'...Not Simply Say That They Are All Nazis.' Controversy in Discussions of Current Topics in German Civics Classes

Journal of Social Science Education. Bielefeld University Faculty of Sociology, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany. Tel: +49-521-106-3985; Fax: +49-521-106-153986; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://jsse.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/index.php/jsse

Y

12

Civics; Teaching Methods; History; Foreign Countries; Controversial Issues (Course Content); Discussion (Teaching Technique); Comparative Analysis; Qualitative Research; Educational Research; Case Studies; Terrorism; Political Attitudes; News Reporting; Stranger Reactions; Islam

1618-5293

Studies have shown that the Requirement of Controversy defined in the German Beutelsbach Consensus is repeatedly violated in the practice of teaching Civic Education. However, little is known about the impact that different teaching settings have on the quality of controversy in the classroom. In this article, two scenes of classroom discussions that deal with current topics are analysed and compared by using reconstructive research methods: the "Numbers of the Day" ["Zahlen des Tages"] as a teacher-centred classroom discussion and the "Weekly Newsreel" ["Wochenschau"] as a student-led classroom discussion. We could reconstruct an active prevention of controversy in the "Numbers of the Day". In contrary, the discussion in the "Weekly Newsreel" is developing in a modus of disagreement. By analysing the discussion with the documentary method, we show that this controversy is based on homogeneous (and so noncontroversial) shared orientations among the students. This leads to the result that the foreground of a discussion should be distinguished from its background of milieu-based orientations. This outcome raises new questions regarding controversy in Civic Education classrooms.

As Provided

36

2016

EJ1118116