Should teachers assign controversial texts?

Deniz Uzgun

By Deniz Uzgun
Published November 27, 2020

What happens when a teacher introduces a literary text that evokes an emotional response from students?

Deakin University PhD student Alice Elwell believes that English lessons should be a safe space to share diverse (and sometimes controversial) ideas and viewpoints.

Does it kick-start conversations and learning? Or does it prevent critical thinking and instead create unease in the classroom?

These ...

This story appeared in the November 2020 edition of Australian Teacher Magazine.

SEN Teaching Assistant

Veritas Bradford

Teaching Aides & Special Needs / Apr 02, 2026

Teacher of Maths

Veritas Bradford

Teaching - Secondary / Apr 02, 2026

Teacher Aide - Emu Park State School

Department of Education and Training (Queensland)

We are seeking a motivated, adaptable, and caring Teaching Assistant to support students and teachers in creating a positive, inclusive, and engaging learning environm...

Teaching - Secondary / Apr 02, 2026

School news / ‘Riddled with defects’: social media ban for under-16s faces scrutiny with new findings

The success of Australia’s social media ban for under-16s has been called into question, with a new eSafety report confirming a ‘substantial number’ of children are still using accounts or can easily create new ones.

School news / Big privacy shift for kids as sites face age-ban probe

Game developers and streaming platforms could be forced to tighten how they handle children's data as social media companies face allegations of lax age-verification measures.

School news / ‘Constellation of deep concern’: Burnt out and fed up Aussie principals eye the exit door

Dedicated and resilient Australian principals are grappling with the growing enormity of their job, putting in ‘dangerously long’ hours every week as many risk marching towards breaking point, a prominent national study has warned.

School news / ‘Accountability has arrived’: Meta, Google lose US trial over social media addiction

A Los Angeles ‌jury has found Alphabet's Google and Meta liable for damages in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that will influence thousands of ‌similar cases against the tech companies.

School news / ‘Astounding’: violence against Australian school principals nearly doubles in 15 years

Australian school principals are enduring offensive behaviours at ‘unacceptably high’ rates, with an alarming percentage reporting they endured physical violence and threats last year, new national data has revealed.

School news / There are ways we can stem growing school principal turnover: new research

Education departments need to introduce workload reduction policies for principals that streamline administrative requirements and shift non-instructional tasks away from them if we are to stem growing school leader turnover concerns.

Leadership / Principal’s shift to top-down leadership brings remarkable results

Top-down decision making in schools has got a bad reputation, but doing away with a majority buy-in approach has allowed one Victorian school to seriously bolster its improvement agenda.

School news / ‘Struggling’: teachers strike in second capital city

Fed-up and burned out teachers have walked off the job, campaigning for better pay and conditions in the second capital city strike in as many days.

Leadership / Catholic school principals to lead parish communities under new Vision

A new vision for school leadership has been unveiled by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) which aims to strengthen parish communities and re-engage families that have lost connection with the Church.

School news / Robot 'Figure 03' joins Melania Trump to tout AI teachers

A humanoid robot has walked down a red-carpeted White House hallway, accompanying US first lady Melania Trump into an event where she ‌urged greater use of artificial intelligence in education.

Comments