From the fights about the teaching of evolution to the details of sex education, it may seem like American schools are hotbeds of controversy. But as Jonathan Zimmerman and Emily Robertson show in this insightful book, it is precisely because such topics are so inflammatory outside school walls that they are so commonly avoided within them. And this, they argue, is a tremendous disservice to our students. Armed with a detailed history of the development of American educational policy and norms and a clear philosophical analysis of the value of contention in public discourse, they show that one of the best things American schools should do is face controversial topics dead on, right in their classrooms. Zimmerman and Robertson highlight an aspect of American politics that we know all too well: We are terrible at having informed, reasonable debates. We opt instead to hurl insults and accusations at one another or, worse, sit in silence and privately ridicule the other side. Wouldn’t an educational system that focuses on how to have such debates in civil and mutually respectful ways improve our public culture and help us overcome the political impasses that plague us today? To realize such a system, the authors argue that we need to not only better prepare our educators for the teaching of hot-button issues, but also provide them the professional autonomy and legal protection to do so. And we need to know exactly what constitutes a controversy, which is itself a controversial issue. The existence of climate change, for instance, should not be subject to discussion in schools: scientists overwhelmingly agree that it exists. How we prioritize it against other needs, such as economic growth, however—that is worth a debate. With clarity and common-sense wisdom, Zimmerman and Robertson show that our squeamishness over controversy in the classroom has left our students woefully underserved as future citizens. But they also show that we can fix it: if we all just agree to disagree, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Presenting current research in an innovative text-reader format, Aging: Concepts and Controversies, Ninth Edition encourages students to become involved and take an informed stand on the major aging issues we face as a society. Not simply a summary of research literature, Harry R. Moody and Jennifer R. Sasser’s text focuses on controversies and questions, rather than on assimilating facts or arriving at a single "correct" view about aging and older people. Drawing on their extensive expertise, the authors first provide an overview of aging in three domains: aging over the life course, health care, and the socioeconomic aspects of aging. Each section is followed by a series of edited readings, offering different perspectives from experts and specialists on that subject. New readings focus on whether current federal spending on the elderly is sustainable and fair to other groups, how older consumers are reshaping the business landscape, and the challenges of marketing and selling to customers 60 and over. More emphasis is placed on how social class and inequality earlier in life can shape our final years and the number of older Americans living in poverty. The section on Aging and Health Care has been thoroughly updated to reflect the latest data about chronic diseases that affect the elderly, government spending on health care, and policy changes to programs like Medicaid and Medicare. The section on the Social and Economic Outlook for an Aging Society gives the most current picture of the racial and ethnic diversity of older Americans, their participation in the labor force, and their income and wealth.

Explores how we justify our beliefs - and try to influence those of others - both soundly and effectively.

This book addresses itself to the concept of the implied author, which has been the cause of controversy in cultural studies for some fifty years. The opening chapters examine the introduction of the concept in Wayne C. Booth’s “Rhetoric of Fiction” and the discussion of the concept in narratology and in the theory and practice of interpretation. The final chapter develops proposals for clarifying or replacing the concept.

No textbook communicates the basics of statistical analysis to liberal arts students as effectively as the bestselling Statistics: Concepts and Controversies (SCC). And no text makes it easier for these students to understand and talk about statistical claims they encounter in commercials, campaigns, the media, sports, and elsewhere in their lives. The new edition offers SCC’s signature combination of engaging cases, real-life examples and exercises, helpful pedagogy, rich full-color design, and innovative media learning tools, all significantly updated.

Through rich empirical research from real classrooms throughout the nation, Controversy in the Classroom demonstrates why schools have the potential to be particularly powerful sites for democratic education.