In this paper we present parts of our book about diversity of opinion in the classroom. The book is based on empirical examples from two qualitative studies of teachers and students in junior high and high schools in Norway. One of the studies investigates students’ understandings of and associations to prejudice and stereotypes tied to minority groups and identities in school, while the other explores teachers’ practices in working with awareness raising and prevention of prejudice. Norwegian schools are responsible to facilitate for diversity of opinions and to equip students to manage it (KD, 2017), and teachers have a central role in managing the school’s educational mission related to awareness of attitudes and values among students. The empirical material from the two studies, however, suggests that discomfort and uncertainty in relation to diversity of opinions in the classroom can affect teaching situations for both teachers and students. The teachers’ narratives appear to be closely linked to contextual factors and the social dynamics in the classroom, and their practices seem to largely be shaped by their own choices and assessment in each situation. In the students’ stories, on the other hand, discomfort and uncertainty related diversity of opinions are emphasized. Their uncertainty and discomfort seem linked to both specific educational topics as well as contextual factors and the social dynamics, which in turn can affect the possibilities of diversity of opinions in the classroom.

In what is referred to as the «pedagogy of discomfort» (Boler & Zembylas, 2003; Zembylas & Papamichael, 2017), discomfort is understood as a prerequisite for the development of critical thinking and democratic formation (Røthing, 2019). Against this background, discomfort plays a central role in our discussion of the empirical material, and we take as our starting point the following questions: In what ways can relational aspects in the classroom influence the possibilities for diversity of opinions in teaching situations? To discuss this, we will draw on perspectives on discomfort in the teaching (Boler & Zembylas, 2003; Zembylas & Papamichael, 2017) and the idea of ​​the classroom as a «safe space» for students (Arao & Clemens, 2013; Barrett, 2010; Flensner & von der Lippe, 2019; Callan, 2016).

The empirical foundation for the paper, is from Myrebøe and Johannessen doctoral projects. Myrebøe has conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers working in Norwegian junior high school and high schools about their experiences with students' prejudiced expressions in school. Johannessen, on the other hand, has conducted participant observation over nine weeks, at three high schools in different parts of Norway, and interviewed 28 students from the three schools, about their experiences with and understandings of prejudice in school. These empirical data go well together, and will, for the purpose of the book we are currently working on, be combined, in order to shed light on the topic of diversity of opinion in the classroom.

We expect to, based on approximately four empirical examples, highlight some didactical challenges tied to diversity of opinion in the classroom, based on the perspectives of both students and teachers.

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