Pring et al. (2009) state, one of the most valuable functions of education should be responsible for keeping young people’s learning constantly up to date. This means that education should be shaped according to the needs and requirements of the period in which we live. Increased diversity within societies has started to influence school history to prepare students for the new world settings, due to its inherent nature such as understanding and respecting different perspectives, appreciating the value of diversity, and questioning one’s own views (Zajda, 2015).

Therefore, now, teaching sensitive and controversial issues (SCIs) has crucial importance within history-teaching communities in the UK for both developing individual cognitive skills and preparing students for a pluralist, democratic society (Barton & McCully, 2010; Hess, 2002; Oxfam, 2006). That is why, these kinds of subjects should be encouraged, to provide students, the opportunity to appreciate differences, tolerate different values and perspectives, and the ability to live in peace with people from various backgrounds in society (Bourn, 2014). However, the relevant literature in the UK frequently shows that history teachers hesitate to teach SCIs in their lessons (Byford et al., 2009; Kitson & McCully, 2005; Oulton et al., 2004). According to the Historical Association’s T.E.A.C.H. report, history teachers’ reasons for avoiding emotive and controversial historical subjects can be varied such as their lack of knowledge and skills, delivering misleading messages, creating conflict and alienation among students, and potential issues related to parent and school complaints (HA, 2007). Therefore, according to the research of Byford et al. (2009), the vast majority of teachers (60%) avoid teaching SCIs within the community they teach in order to protect themselves. The reasons behind this avoidance seemed to be related to the potential disapproval of the parents, potential lawsuits, and students’ sensitivities (HA, 2007; Philips, 2008, Traille, 2007). Additionally, topics related to students’ cultural and religious heritages and subjects about the wider issues in societies such as terrorism, racism and Islamophobia (Philips, 2008) are the other factors making teaching SCIs difficult for history teachers. The aim of this research, therefore, was to conduct exploratory case studies in London among history teachers, to gain further insight and understanding regarding the situation of teaching SCIs among English history teachers.

For these reasons, the research question that this study will address is: “What are the thoughts of the history teachers for teaching SCIs in history classrooms?” To answer this question, the following sub-questions will be explored:

• What kinds of challenges do teachers encounter while teaching SCIs?
• What approaches, strategies, methods, and activities do teachers utilise to overcome possible challenges while teaching SCIs?

This study explored the views of history teachers regarding teaching SCIs in history classrooms. In this research, therefore, small-scale case studies, qualitative and interpretative approaches have been used, to gain a deeper understanding of history teachers’ experiences (Scott and Morrison, 2007). Six history teachers and three teacher trainers working in highly diverse school settings have been interviewed in London. To conduct this study, qualitative data gathering tools such semi-structured and hypothetical scenario-based interview questions have been utilised. Qualitative data allowed to obtain detailed and extensive data to understand history teachers’ thoughts for teaching SCIs (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015). Semi-structured interviews served better for this research to gather in-depth understanding of people’s motivations, reasons, and problems, because the researcher could orient the communication and ask further questions if necessary (Scott and Morrison, 2007). In interviews, history teachers were asked about their thoughts on whether teaching SCIs was valuable and necessary, and if so, whether it should be taught in contemporary history classes. Then, teachers were asked if they find teaching SCIs challenging, if they have any hesitations to teach SCIs, and if they encounter any problem while teaching SCIs. And finally, the hypothetical scenario was related to racism in the classroom and asked what teachers’ recommendations for would be dealing with this problem. The reason for using that scenario was to see how teachers would react and approach the situation and what kind of recommendation they would make.

It is understood that teachers' main concerns are mostly related to the students’ feelings as they often mentioned that they did not want to make students feel upset or offended. Teachers stated that when topics were related to students’ heritages and identities, they tend to be reluctant to teach them. Additionally, they said that when school information and students’ home-based information clashed, more challenges arise for teachers. And finally, teachers found challenging to help students understand why people in the past acted in the way they did, especially, while teaching sensitive subjects such as Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Holocaust, or terror attacks. To overcome possible challenges, they stated that they need to have more knowledge about the students’ backgrounds while teaching SCIs to prepare better planned scheme of works for such topics. Another mostly suggested approach was having classroom discussions with the use of empathy. Secondly, majority of the teachers suggested the use of multiple and contrasting resources such as images, videos, or artefacts helpful while teaching SCIs. Additionally, fostering students’ relevant substantive and conceptual knowledge before discussing the SCIs in lessons were recommended. However, unlike the findings in the literature, teachers emphasised that even if they had some concerns, they believed that potential challenges could be overcome. The participants were in agreement that these hesitations should not prevent them from teaching SCIs, because of the latter’s potential. Furthermore, two more teachers responded that they did not have any hesitations in terms of teaching SCIs because they had enough self-confidence and knew how to teach SCIs. Finally, the majority of the participants reported that, in cases where problems related to teaching SCIs could arose, they would be supported and protected by the school boards. This could also be one of the reasons behind the participants’ higher levels of agency and self-esteem.

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