A Perspective on Digital Storytelling Experiences of Primary School Teachers on Teaching Controversial Issues in Turkey
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| Title: | A Perspective on Digital Storytelling Experiences of Primary School Teachers on Teaching Controversial Issues in Turkey |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Burcu Sel (ORCID |
| Source: | Social Studies. 2025 116(5):311-328. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, Controversial Issues (Course Content), Teaching Skills, Barriers, Story Telling, Electronic Learning, Technology Uses in Education, Program Effectiveness, Social Studies, Teacher Role |
| Geographic Terms: | Turkey |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00377996.2024.2394934 |
| ISSN: | 0037-7996 2152-405X |
| Abstract: | In this study, it was aimed to determine the sources of concern of primary school teachers in terms of controversial issues and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes and to improve their teaching skills related to controversial issues with digital stories. In this context, participatory action research method was utilized. A four-week action plan based on controversial issues supported by digital stories was implemented. The participants of the study consisted of four teachers. During the implementation process, digital stories based on controversial issues prepared by the researchers within the scope of action plans were utilized. Semi-structured interview form, focus group interview form and reflective teacher diary were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using content analysis through MAXQUDA 2020 program. As a result of the research, the problems faced by primary school teachers in teaching controversial issues are insufficiency of time, difficulties in managing the discussion, requiring intensive preparation, problems arising from cultural background, inadequacy of materials, inadequacy in terms of textbooks, overcrowded classes, lack of family support, extending the discussion outside the classroom and receiving negative reactions from school administration. When the experiences of primary school teachers in teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories are examined, it is seen that ensuring active participation, arousing interest/curiosity, developing a positive understanding of the lesson, associating with real life, moving away from textbooks, concretization, technology integration, increasing permanence, gaining a desire for research, developing interdisciplinary understanding findings have been reached. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1489490 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Url: https://content.ebscohost.com/cds/retrieve?content=AQICAHj0k_4E0hTGH8RJwT4gCJyBsGNe_WN95AvKlDbXJGqwxwGWE1k6sw9F9GJHSrMLE4AjAAAA4jCB3wYJKoZIhvcNAQcGoIHRMIHOAgEAMIHIBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHgYJYIZIAWUDBAEuMBEEDCWm7W2NXdgDKJrl5wIBEICBms7pFMCiJaGgkoMBFHw8xCA1tFRXy4e0qacxO_NH8mbuTogV6otSoOQH5sF2fggQXYJ0AYeHpvvzzTU7LYE0iljO-e0FwEX_sfxSl6M5FZX0toodfegy85Oc4VoFEu7Qatqt7GYf5Bm68dwYk3oOlpJBryfQRHr6oSeBsd0y4gCoFx0ra61C90dB_YUsrkOY2uS40byJo24D8SA= Text: Availability: 1 Value: <anid>AN0187695516;soc01sep.25;2025Sep04.05:43;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0187695516-1">A Perspective on Digital Storytelling Experiences of Primary School Teachers on Teaching Controversial Issues in Turkey </title> <p>In this study, it was aimed to determine the sources of concern of primary school teachers in terms of controversial issues and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes and to improve their teaching skills related to controversial issues with digital stories. In this context, participatory action research method was utilized. A four-week action plan based on controversial issues supported by digital stories was implemented. The participants of the study consisted of four teachers. During the implementation process, digital stories based on controversial issues prepared by the researchers within the scope of action plans were utilized. Semi-structured interview form, focus group interview form and reflective teacher diary were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using content analysis through MAXQUDA 2020 program. As a result of the research, the problems faced by primary school teachers in teaching controversial issues are insufficiency of time, difficulties in managing the discussion, requiring intensive preparation, problems arising from cultural background, inadequacy of materials, inadequacy in terms of textbooks, overcrowded classes, lack of family support, extending the discussion outside the classroom and receiving negative reactions from school administration. When the experiences of primary school teachers in teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories are examined, it is seen that ensuring active participation, arousing interest/curiosity, developing a positive understanding of the lesson, associating with real life, moving away from textbooks, concretization, technology integration, increasing permanence, gaining a desire for research, developing interdisciplinary understanding findings have been reached.</p> <p>Keywords: Controversial issues; digital story; social studies</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-2">Introduction</hd> <p>Can every controversial issue enter the school? Do controversial issues create paths full of obstacles for teachers or areas that can be traveled with ease? What should we teach as "controversial" in classrooms? In this context, one of the important issues related to controversial issues in the literature is how to define "controversial issues" (Cooling, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref1">15</reflink>]). In the literature, it is stated that even the definition of controversial issues is controversial (Sætra, [<reflink idref="bib74" id="ref2">74</reflink>]), there is no general consensus on the definition (Larsson &amp; Lindström, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref3">50</reflink>]), and it is used differently in different areas (Council of Europe, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref4">17</reflink>]). One of the challenges of addressing controversial issues is that the meaning of the concept has rarely been analyzed (Ho et al., [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref5">38</reflink>]). However, it is also seen that there are evaluations in different scopes regarding the nature and content of controversial issues. For example, Camicia ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref6">11</reflink>]) defines issues that tend to be non-controversial as closed to more than one point of view, and issues that tend to be controversial as open to more than one point of view. According to Woolley ([<reflink idref="bib89" id="ref7">89</reflink>]), controversial issues do not involve a fixed perspective that is universally accepted; they involve an understanding that challenges and prompts debate. Oulton et al. ([<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref8">60</reflink>]) define controversial issues as issues which different perspectives are held by groups within society, interpreted in different ways based on different foundations, different worldviews emerge due to different values held by individuals, and which are not always based on reason and logic but sometimes involve emotions.</p> <p>There is a similar uncertainty and variability when controversial issues are evaluated from an instructional perspective. Controversies change over time and continue to evolve (Kim et al., [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref9">44</reflink>]). Moreover, controversial issues show some temporal, cultural and social differences. Since each society has its own taboos, there are different opinions on controversial issues. Therefore, the type of topic that is open or closed to discussion may vary in different societies (Asimeng-Boahene, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref10">5</reflink>]). Whether a topic is controversial or not in the instructional context can be revealed by considering the curriculum and the ideological context in which the debate is located (Camicia, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref11">11</reflink>]). In addition to whether a topic is controversial or not, some periodical, cultural and social elements may need to be examined in determining the approaches that can be used in teaching controversial topics. The school and the wider communities in which the school is located play an important role in teaching controversial issues (Washington &amp; Humphries, [<reflink idref="bib86" id="ref12">86</reflink>]). Pedagogical decisions regarding the teaching of controversial issues can be influenced in many different ways by the broader sociopolitical contexts in which the teacher and the school are situated (Ho et al., [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref13">38</reflink>]). Therefore, the question "what should we teach as controversial?" can also be influenced by many different contexts and may change periodically.