Contested Narratives and Controversial Issues in Citizenship Education

KP, along with our partner institutions, identified the need to address contested narratives and controversial issues in citizenship education. A central aim was to qualify pedagogical approaches that engage with contested, controversial and conflict topics. We set out to develop pedagogical strategies, models and teaching materials that can qualify the teaching of contested narratives (CN) and controversial issues (CI) in teacher education programs and NGOs The ConCitizen project has addressed a key issue in citizenship education: how do we teach controversial issues particularly related to contested narratives in post-conflict and diverse societies? We approached this in the light of current challenges, such as populism, extremism, and the impact of the digitalization in terms of polarization and filter-bubbles. ConCitizen has explored how CN and CI are included - or avoided - in the school subjects of history, religious education, and social studies. The transnational cooperation has stimulated innovative learning and teaching practices and created pedagogical models that encourage self-reflection, awareness of power relations, and critical thinking when teaching CN and CI.

The overall aims of the ConCitizen project were: 1. Through a transnational virtual exchange format and teaching tutorials to strengthen the students’ democratic competencies and to develop citizenship education based on experiences of teaching contested narratives (CN) and controversial issues (CI) in very different national and democratic contexts. 2. Across the participating institutions to develop new pedagogical models for teaching CN and CI that will improve the ability of lecturers and students to include CN and CI in the teaching to improve the pupils’ ability to think critically, reflect on differences and contribute to peaceful coexistence. 3. Through an open-access textbook to combine theoretical perspectives with pedagogical approaches that strengthen the student teachers’ and schoolteachers' ability to facilitate inclusion, dialogue, and mutual understanding in classrooms when topics are controversial and contested.

The specific outputs were: • A Concept-mapping which delineated key contested narratives and controversial issues within the educational settings of the five partner institutions, alongside an examination of the associated pedagogical challenges. The results obtained from the concept mapping exercise were utilized to formulate definitions of the terms "contested narratives" and "controversial issues". • A curriculum mapping provided comprehensive information on the legal framework for teaching social studies, history, and religious education in the partner countries, offering crucial insights into the diverse contexts. • Semi-structured interviews conducted with schoolteachers, alongside a survey, yielded valuable insights into the topics that teachers identify as contested and controversial. Additionally, the findings revealed some of the strategies that teachers include to address these issues, as well as the circumstances under which they may opt to refrain from teaching CN and CI. • A comparative analysis of the data collected led to the development of two pedagogical models. • Three teaching tutorials and a transnational podcast were developed and used in virtual exchanges with student teachers and later for the virtual exchange format for entire classes. The material is now accessible on eTwinning and on our ConCitizen website.  • Two two-session virtual exchange formats for whole classes have been developed, tested and revised to anchor the project in classroom teaching. • An open-source textbook collects and disseminates the findings of the project through a combination of theory with practical pedagogical models and examples from different national contexts. The material for the textbook is currently being edited and the book will be ready for publication and Open Access during the spring semester of 2025. • A website has been developed to disseminate the project results • A TwinSpace room at e-Twinning/ESEP has been established to disseminate the project results