Dealing with controversy and polarisation in the classroom

Maarten Van Alstein (°1978) is a senior researcher with the Flemish Peace Institute, a Flemish Parliament institute for peace research. He studied history, law and international politics.
Within the ‘Conflict & Peace in Society’ programme of the Peace Institute he conducts research into peace education, dealing with controversy and polarisation in the classroom, commemoration policy and remembrance education.

Discussions about politics and society tend to be quite heated nowadays. This is also the case in class and at school. Teachers and school principals face major challenges. How can they react to controversial statements and hate messages? How to teach sensitive topics in the curriculum? How to demine polarisation? How to discuss controversial issues without having a classroom explode? In an interactive presentation Maarten Van Alstein, senior researcher with the Flemish Peace Institute, addresses these questions.
The Flemish Peace Institute is an independent institute dedicated to peace research and hosted by the Flemish Parliament. The Peace Institute is tasked to inform the public debate and to support experts on the basis of scientific insights.