</p> <p>In instructional terms, controversial issues can function as an effective teaching tool (Byford et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref14">10</reflink>]). Possible discussions to be conducted play a fundamental role in a large number of quality activities in the search for truth (Hand &amp; Levinson, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref15">34</reflink>]). The aim of teaching controversial issues is for students to see different views on a topic, to accept various possible answers, to discover supporting arguments, and to defend their own views, not always strictly adhering to the teacher's preferred view (Hand, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref16">33</reflink>]). As an effective and ideal teaching tool, controversial issues are also important in terms of ensuring respect for different opinions, critical thinking, active participation of students, and helping to understand the real world (Eulie, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref17">24</reflink>]). In this direction, firstly, controversial issues within the scope of the social studies lesson, which constitutes the focus of the research, were discussed, the roles of teachers in teaching controversial issues were examined, and finally, digital stories that can be used in teaching controversial issues were included.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-3">Teaching controversial issues in social studies and the role of teachers</hd> <p>Especially social studies lesson have important functions for students to determine their own positions in terms of addressing complex social problems that do not have current, ordinary answers or solutions (Larsson &amp; Lindström, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref18">50</reflink>]). Although there are many reasons for the inclusion of controversial issues in social studies curricula (Hess, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref19">35</reflink>]), the primary reason is that controversial issues provide an important educational basis for the rich content and objectives that social studies lesson offers within the scope of democracy and citizenship education. In the context of controversial issues, schools in many different societies play an important role in promoting democratic dialogue on public problems (Ho et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref20">37</reflink>]). Controversial issues with different views and various oppositions constitute the essential elements of a democratic society (Flensner, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref21">27</reflink>]). Through debates, which are center of democracy, public problems are discussed, citizens are enlightened, facts or information gaps or deprivations are revealed, announced to all stakeholders and a final decision is reached (Eulie, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref22">24</reflink>]). Addressing controversial issues, which is a powerful tool for developing democracy, allows students to access and examine perspectives, claims and information that are outside or far from their individual preferences and positions (King, [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref23">45</reflink>]). Examining controversial and taboo topics within the scope of social studies lesson provides a basis for freedom of expression and important clues about living in a democratic community (Evans et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref24">25</reflink>]). Some of the main reasons for utilizing controversial issues from a pedagogical perspective can be expressed as the development of critical thinking skills, the creation of multiple perspectives and value education for active citizenship (Waliaula, [<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref25">85</reflink>]). In this context, the teaching of these controversial issues related to real and contemporary life includes actions such as research, decision-making, using evidence, thinking about multiple solutions, and presenting supporting or refuting arguments.</p> <p>Teachers' instructional skills, concerns, possible difficulties they may face, and their readiness to use controversial issues are important in the nature of the process of handling controversial issues in classrooms. Research shows that teachers have to face a wide range of intellectual and affective challenges (Ho et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref26">37</reflink>]) and encounter numerous and serious obstacles (Chikoko et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref27">14</reflink>]; Misco &amp; Patterson, [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref28">57</reflink>]) in the context of teaching controversial issues. When the literature is examined, it is seen that the obstacles, concerns and sources of anxiety that teachers face in this process are very diverse. In this context, sources of concern can be divided into two as internal factors arising from teachers' own professional and educational status and external factors arising from other factors such as school/classroom management, sociocultural factors, and curricula. In this context, "sociocultural factors," which can be considered as one of the external factors, are very important. For example, student resistance in teaching controversial topics and negative reactions from parents (Asimeng-Boahene, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref29">5</reflink>], Byford et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref30">10</reflink>]; Chikoko et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref31">14</reflink>]; Deniz, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref32">22</reflink>]; Guyton &amp; Hoffman. [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref33">32</reflink>]; Öztürk, [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref34">63</reflink>]), the possibility of taking the discussions outside the classroom (Aynuz, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref35">6</reflink>]; Çopur, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref36">16</reflink>]; Seçgin, [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref37">76</reflink>]), social reactions/social customs (Asimeng-Boahene, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref38">5</reflink>]; Seçgin, [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref39">76</reflink>]) are seen as possible sociocultural barriers. Content-oriented curriculum and assessment processes that can be considered as external factors (Asimeng-Boahene, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref40">5</reflink>]; Chikoko et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref41">14</reflink>]; Koldaş, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref42">47</reflink>]), students' readiness levels (Çopur, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref43">16</reflink>]; Deniz, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref44">22</reflink>]; Yılmaz, [<reflink idref="bib92" id="ref45">92</reflink>]), lack of time (Günal &amp; Kaya, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref46">31</reflink>]; Tuncer, [<reflink idref="bib82" id="ref47">82</reflink>]; Uğurlu &amp; Doğan, [<reflink idref="bib83" id="ref48">83</reflink>]), authoritarian school climate/policies, classroom climate/control, fear (Aynuz, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref49">6</reflink>]; Byford et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref50">10</reflink>]; Council of Europe, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref51">17</reflink>]; Öztürk, [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref52">63</reflink>]) are other educational factors that teachers experience anxiety and have difficulty with. There are also intrinsic factors stemming from teachers' own professional and educational status. In this context, teachers avoid teaching controversial issues (Abdel Latif, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref53">1</reflink>]; Waliaula, [<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref54">85</reflink>]), explain their views on controversial issues with their personal life experiences (Hung, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref55">39</reflink>]), are not ready to teach controversial issues and feel inadequate (Oulton et al., [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref56">60</reflink>]), they have concerns that