Encouraging and Supporting Student Inquiry: Researching Controversial Issues »

HARRIET S. SELVERSTONE is a retired high school library media specialist and Department Chair of the Library Media Department at Norwalk High School, Norwalk, CT. She is a former President of the American Association of School Librarians and two-term President of the Connecticut Educational Media Association. She served two terms on the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee, and was Chair for several years of the Connecticut Educational Media Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee. She has authored chapters on censorship issues in two texts, Children and Books, HarperCollins, 1996 and Collection Management for School Library Media Centers, Haworth Press, Inc., 1985-86. She is Series Adviser to Libraries Unlimited Professional Guides in School Librarianship Series. She received a Masters degree in Library Science, an Advanced Certificate in Information Management and an honorary doctorate degree from Pratt Institute.

Assignments that engage students in inquiry topics of their own choosing contribute to motivation and thus to learning. Very often the topics chosen (particularly by high school students) are considered controversial by school administration, parents, community organizations, and others. This practical book discusses the processes, actions, and policies needed to support and encourage high school students in that type of inquiry. Building trusting relationships over time with administration and the school community will be stressed as a way to build a community of true inquiry in your school and library. Classroom teachers and high school librarians will value the advice and scaffolding techniques presented that will enable their school and high school library to become a safe place for student inquiry into issues of their own choosing— controversial or not. The author draws on her 30-plus years as a high school librarian, deeply concerned with the intellectual freedom of the researchers in her library media center and with offering help and reassurance to those trying to implement school library programs that allow all voices to be heard. Grades 9-12.

Assignments that engage students in inquiry topics of their own choosing (often controversial) contribute to motivation and thus to learning. This practical book will discuss the processes, actions and policies needed to support and encourage high school students in that type of inquiry.

School Library Journal

Selverstone gives sound advice for advocating inquiry-based research, especially for hot topics that are most interesting to students. She advises library media specialists on what constitutes controversial topics, how to collaborate with teachers to foster critical thinking, and how to gain administrative support for this kind of program research. Most of the suggestions stem from Information Power and how to incorporate it into library programs. The author includes models of inquiry-based research techniques that allow students to enrich their curriculum study as well as develop their understanding and respect for different viewpoints. The rest of the book is divided into nine broad categories, and, within them, more specific topics that suggest journal articles, Web sites, and books to direct students to unbiased information that presents both sides of the topic. For example, "Biology/Health" has sections on abortion, birth control, cloning, evolution, and medical marijuana. Selverstone includes an introduction to the topic for library media specialists and collaborating teachers. She stresses the importance of having access to all types of information like unfiltered accounts for accessing the Internet as well as books and databases; while unfiltered accounts may be out of reach for some libraries, the philosophies and ideas presented make this book an ideal purchase to promote and foster collaboration with the school communities in which many of us work.-Lori E. Donovan, Thomas Dale High School, Chester, VA

Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     xiii
Controversial Issues: Definition     xv
Student Assignments     xvi
Administrative Support     xxiii
Public Relations: Necessary for Support of Programs     xxviii
Teaching, Learning, and Student Inquiry during the Research Process     xxxv
Controversial Issues: What Are They?     xliii
Researching Controversial Issues     xlvii
Presentation of Controversial Issues     xlix
Biology/Health     1
Abortion     3
AIDS Reappraised and AIDS, the Epidemic     6
Alternative Medicine     10
Birth Control     12
Circumcision     15
Cloning     18
Cryonics     20
Eugenics     22
Euthanasia     24
Evolution and Creationism     26
In Vitro Fertilization     29
Medical Marijuana     32
Mind Control     35
Overpopulation     37
Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports     39
Psychoactive Drugs     42
Race and Intelligence     45
Racial Profiling     48
StemCells     51
Tobacco Smoking     54
Transracial Adoption     57
Entertainment     61
Entertainment Software Rating Board     63
Media Bias     65
Media Restrictions     68
MPAA Film Rating System     71
Environment     75
Acid Rain     77
Global Warming     80
Nuclear Power     83
Ozone Depletion     86
Pesticides     89
Geography     93
Israeli-Occupied Territories     95
Persian Gulf     98
Puerto Rico Self-Determination     101
United States-Mexican Border Dispute     104
History     109
Apartheid in South Africa     111
Cyprus Dispute     114
Genocide     117
Holocaust Revisionism     120
Roswell UFO Incident     123
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)     126
White Supremacy     129
People     131
Salvador Allende     133
Yasser Arafat     136
Cesar Chavez     139
Hugo Chavez     142
David Duke      145
Galileo Galilei     147
Malcolm X     150
Martin Luther King, Jr.     153
Politics     155
Anarchism     157
Black Separatism     160
Communism     163
Fascism     166
Feminism     169
Gays in the Military     172
Gun Politics     175
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)     178
Public vs. Private School Education     181
USA Patriot Act (H.R. 3162)     184
Religion     187
Anti-Semitism     189
Atheism     192
Fundamentalism     195
New Age Spirituality     198
Opus Dei     201
Scientology     204
Sharia     207
Sexuality     211
Homosexuality     213
Polygamy     216
Pornography     219
Same-Sex Marriage     222
Index     225