To Teach or Not to Teach Controversial Issues? : An Interview Study of Upper Secondary English Teachers’ Attitudes and Experiences of Teaching Controversial Issues Through Fictional Works

Abstract: This study aims to examine how upper secondary English teachers work with foundationalvalues and controversial topics through fictional works in order to discuss the function of valuesand the civic mission in the EFL-classroom. The study was conducted using a qualitativeapproach through semi structured interviews, interviewing seven currently active uppersecondary English teachers. To structure the data from the interviews a thematic analysis wasapplied, and the theoretical approaches used for analysing the data were transformativepotential and narrative imagination.The results of this study show that the participants have an interest in using fictional workscontaining controversial issues for discussing foundational values in the classroom. The studyalso shows that there are both common challenges and advantages of teaching controversialissues through fiction. All participants had similar opinions about the advantages which werethe emergence of expanding worldviews and perspectives among pupils. The challengesmentioned among the participants were: reading in a second language, giving the pupils enoughpre-knowledge and knowing which position to take as a teacher during discussions aboutcontroversial topics. Noticeable differences in the teachers’ opinions were due to their lengthof work experience. Finally, the civic mission in the EFL-classroom could be distinguished inthe teachers’ arguments of why they implement fictional works with controversial topics intheir teaching.