their careers may be negatively affected (Aynuz, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref57">6</reflink>]; Byford et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref58">10</reflink>]; Günal &amp; Kaya, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref59">31</reflink>]), they have not received enough training in this context (Asimeng-Boahene, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref60">5</reflink>]; Seçgin, [<reflink idref="bib76" id="ref61">76</reflink>]) and they need training (Günal &amp; Kaya, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref62">31</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-4">Digital stories in teaching controversial issues</hd> <p>There are various suggestions for improving the teaching process of controversial issues for teachers. Hess ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref63">36</reflink>]) states that in order to minimize the obstacles and controversies related to the teaching of controversial issues, teachers should be prepared in a qualified way, administrators should be encouraged in this direction and some factors such as providing education to parents about the importance of the issues are important. It is stated that teachers are more self-confident after the teacher trainings given within the scope of teaching controversial issues and therefore there is a need for teacher training programmes on controversial issues (Waliaula, [<reflink idref="bib85" id="ref64">85</reflink>]), that pedagogical practices planned in a qualified way on controversial issues within the scope of teacher training are important (Nganga et al., [<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref65">59</reflink>]), that courses on controversial issues can be presented through readings, case studies and modeling in the teacher training process (Washington &amp; Humphries, [<reflink idref="bib86" id="ref66">86</reflink>]), and that it is important to provide materials to support effective teaching processes (Oulton et al., [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref67">60</reflink>]).</p> <p>One of the various materials that can be used in teaching controversial topics is digital stories. As a way to facilitate discussion about the issues raised in a story, digital stories make abstract content more meaningful while expanding the scope of an existing lesson (Robin, [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref68">69</reflink>]). Digital stories are one of the effective learning and teaching tools that teachers can use to increase their competencies in subject area, pedagogy or technology and to enable students to acquire new knowledge by blending their knowledge with technology in lessons (Bull &amp; Kajder, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref69">9</reflink>]; Danciu &amp; Grosseck, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref70">19</reflink>]; Faruk Islim et al., [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref71">26</reflink>]; Robin, [<reflink idref="bib70" id="ref72">70</reflink>]). Digital stories are a storytelling practice in which an oral or written story with a message is intertwined with digital media including images, texts, sounds and other elements (Davis, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref73">20</reflink>]; Meadows, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref74">54</reflink>]; Schuch, [<reflink idref="bib75" id="ref75">75</reflink>]). Seen as a modern extension of the old traditional art of storytelling that makes extensive use of technology (Lambert, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref76">49</reflink>]), digital stories often emphasize a personal point of view and often contain emotional content (Schuch, [<reflink idref="bib75" id="ref77">75</reflink>]). Digital stories provide a learning-teaching process by doing-living, are to provide teachers with the opportunity to organize their teaching services, overcome the obstacles they face in the classroom, gain competence in using technology (Robin, [<reflink idref="bib70" id="ref78">70</reflink>]; Sadik, [<reflink idref="bib73" id="ref79">73</reflink>]; Tassell et al., [<reflink idref="bib79" id="ref80">79</reflink>]), develop higher-order thinking skills, and increase their willingness to discover new things (Yang &amp; Wu, [<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref81">90</reflink>]).</p> <p>Digital stories are an innovative approach that supports the goals of social studies education while meeting the demands of students growing up in a digital environment. As a highly versatile tool, digital stories can be adapted to many different educational situations (Schuch, [<reflink idref="bib75" id="ref82">75</reflink>]). However, digital story applications in teaching controversial topics are not yet a widespread application area and there is limited research in this context. Within the scope of controversial issues in the social studies lesson, topics such as consensus, citizenship, democracy, and active participation are important. In the process of preparing students for active citizenship, teaching controversial issues has important functions in terms of their active participation in social life and their ability to think in a qualified way (Asimeng-Boahene, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref83">5</reflink>]). Controversial issues, which are a qualified educational tool for citizenship educators (King, [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref84">45</reflink>]), pave the way for students who adopt the intellectual dispositions required for active participation in science, citizenship and democracy (Alongi et al., [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref85">4</reflink>]). In this context, digital storytelling demonstrates a subjective and socially transformative approach to global citizenship education (Truong-White &amp; McLean, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref86">81</reflink>]); enables students to develop different competencies for lifelong learning such as social and civic competencies and cultural awareness and expression (Mølster et al., [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref87">58</reflink>]), develops a deeper understanding of social and cultural diversity and social justice and equality (Fu, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref88">28</reflink>]), and has a significant effect on democratic attitudes (Erdoğan, 2021) and social value judgments (Balaman, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref89">7</reflink>]). Digital stories have been examined in the context of racial justice (Matias &amp; Grosland, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref90">53</reflink>]; Rolón-Dow, [<reflink idref="bib72" id="ref91">72</reflink>]), cultural differences (Ribeiro, [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref92">68</reflink>]), social justice (Fu, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref93">28</reflink>]; Grant &amp; Bolin, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref94">29</reflink>]; Gubrium &amp; Scott, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref95">30</reflink>]), refugees and asylum seekers (López-Bech &amp; Zúñiga, [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref96">52</reflink>]), sustainability (Shelton et al., [<reflink idref="bib78" id="ref97">78</reflink>]). For example, there are studies that emphasize the potential of digital stories to foster critical perspectives on human rights and social justice issues (Gubrium &amp; Scott, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref98">30</reflink>]), that they can be a valuable tool for initiating conversations about young people's racial experiences (Rolón-Dow, [<reflink idref="bib72" id="ref99">72</reflink>]), and their potential as a tool for social activism for marginalized youth (Reed &amp; Hill, [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref100">67</reflink>]).</p> <p>When using digital stories as learning resources, educators need to be equipped to facilitate dialog around controversial issues (Truong-White &amp; McLean, [<reflink idref="bib81" id="ref101">81</reflink>]). Therefore, teachers' skills are important. Digital stories designed to approach a real-world context, providing learning opportunities that can be experienced by participants and providing feedback on participants' actions (Aldrich, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref102">3</reflink>]; Kaka et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref103">42</reflink>]) are important in terms of enabling teachers to improve their teaching skills through experience (Lindgren et al., [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref104">51</reflink>]; Yin, [<reflink idref="bib93" id="ref105">93</reflink>]) and supporting interactive teaching of controversial issues. In this context, in the current study, it is aimed to determine the sources of concern of teachers and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes within the scope of the social studies lesson, which provides a rich content in terms of controversial issues, and to improve their teaching skills related to controversial issues by supporting them with digital stories. In this direction, answers to the following research questions were sought:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> What are the sources of concern of primary school teachers and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes within the scope of social studies lesson in terms of controversial issues?