Exploration of teacher life stories: Taiwanese history teachers’ curricular gatekeeping of controversial public issues

Abstract

This study explores teachers' personal practical knowledge and curricular-instructional gatekeeping as they relate to the teaching of contemporary controversial public issues in Taiwan (e.g., national identity, sovereignty, and ethnic issues). Using a case study design, this study documents how six social studies teachers make curricular decisions about teaching controversial public issues by making use of their personal practical knowledge. Findings illuminate that personal practical knowledge plays a role in teacher's curricular-instructional gate keeping in socially divisive contexts. In sum, this study, refracted through the national context of Taiwan, helps us understand the relationship between a teacher's own imaginative worldview, their sense of personal and professional identity, and their classroom teaching practices.