Cycle 4: Controversial Issues in Curriculum?

Should the curriculum address controversial issues? 


I think the curriculum should certainly address controversial issues. Controversial issues should not be part of the “null curriculum” that Eisner describes. This will give children the ability to critically think and reason about opposing viewpoints. However, I think this should be done in a way that honors and respects all viewpoints without putting a heavy bias on one over the other. I also think, particularly in elementary schools, parents should have a strong voice as to what their children are exposed to if certain curriculum opposes the values they are trying to instill in their children.


As this topic pertains to gay rights, I am heartbroken over the injustices people who identify as LGBTQ have gone through. Growing up I had several friends who identified as LGBTQ and who were bullied in some ways by it. Further, in college, I knew people who identified as LGBTQ who felt especially isolated and unseen at a Christian college that, lining up with Biblical teaching, maintains that acting on any form of homosexuality is not God’s best for His children and, is sin (Romans 1:26-27, for example, states this). Thankfully, the Wheaton College community acted on this and did several campus wide events in an effort to welcome and support those who identified as LGTBQ. 


Schools must be safe places for all people with all different types of backgrounds. Bullying of any kind for any reason should not be tolerated. I am horrified by some of the stories I read and listened to in preparing for this post: the many students who committed suicide, Joel Burns who was told to go to hell because of being gay, etc. I am saddened by the testimonies I watched on the website “It Gets Better” – so many that detail person after person’s struggle with identity, feeling isolated and that something is very wrong with them. 


I agree that LGTBQ issues should not be ignored, and that students should be taught the importance of accepting all people. I agree that bullying should not be tolerated. However, I think that if a certain perspective on LGTBQ is taught in schools, that other perspectives should be acknowledged as well. This should not change in any way how all people are treated, but, perspectives from, for example, conservative Muslims and Christians on the topic of LGTBQ, should be touted as viable perspectives too. That perspective being: acting on homosexuality is wrong and is not best for the individual, regardless of their feelings toward a member of the same sex. Ultimate happiness is found in knowing God and following His ways, not realizing a romantic dream or a desire for companionship of any kind, heterosexual or not.  


Of course, this perspective is no longer politically correct, but it comes from a perspective maintaining that God created the world and outlined His perspective in the Bible. Moreover, we do not define what is good, right, and best for humans, God does. When I was a freshman in college, a Christian and chaste gay man came to speak in our Bible class. He shared his testimony, describing how in spite of his feelings, which remain, he has decided to remain chaste, doing what he thinks is right. A friend of mine used to be gay, but after becoming a Christian (as he would describe it) his feelings changed, and he is now happily married with two children. This “change in feelings” certainly does not happen to everyone, and maybe it is exceedingly rare, but I share that second example to lend another perspective.


In conclusion, yes, I think controversial topics should be addressed in curriculum. Bullying should never be tolerated, and people who identify as LGBTQ should never be discriminated against but should be loved and treated equally with everyone else. However, I think these things can all be done, and should be done, while teaching children about multiple perspectives, including a conservative Muslim and Christian perspective, which I touch on briefly in this post.  As a last note, unfortunately, many Christians have not acted like Jesus would toward the LGBTQ community. Jesus was the most inclusive person who ever lived in terms of loving all people deeply, but He also maintained an unwavering commitment to God’s Biblical law in all areas of life, including sexuality.