</item> <p></p> <item> What are the opinions of primary school teachers about teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories?</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0187695516-5">Method</hd> <p>In this study, the action research method was utilized by focusing on improving the instructional skills of teachers regarding the teaching of controversial issues. Within the scope of the research, Pelton's ([<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref106">64</reflink>]) process of defining the problem, collecting data, planning the action, implementing the action, and evaluating the result was utilized and the process shown in Figure 1 was followed:</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 1. Action research process.</p> <p>First of all, a literature review was conducted within the scope of "controversial issues," focusing especially on studies examining teachers' views and experiences regarding the teaching of controversial issues. Secondly, semi-structured preliminary interviews were conducted with the participants and their views on "controversial issues" were evaluated. In the preliminary interviews, findings parallel to the literature were obtained. It is seen that teachers explained the difficulties they experienced in teaching controversial topics as exceeding the duration of the lesson, difficulties in planning the lesson, abstract concepts, cultural background, extending the discussion outside the classroom, lack of necessary support from parents, negative reactions of the school administration. For example, one of the participants explained his views in this direction as follows:</p> <p>"Sometimes students get too carried away with controversial issues and the discussion can turn into a fight. In order to convince themselves, some problems may arise in this sense. Other than that, they get away from the subject. Binary groups are formed. We can go beyond the discussion topic we talked about. We can exceed the time. The lesson ends, but the discussion in that lesson can continue in the next lesson or during breaks or a few days later.</p> <p>Another participant expressed concerns about the lack of parental support for controversial issues:</p> <p>As a result, we need to find support from parents when teaching a subject... We may receive less parental support. When we do any activity related to controversial issues, our parents may not participate effectively.</p> <p>Another participant expressed her thoughts that cultural background can be an obstacle in teaching controversial topics as follows:</p> <p>Actually, it is nice when different ideas collide with each other. However, in terms of the culture that children come from, this can be difficult. For example, we are talking about democracy. Children immediately ask about the political party I am interested in. Although the children are in the fourth grade, the stereotypes of democracy in their minds are very different. Human rights, gender inequality... Since they generally come from a patriarchal society... These are disadvantages...</p> <p>Another issue that the participants drew attention to was the inadequacies in the social studies curriculum and the textbook. One of the participants expressed his views on the textbook as follows:</p> <p>There are questions or activities at the end of the topics. Is it enough? I don't find it very sufficient. There can be different explanations for students and teachers. There are not always controversial issues related to each outcome, it is very rare... There are not things that can make students think. Yes, a question is given to the student in the textbook, the student gives an answer, but he/she doesn't look for a sub-cause or go from there to a different thought...</p> <p>Another participant explained her views on the textbook as follows:</p> <p>As much as I can, I actually don't want children to be tied to a textbook, because sometimes what is in the textbook is not enough ... You want to show something real, something concrete. I try to provide materials from outside ... As I said, sometimes textbooks are not enough, we are uncomfortable about this. It can be supported with more activities.</p> <p>Digital stories were created by the researchers based on both the literature review and the semi-structured interviews with the participant teachers, and based on the learning outcomes in the fourth grade social studies lesson. The controversial issues emphasized by the participant teachers constitute the main element of the digital stories. While preparing the digital stories, Storyjumper (https://<ulink href="http://www.storyjumper.com/),">www.storyjumper.com/),</ulink> Pawton (https://<ulink href="http://www.powtoon.com/),">www.powtoon.com/),</ulink> Storybird (https://storybirdthat.com/) and Animoto (https://animoto.com/) web 2.0. tools were utilized. Care was taken to ensure that the created digital stories contain a main idea, dramatic questions to be solved at the end of the story, a content that will attract the interest of the reader and the instructor, audio narration, story music, visuals appropriate to the context of the story, a smooth pacing, multimedia resources and correct language use (Cennamo et al., [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref107">13</reflink>]; Lambert, [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref108">48</reflink>]; Robin, [<reflink idref="bib70" id="ref109">70</reflink>]). Information about the digital stories prepared in this direction is given in Figure 2:</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 2. Information on digital stories.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-6">Identification of participants</hd> <p>Criterion sampling method was used to determine the participants in the study. In this context, the first criterion was that the teachers were working in the fourth grade where the social studies lesson, which offers a rich educational content on controversial issues, is conducted. Moreover, when the literature is examined, it is seen that the social studies lesson plays an important role in addressing controversial complex social issues (Demir &amp; Pismek, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref110">21</reflink>]; Evans et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref111">25</reflink>]; Hess, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref112">35</reflink>]; Larsson &amp; Lindström, [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref113">50</reflink>]; Purnomo et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref114">65</reflink>]). The second criterion was based on the fact that teachers have digital competencies to use digital stories in a functional way within the scope of the research. In this context, the participants were administered the "Digital Story Tools Use Competency Scale" developed by Çelik ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref115">12</reflink>]). In this study, the scale was applied to the teachers and it was seen that the average scores obtained from the scale were generally at a "good" level.</p> <p>The participants' professional information and information about their schools are as follows:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> <emph>F1:</emph> She graduated from the Department of Teacher Education in 2015 and then started her master's degree. She has been working as a primary school teacher in a public primary school for the last three years. She stated that the school where she was working was newly opened, there were approximately 1500 students, and there were eight fourth grade classes. She also stated that the region where the primary school is located receives a lot of migration. There are 24 students in her class.</item> <p></p> <item> <emph>F2</emph>: In 2017, she graduated from the Department of Teacher Education. She has been working as a primary school teacher in a public primary school for three years. K2 works in a village in the provincial center and the school she works in provides full-day education. K2 is also responsible for the learning activities of third and fourth grade students within the scope of combined classes. There are 15 students in her class. All students in his class are bilingual.