STRUCTURED ACADEMIC CONTROVERSY
Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) is “a discussion that moves students beyond either/or debates to a more nuanced historical synthesis.” (Teachinghistory.org) It is “a type of cooperative learning strategy where controversial issues are learnt and discussed from multiple perspectives by small teams of students. It is a technique and a way discovered and designed especially for students to get engaged in a controversy and then guide them to seek consensus.” (Wikipedia)
UNIT SEQUENCE
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Students explore multiple texts and images that are places around the classroom to begin to develop questions & wondering. This is intended as an exploratory phase to develop backgrounders knowledge and schema.
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Support students to build on Gallery Walk meaning-making by developing historical connections and content delivery to help students understand “bigger picture” and new concepts.
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Expose students to the texts they will use to construct their Structured Academic Controversy arguments.
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Students take on and argue for, alternately, both sides of a controversial issue and ultimately come up with an evidence-based balanced opinion through consensus development.
