Discussing controversial issues in the classroom is crucial for citizenship education and development of democratic skills (Camicia 2008; Cowan & Maitles 2012; Hahn 1998; Misco 2012). This statement may be extended to global citizenship education (GCE) as well (Andreotti 2011; Pashby & Sund 2020). However, although GCE is an important part of international educational policies and strategies, including the UN Agenda 2030, under certain political conditions teaching it may be challenging and can encounter resistance from different actors. In some European countries, we observe the rise of nationalist sentiments or authoritarian tendencies, which make some GCE-related topics divisive, questioned and risky.

What exactly becomes a controversial topic in education depends on various factors and is contingent on social, political, cultural or ideological contexts (Camicia 2008). Sometimes, in some societies or under some circumstances, particular topics become controversial because they are seen as “inappropriate for the curriculum or because there is pressure to deal with only one perspective on an issue” (Hess, 2002: 14, cited by Misco 2012: 73). In Poland, this is the case of several “adjectival educations”, such as intercultural education, human rights education, anti-discriminatory education, sexual education, gender education, and - last but not least - global citizenship education. Many topics related to them have become “a tricky business” that teachers have to deal with if they want to teach them.

The main objective of this study is to explore the strategies that teachers undertake when teaching GCE issues that are considered controversial, through examples of Polish schools. More specifically, the study attempts to answer the following research questions:

• What are the contextual and milleus’ (Misco 2012) (systemic, local and individual) obstacles that GCE teachers face in schools in Poland?
• Which GCE-related topics are considered particularly controversial in Polish schools?
• Why do teachers continue addressing controversial GCE topics despite the unfavourable conditions?
• What kind of strategies teachers employ to teach GCE in schools?

Theoretical framework:
We base the study on a social constructivist theoretical framework (Kim 2001; Adams 2006), with a critical and social justice orientation. The way GCE is understood in this research is inspired by the work of critical and postcolonial scholars who point out the limitations of some approaches to GCE and promote the critical and postcolonial one (Andreotti 2011; Jefferess 2008; Pashby, da Costa, Stein, Andreotti 2020). Critical and postcolonial GCE addresses systemic reasons for inequalities and exclusions. It involves a pedagogical discourse into complex and uncomfortable issues in order to raise critical consciousness, support dialogues and advance the way to global justice (Andreotti 2011). This requires knowledge and critical competences that lead to action for global issues - critical and postcolonial GCE implies participation and commitment (Jasikowska 2018). An integral element of GCE understood in this way is addressing difficult, controversial, and emotionally charged topics.

In analysing the factors that hinder or facilitate teaching controversial GCE issues we draw on the work of Misco (2012) emphasising the role of wider context and “milieus”. They may facilitate and support teachers in addressing controversial topics or undermine and prevent teachers from doing so: “Even with a provocative curriculum, eager students, and well-prepared teachers poised to confront controversy, the milieus act as pathways and obstacles to opening and discussing closed areas” (Misco 2012:71).

In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the research problem and answer the research questions we used the focus group qualitative methodology (Morgan 1996; Denzin & Ryan 2007). Three focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 16 participants. All interviewees were school teachers with medium to extensive experience in global citizenship education. They were purposely selected for the study as it was important to interview people that were most informative. When inviting specific teachers to participate in the study, we referred to our own experience in the field and drew on the knowledge of NGOs implementing projects for teachers. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, each focus group interview was held on-line, using the Zoom platform. Each lasted around 2 hours and comprised 4 to 8 participants. The interviews were fully recorded (with the participants’ consent) and transcribed. Then a thematic analysis was applied to the interview transcripts. To increase credibility and validity, a researcher triangulation was employed, where separate coding and analysis was conducted by the authors (Gibbs 2011). Different themes were identified through the categorisation based on the aims of the research project.

Thematic analysis informed by critical and postcolonial GCE enabled us to explore the understandings of certain GCE topics and obstacles for teaching them in Polish schools. This allowed us to identify strategies which teachers employ to include GCE in their classes. GCE is seen as a blend of acceptable and unacceptable topics, and the status of acceptance/controversy is contingent on contextual factors, acting on internal, local and national level. Some GCE topics, like climate change (to a non-critical extent), are considered acceptable by other teachers, school leaders or representatives of regional and national institutions. Other topics like migration and refugees or women’s rights are recognized as controversial. Teachers addressing them can face repercussions from different educational actors, including students. In some schools these topics are undesirable to the extent that teaching them can have negative consequences for teachers' careers. Despite the difficulties on different levels of the educational system, teachers decide to continue involving GCE in their classes. We identified several reasons for that. The most noticeable are the sense of mission, the need for transformation, personal preference and the good of the students. The motivation can also be more individual, e.g. personal and professional development. Due to unfavorable conditions for teaching GCE teachers have developed several strategies that enable them to teach knowledge and engage students in becoming global citizens. These strategies have several features that may resemble guerrilla activities: individuals or small groups, self-organisation, an internal support system, a strong sense of mission, even to the point of feeling like fighting a flawed system. This study shows that despite the unfavourable environment teachers’ inner motivation, shared strategies and previously mentioned sense of mission allow them to continue teaching GCE, even controversial topics. That is why we call their attitudes part-guerrilla, part-missioners.

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