</item> <p></p> <item> <emph>M1:</emph> He graduated from the Department of Teacher Education in 2013. E1 has been working as a primary school teacher in a public primary school for 9 years and the school is located in the city center. There is only one fourth grade class in the school with a small number of students. There are 22 students in his class.</item> <p></p> <item> <emph>M2:</emph> He graduated from the Department of Teacher Education in 2008. For 14 years, he has been working as a primary school teacher in a public primary school. The school where he works is located in the village. The school where he works provides full day education. There are 23 students in total in his class.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0187695516-7">Action process</hd> <p>The action process lasted a total of 6 weeks. Participant teachers were informed about all action plans prepared by the researchers before the action process. After the action plans, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participant teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of the action plans.</p> <p>Before action process (First week): Teachers were individually informed about the use of Web 2.0 tools with digital stories. Preliminary information was given about the main idea, the process of use and the activities of digital stories.</p> <p> <emph>Action plan 1 (Second week):</emph>The digital story titled "As Free as I Can Speak!," which deals with the right to "freedom of expression" as a controversial concept, and four interactive activities related to the story were applied to students by teachers. After the teaching of the digital story was completed, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers about their experiences during the teaching process.</p> <p> <emph>Action plan 2 (Third week):</emph> The digital story titled "Fingerprint," which deals with the concepts of "gender inequality" and "justice" as controversial concepts, and three interactive activities related to the story were implemented by teachers. After the teaching of the digital story was completed, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers about their experiences during the teaching process.</p> <p> <emph>Action plan 3 (Fourth week):</emph> The digital story "What's wrong with that?" and three interactive activities related to the story were taught by teachers and then individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers about their experiences during the teaching process.</p> <p> <emph>Action plan 4 (Fifth week):</emph> The digital story "Newly Arriving Swallows," which deals with the concept of "migration" as a controversial concept, and four interactive activities connected to the story were implemented by teachers, and then individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers about the instructional experiences.</p> <p> <emph>After action process (Sixth week):</emph> The effectiveness of the action plans for digital stories with controversial topics was evaluated through a focus group interview involving four teachers.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-8">Collection and analysis of data</hd> <p>A semi-structured interview form, a focus group interview form and a reflective teacher diary were used as data collection tools.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-9">Semi-structured interview form</hd> <p>A preliminary semi-structured interview form was applied to all participants at the beginning of the research. This form consists of two parts. The first part includes personal and professional information about the participants. In the second part, there are seven questions in order to obtain the participants' prior knowledge about controversial issues and to reveal the difficulties they experience in teaching controversial issues. Another semistructured interview form was applied after the implementation of each action plan by the researchers and the participants individually. In this interview form, there were five main questions and three follow-up questions about the shortcomings and advantages of the action plan, the difficulties experienced by the teachers during the implementation, the positive reflections of the implementation and their views on the next implementation.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-10">Focus group interview form</hd> <p>After all action plans were implemented, a focus group interview was conducted with the participation of all participants and the researchers on the web. In this context, the participants were asked how the use of digital stories in teaching controversial topics reflected on their instructional skills and what the advantages and disadvantages they experienced in classroom practices were. By utilizing group dynamics and interaction, it was aimed to find similar and dissimilar patterns in practices in different classes. In this focus group interview form, there were 5 questions about how all action plans affected teachers' instructional skills and what teachers' experiences were in this regard. In this interview, one of the researchers acted as a moderator who guided the interview and another one acted as an observer who made observations and took notes.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-11">Reflective teacher diary</hd> <p>After each action plan was implemented, teachers kept regular reflective diaries in order to reveal their experiences. The reflective journals were titled "Moments of difficulty during the lesson," "Changes/arrangements I would make if I taught this lesson again" and "Contributions of the lesson to my teaching skills."</p> <p>The data obtained were analyzed by content analysis method. All raw data obtained from the semi-structured interview form, focus group interview form and reflective diaries were transferred to the MAXQUDA 2020 program. The researchers independently created a coding form to divide the data set into meaningful sections, to discover which concept each section meets, and to determine the coding units. Both researchers compared the coding form and units and discussed similar and different elements. Based on the codes identified, main categories that can explain the data set at a more general level and group the codes under certain subcategories were determined. After two main categories were identified, a second repeated coding was carried out to prevent any data loss. In the last stage, data-based interpretation was made.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-12">Findings</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0187695516-13">Difficulties in teaching controversial issues</hd> <p>The sources of concern of teachers in terms of controversial issues within the social studies lesson and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes are as shown in Figure 3:</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 3. Current problems in teaching controversial issues.</p> <p>As can be seen in the figure, the problems experienced by teachers within the scope of social studies lesson in terms of controversial issues are insufficient time (f = 9), difficulties in managing the discussion (f = 7), and the need for intensive preparation (f = 5), problems arising from cultural background (f = 3), inadequacy of materials (f = 3), inadequacy in terms of textbooks (f = 3), overcrowded classes (f = 2), lack of family support (f = 2), extending the discussion outside the classroom (f = 1) and receiving negative reactions from school administration (f = 1).</p> <p>It is seen that teachers think that teaching controversial topics is time-consuming, that they experience time insufficiency, especially due to the concern of completing the curriculum, and that social studies lesson hours should be increased. The participant coded M2 expressed his views in this context as follows:</p> <p>For example, for this study, I will take time from the visual arts lesson, I will take time from the human rights lesson, I will take time from the traffic lesson. There is no time to explain the subjects and discuss them. Normally, if we follow the curriculum, I cannot do these things, but maybe in a good plan. I can also prepare it, but frankly, we don't do that...</p> <p>One of the difficulties that teachers experience in teaching controversial issues is the difficulties they experience in managing the discussion, such as not being able to keep the discussion in focus, not being able to control the classroom, classroom noise, certain students being involved in the process and other students remaining passive. For example, the views of the participant coded F1 and F2 in this context are as follows:</p> <p>I agree with my other colleagues. The class harmony is disrupted while discussing. At that time, a self-control can be lost. They all want to make a comment, but I think we can do it if we are more planned.