in the evolution link makes that hard to believe. Theories of human evolution cause disagreements. Each theory has its own evidence to prove that its right, but lack of enough evidence to prove the others errors. Most of the theories that try to explain the human existence are labeled as creation theory, naturalistic evolution theory and theistic evolution theory. Naturalistic evolution theory states that evolution is a force and not controlled by a god, goddess or some other type of deity. Theistic evolution is a combination of both creation and naturalistic theories. To understand the struggle between creationism and evolution you must first understand creationism. Creationism is the theory that all life was created by God. In the book of Genesis you will find the story when God formed man from the dust of the ground. God also created...
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...environment, at school and at home. Blindly, I believed these teachings of the Catholic Church, not thinking twice about them and just accepting them. However, I now have learned to question these beliefs through new lessons and experiences. I have attended a Catholic grade school my entire life. In addition, I attended a weekly, Catholic Sunday school. Undoubtedly, Catholic teachings would be ingrained into me; I learned what was acceptable and what was not acceptable to the Catholic Church. Abortion, gay marriage, and premarital sex had primarily been the issues that had stuck with me. I was taught to defend these teachings: abortion takes away sacred life and women should not have a choice on it, marriage is a sanctity between a man and woman only, sex should be sacred for people who are married, and tell others they were wrong if they were not for it. These issues were significant to me because I thought it was unfair and critical towards people that fell into these categories, but I never...
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...academic performance will trigger appropriate technology interventions. The historical development of education has seen a lot of changes though out the last three decades. Changes in key components of education such as teacher qualification, financial funding, curriculum, and assessment have all had huge impacts on education. Teacher qualification has seen a lot of changes in how teachers educate and use curriculum. “Since the 1980s, competing and often contradictory reforms have combined top-down, centralized efforts to improve teaching with efforts to promote decentralization and school-based management (Rowan, 1990) (Borman & Rachuaba 1999) History has had a huge impact on education throughout the years. Education throughout history has faced gender, cultural, and religious issues. The way schools are funded also had a huge impact from history. The control of funding for the school was taken from the community and became a political issue. Politicians realized the importance of education and how important it is in the community. Teachers have to deal with the changes in diversity within the classrooms and changes in technology used to educate. One of the impacts technology will have on education is change in student and teacher roles. With the increasing use of technology in the classroom...
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...Physician-assisted suicide, the good death, mercy killing, dignified death. These are all names given to EUTHANSIA. But what is euthanasia? And why is it considered to be controversial? Although the definitions used in discussions of euthanasia and assisted suicide can vary, the following are based on Special Senate Committee reports on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Euthanasia is the deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending the life of another person in order to relieve that person’s suffering. Assisted suicide is the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of another who provides the knowledge, means or both. Voluntary euthanasia occurs when the act is done in accordance with the wishes of a competent individual or a valid advance directive. Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when the act is done without knowledge of the wishes of a competent individual or with respect to an incompetent individual. Involuntary euthanasia, which is indistinguishable from murder or manslaughter, occurs when the act is done against the wishes of a competent individual or a valid advance directive. When talking in terms of the person to die, a competent individual is capable of understanding the nature and consequences of the decision to be made and capable of communicating this decision. An incompetent individual is not capable of understanding the nature and consequences of the decision to be made, and/or is not capable of communicating the...
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...Middle School Teachers Fatina Bunch EDU 623 Introduction to Teaching And Learning Instructor: Julie-Ann Adkins September 3, 2012 Middle School Teachers As a teacher, I feel that the middle school is my place. I must say that middle school is a different atmosphere for learning. The teachers who are fortunate enough to enter a student’s life during these critical years will do a lot more than provide an academic education they will also provide lifelong lessons to produce productive citizens. It takes a special talent and personality to connect with students in the middle school. The middle school concept has many different grade combinations ranging from grade five to grade nine, but to be classified as a middle school the combination must contain grade seven. Middle schools deal with students while they are living through their developmental years of their lives. During these years they do not really belong to a designated group, they are in the middle. They are not babies, toddlers, or adolescents they are sometimes referred to as “tweeners”. “Tweeners” is a term to identify the middle school student.(Manning 2000) Yes the title is unique just like the middle school student. During middle school the students are trying to understand who they are and where they should fit into their environment. So as a middle school teacher one would have to be patient, caring, and loving. The teacher has to be able to communicate with their students effectively...
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