Teaching controversial topics in the politically polarized suburbs

Purpose The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how high school social studies teachers perceive and address controversial topics in politically polarized suburban classrooms. Research indicates that political polarization significantly affects both teachers and students, with suburban communities being some of the most politically divided in the U.S. By examining the experiences of teachers in these suburban settings and their approaches to handling controversial topics, this study aims to shed light on how the political climate influences teaching practices, discussions of controversial issues and teachers' curriculum-related decisions. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative research study. I interviewed six suburban Long Island high school social studies teachers over the 2021–2022 school year. Each teacher was interviewed twice, with interviews ranging from one to two hours. The interviews were semi-structured and asked the teachers about the purposes of teaching social studies, their communities, their experiences teaching controversial political topics, obstacles around teaching controversial political topics and the ways in which their communities received the teaching of controversial political topics. I used thematic analysis to analyze the interviews. Each interview was analyzed inductively and deductively and coded over three iterative cycles. Findings These “controversial” topics come with both explicit and implicit pressure to avoid discussion and deliberation in the classroom. The first finding in this section centers on explicit and implicit pressure on teachers to avoid controversial topics. The second finding highlights the consequences of that pressure on teacher curricular decision making. The third and fourth findings are focused on participants' responses to explicit and implicit pressures to avoid controversial topics. The third finding articulates on the role of tenure in approaching controversial topics in polarized communities. The final finding defines and explores teacher use of political opaqueness. Originality/value This work adds to the existing literature on social studies education by providing an analysis of how controversial topics are understood and enacted in the suburban environment. By adding the specificity of context to my research I examine the ways in which controversial topics are defined part by their environment, and teacher interpretation of that environment. Further, this work adds to the literature on deliberative pedagogies and controversial topics by considering the roles that contemporary local and national politics play in enacting controversial topics, and the consequences on the classroom and teaching.