</p> <p>Sometimes students who are never involved in the discussion force me. It is always the same students talking. I don't know what to do about how to involve them. I get very short answers. I get short comments like yes/no.</p> <p>Intensive preparation before the lesson for teaching controversial topics (f = 5) is another source of concern for teachers. For example, the participant coded F1 expressed the difficulty she experienced in teaching controversial issues in the absence of intensive preparation and the participant coded F2 expressed her views on the possibility of not being able to answer the questions that may come from the students regarding controversial issues as follows:</p> <p>You need to make an extencive preparation. Sometimes I have difficulty. For example, one side finishes its task early, but the discussion continues on the other side. The student comes and says, "Teacher, what should I do now? It's over!" Time passes faster than I expected, but there is a heated discussion on the other side. I have to hear them.</p> <p>In order to answer children and guide them well, you need to have a good command of the subject. Because we do not know what kind of questions children will come to us with. We definitely need to be planned to avoid these problems. This is sometimes not possible.</p> <p>Problems arising from cultural background (f = 3), lack of parental support (f = 2) and receiving negative reactions from school administration (f = 1) are other interrelated problems experienced in teaching controversial issues. For example, in this context, participant F1 drew attention to the cultural background, participant M2 drew attention to the possible negative approach of the school administration, and participant M1 drew attention to the lack of parental support:</p> <p>Actually, it is nice when different ideas collide with each other. However, this can be difficult in terms of the culture the children come from. For example, we talk about democracy. The children immediately ask about the political party I am interested in. Even though the children are in the fourth grade, the stereotypes of democracy in their minds are very different. Human rights, gender inequality ... Since they generally come from a patriarchal society ... These are the disadvantages.</p> <p>We may face reactions from parents. We may face the reaction of the school administration. I say this as a prediction. I have not encountered a clear reaction so far, but...</p> <p>If I had given homework to the students on this subject, for example, something controversial that the parents would not welcome, I might not have gotten feedback from my students. I might not have gotten much support from the families.</p> <p>Another difficulty in teaching controversial topics in social studies lesson is the lack of textbooks and materials in addition to textbooks. Participant views in this direction are as follows:</p> <p>We also use other methods and techniques where we have difficulties, but conditions and opportunities... I am in a village school. It is very difficult to find materials. Also, to use another teaching method and technique, you need to prepare a plan, you need materials. You need to spend a little more time. To be honest, I am a bit lazy in that regard...</p> <p>For example, we talk about democracy. The textbooks do not explain the subject in a controversial way, they explain it more directly. There is nothing left to discuss.</p> <p>Overcrowded classrooms and extending the discussion outside the classroom was another concern expressed by the participating teachers.</p> <p>We inevitably become traditional. In the first years of the teaching profession, you say you will apply new teaching methods and techniques. However, depending on the situation of the school, the class size, the situation of the lessons, you become traditional. If the classes are crowded, you lecture by making presentations rather than discussions.</p> <p>If the discussions spread to after school, a big fight can start outside... The school administration has to intervene...</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-14">Teachers' experiences on teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories</hd> <p>The opinions of the teachers after the action plans on teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories are as shown in Figure 4:</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 4. Teacher experiences in teaching controversial issues.</p> <p>When the experiences of teachers regarding the teaching of controversial issues supported by digital stories are examined, it is seen that ensuring active participation (f = 16), attracting interest/arousing curiosity (f = 14), developing a positive understanding of the lesson (f = 9), associating with real life (f = 9), moving away from textbooks (f = 9), concretization (f = 6), technology integration (f = 4), increasing permanence (f = 4), gaining a desire for research (f = 4), and developing interdisciplinary understanding (f = 4).</p> <p>In teaching controversial topics, some students may exhibit timid behavior, hide their opinions and choose to be in a more passive position. However, one of the experiences most frequently discussed by participants with digital stories is active participation. According to the participants, even the children they defined as "ghost students" or those who stayed in the quiet spaces they created for themselves were able to participate through digital stories. In this regard, the opinions of the participants coded E2 and K1 are as follows.</p> <p>These activities motivate the students who never speak, they also participate in the lesson, they also speak. I have 24 students in my class. There are some students we call "ghost students" who are silent, who usually don't speak. Even they find something from themselves and participate in the discussion. Even if not by speaking, children find the chance to express themselves in writing activities. I find it positive in this respect.</p> <p>They definitely adapted to the subject. Even the students who did not participate participated in the lesson. They wanted to express their opinion. "Oh! Teacher, I also experienced this event. At least by telling a memory, the student participated in the lesson. I can say that I saw a positive aspect in this direction.</p> <p>As can be seen, by using digital stories in teaching controversial issues, teachers encourage "ghost students" who exhibit timid attitudes toward discussion and create opportunities for them to participate. In this respect, digital stories can be used as an effective tool for teachers to make students who do not participate in discussions for various reasons more socially "visible" in the classroom.</p> <p>Another experience expressed by classroom teachers regarding teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories is that the activity process arouses interest and curiosity. It is stated that this situation also positively affects students' attitudes toward the social studies lesson. Participants find it positive that the integration of colorful images and sounds and the active participation of the student in this way, rather than conveying controversial issues only verbally in the classroom. Digital stories have aroused excitement in both teachers in terms of instruction and students in terms of learning processes. One of the most important factors underlying this situation is the disappearance of dependence on textbooks. Digital stories can contribute not only to the cognitive dimension of controversial issues but also to the realization of affective goals such as attracting interest and arousing curiosity by appealing to students' senses. In this respect, considering the inadequacies of textbooks in teaching controversial issues (the content is not interesting, controversial topics are not included, students find them boring), digital stories can be used by teachers as an alternative tool to complement textbooks to increase positive attitudes toward the lesson. The opinions of both the classroom teachers and their students, based on their experiences, are as follows:</p> <p>I can say that we were more motivated and interested. Because social studies are generally conceptoriented discussions. You send some activities. I look at those activities, I think, I ask myself whether I can do this activity or not. I even ask you, for example, how can I do this? I can honestly say that it motivated me. Of course, I can say that I went to class more motivated.</p> <p>Now that social studies is a continuous text-based course, students inevitably get bored. "Aaa! Should we open the social studies books! Are you going to give homework again?" Children are already reluctant about this. In this lesson, the children were really happy. Even the bell rang. They said, "Let's not go out untİl we finish the text." We finished the text and left. The next lesson they said, "Are we going to have another lesson like this?" I said, "Yes, there will be more". So they were happy."</p> <p>Another experience expressed by the participants is that the controversial elements in digital stories make it easier and more concrete for students to relate the subject to real life. In this process, it is especially important that the content of digital stories is chosen from real life, controversial issues are presented to students with real-life connections, and the characters are similar to the students' close circle. For example, participant coded F1 expresses his experience in this context in the course as follows in her diary:</p> <p>There was a football tournament organized in our school. The girls said, "Why isn't a volleyball tournament organized?; So we started preparing a volleyball tournament yesterday. For example, they discussed this issue among themselves. Today, the digital story was about this very topic. They also saw something they experienced first-hand in a digital story. I gave a lecture for an hour on this subject, but to be honest, no one listened. The digital story made them understand it better because it is something they have always experienced in life.</p> <p>According to the experiences of classroom teachers, another advantage of using digital stories in teaching controversial issues is associating the social studies course with technology and thus making the subject more concrete. It is thought that it is important to ensure digital integration, especially in social studies, and combine controversial issues with various multimedia components such as video, music and narration. It is important in concretization that it appeals to students' more senses in terms of visual and auditory aspects, and in this sense, offers more opportunities than printed textbooks. In this respect, the integration between technology and social studies lessons with digital stories can concretize what is learned and create an innovative alternative for teachers in the teaching of controversial issues beyond a monotonous understanding that depends only on written texts. E1 and E2 express their opinions in this context as follows:</p> <p>Some topics of social studies course remain too abstract. It remains abstract when you continue by just reading the books and answering the questions. I can say that it attracts more attention with sound, music and narration, and becomes concrete in the mind. Even though time passes after the lesson, permanence increases with the activities we do</p> <p>Some subjects of the social studies lesson are too abstract. It remains abstract when you just read the books and continue by answering the questions. I can say that with sound, music and narration, it attracts more attention and becomes concrete in the mind.</p> <p>It is seen that the controversial processes in digital stories encourage students to conduct research and investigation. For example, the views of the participant coded M2 regarding this process, which was realized without any guidance by the teachers, are as follows:</p> <p>For example, there were cartoons in the digital story about controversial issues... Without me telling them, the children went home and searched. They couldn't even find one (laughs). Let's say an atomic bomb was mentioned in a text, even about Chernobyl, they do research and come back. Because it attracts their interest and leads them to research. Here, too, the fact that a visual appeared in front of the children and that there was a different interaction may have led them to research.</p> <p>Finally, it is stated by the participants that social studies teaching supported by digital stories contributes to both teachers and students developing an interdisciplinary perspective and creating a more holistic and relational understanding. It is stated that the use of digital stories in particular does not provide teachers with pure technology integration, but also creates the opportunity to integrate relationships from different disciplines such as language, human rights and social studies on the technological axis. In this regard, M1, M2 and F2 explain their opinions as follows:</p> <p>In the digital story "As Free as I can Speak!," we used many subjects such as history, Turkish, math. For example, while telling the history of children's rights, we also practiced creative writing. At the end of the lesson, we created graphs and tables about the number of child laborers in some countries. In short, it was like telling many lessons with a story.</p> <p>It made me look more holistically. I can say that it enabled me to relate social studies, human rights or Turkish lessons with other lessons.</p> <p>It didn't feel like I was talking about social studies. For example, I liked this very much. In the last two texts, we also adapted to the Turkish lesson. It was not like a fixed social studies lesson. For example, the children said, "Are we going to write in the Turkish notebook or the social studies notebook?" (laughs).</p> <p>As can be seen, while digital stories are used in teaching controversial issues, they also encourage teachers in the process of creating an interdisciplinary perspective.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-15">Discussion</hd> <p>In terms of controversial issues in the social studies lesson, the sources of concern of primary school teachers and the difficulties they experienced in instructional processes were expressed as insufficient time, difficulties in managing the discussion, requiring intensive preparation, problems arising from cultural background, insufficient materials, need for intensive preparation, problems arising from cultural background, inadequacy of materials, inadequacy in terms of textbooks, overcrowded classes, lack of family support, extending the discussion outside the classroom, and the receiving negative reactions from school administration. Similar to the results of the current study, cultural factors (Mhlauli), lack of time, insufficient content on controversial issues in the curriculum, problems in classroom management (Alanoglu et al., [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref116">2</reflink>]; Byford et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref117">10</reflink>]; Kahne et al., [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref118">41</reflink>]; Rambosk, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref119">66</reflink>]; Werner, [<reflink idref="bib87" id="ref120">87</reflink>]; Wilson et al., [<reflink idref="bib88" id="ref121">88</reflink>]; Yılmaz, [<reflink idref="bib92" id="ref122">92</reflink>]), lack of full support from family and school administration (Kawashima-Ginsberg &amp; Junco, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref123">43</reflink>]; Rogers et al., [<reflink idref="bib71" id="ref124">71</reflink>]), and students' perception of discussion content as personal attacks and bullying (Beck, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref125">8</reflink>]; Crocco et al., [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref126">18</reflink>]) constitute the problems experienced by teachers during the teaching of controversial topics. The problems experienced by teachers during the teaching of controversial topics should not prevent them from bringing topics that will enable children to grow up as active citizens into the classroom environment (Çopur, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref127">16</reflink>]; Oulton et al., [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref128">60</reflink>]; Sel, [<reflink idref="bib77" id="ref129">77</reflink>]). For this reason, primary school teachers and social studies teachers who are responsible for teaching controversial issues in social studies lesson should be made aware of the educational value of controversial issues (Kaka et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref130">42</reflink>]; Rambosk, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref131">66</reflink>]; Tuncer, [<reflink idref="bib82" id="ref132">82</reflink>]; Uğurlu &amp; Doğan, [<reflink idref="bib83" id="ref133">83</reflink>]). From this point of view, this study provides clear evidence of the educational benefits of digital stories for instructional processes, which is one of the alternatives that can enrich and enrich the teaching of controversial topics that teachers avoid bringing to the classroom.</p> <p>When the findings obtained in the study are examined, the problems and obstacles faced by teachers within the scope of controversial issues can be evaluated in two dimensions: in-class (lack of time, difficulties in managing the discussion, requiring intensive preparation, insufficient materials, inadequacy in terms of textbooks) and out-of-class (problems arising from cultural background, lack of family support, overflowing the discussion outside the classroom and receiving reactions from the school administration). In this study, digital stories were important in eliminating the in-class elements. Teacher experiences regarding the teaching of controversial topics supported by digital stories are as follows: Ensuring active participation, attracting interest/arousing curiosity, increasing the comprehensibility of the lesson, associating with real life, moving away from textbooks, concretization, technology integration, increasing the retention of what is taught, gaining the desire to research and developing interdisciplinary understanding. In this context, it is seen that before the action plans, primary school teachers stated that teaching controversial topics required intensive preparation and that they found textbooks inadequate in this direction; after the action plans, they stated that digital stories supported controversial topics in this process and reduced the dependence on textbooks in the classroom.</p> <p>Another important factor is the difficulties experienced by primary school teachers in managing the discussion in teaching controversial topics. In this context, it was stated that the same students often participated in the discussion, some students hardly participated at all, teachers had some problems in managing the class in this process and they could not manage time well. After the action plans, the dimensions of ensuring active participation of students in teaching controversial topics through digital stories and attracting interest/arousing curiosity came to the fore. When the studies conducted are examined, it is seen that the use of digital stories encourages active participation (Kocaman-Karoğlu, [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref134">46</reflink>]; Merjovaara et al., [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref135">55</reflink>]; Özpinar, 2017; Vinogradova, [<reflink idref="bib84" id="ref136">84</reflink>]; Yildiz Durak, [<reflink idref="bib91" id="ref137">91</reflink>]), provides motivation (Yang &amp; Wu, [<reflink idref="bib90" id="ref138">90</reflink>]) and digital stories positively affect the attitude toward the lesson (Yoon, [<reflink idref="bib94" id="ref139">94</reflink>]). In this respect, teaching controversial topics through digital stories can contribute to the creation of a more participatory classroom environment instead of a classroom where only certain students become "subjects" by making controversial topics less "avoided/feared." At the same time, it can also relieve teachers' classroom management concerns arising from controversial issues. Moreover, digital stories allow students to express themselves freely and easily. Negativities such as classroom chaos or lack of time in teaching controversial topics can be overcome especially through digital stories in terms of students' active participation, motivation and positive perspectives toward the lesson.</p> <p>Another finding obtained from the research is that one of the problems experienced by teachers in teaching controversial topics before action plans is the lack of materials. After the action plans, it is seen that the teachers expressed their opinions about the integration of technology in teaching controversial topics based on digital stories and the concretization and permanence of what was learned. Today, digital stories are useful, inexpensive and widely accessible as a teaching material. This makes digital stories a useful and economical teaching material in teaching controversial topics. Digital stories create a rich learning environment for teachers and students by integrating technology into the teaching of controversial topics. In particular, the integration of "technology" and "controversial issues can go beyond an educational approach based solely on written texts (textbooks, worksheets and activity sheets) and, together with audio, visual, music and narrative components, can strengthen teachers' ability to generate interest and curiosity in controversial issues.</p> <p>On the other hand, it is seen that there are very limited studies in the literature that use digital stories to improve teachers' skills in teaching controversial topics in social studies classes. In this respect, it is anticipated that the current study will contribute to the literature. Based on this foresight, it can be stated that digital stories are technological teaching tools that will provide teachers with competence in teaching controversial issues within the scope of social studies lesson. This perspective is important in that digital simulations can be designed in an original way for teachers to achieve the goal they aim to achieve (Thompson et al., [<reflink idref="bib80" id="ref140">80</reflink>]) and are cheaper than many teaching materials.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-16">Conclusion</hd> <p>In this regard, in this study, clear evidence is presented to teachers about the educational benefits of digital stories, which are one of the alternatives that can enable and enrich the teaching of controversial topics that they avoid bringing into the classroom, for instructional processes.</p> <p>In particular, the integration of technology and controversial issues through digital stories can go beyond just written texts and strengthen teachers' ability to generate interest and curiosity in the lesson process by combining various multimedia components. Digital stories can be used as an alternative to textbooks that teachers feel do not cover controversial issues sufficiently or are biased. The fact that digital stories appeal to multiple senses visually and aurally and reinforce the controversial content with audio visual, music and narrative components by relating it to real life and creating "familiar characters" from the student's immediate environment offers teachers the opportunity to concretize the knowledge learned and relate it to daily life. It can be used as an effective tool to overcome teachers' classroom management concerns (crowded classrooms, cultural background, negative classroom climate, etc.) arising from controversial topics by increasing the participation of students who exhibit timid attitudes toward controversial topics. Finally, it does not only provide "technology" integration for controversial issues in teachers' instructional skills, but also creates an opportunity to integrate controversial issues in an interdisciplinary axis with courses such as language, human rights, mathematics, and social studies through technology. In this context, additions can be made to teacher training programs within the scope of social studies courses for the use of digital stories to integrate technology in the teaching of controversial, political, ideological issues. Especially in Turkey, where the research was conducted, digital stories can be added to the information technologies and instructional technologies lessons in the teacher training programs updated in 2018. In this context, thematic teaching material design activities can be carried out.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-17">Inspirations for teaching practice</hd> <p>This research presents the use of digital stories as a challenging solution to the intellectual and affective difficulties experienced by teachers in teaching controversial topics in social studies classes. In today's classrooms, which are becoming increasingly heterogeneous, the question of "how" we should teach has arguably become as important as the question "what" we should teach. Especially considering that teachers are not ready to teach controversial topics and need training in teaching controversial topics, digital stories can be used as an important educational tool due to the many elements they contain. Compared to traditional texts, cultural differences, social justice, gender inequality, sustainability, children's rights, etc. The use of digital stories, which have the potential to present many subject areas with media components such as audio, image and video, can offer teachers the opportunity to continue discussions in a qualified manner. This study exemplifies a limited number of controversial issues in the Turkish context through digital stories. Teachers can differentiate the teaching situations they encounter when determining the controversial topics they aim to teach through digital stories. It can also provide an opportunity for teachers to create a democratic classroom climate by moving away from a myopic perspective on controversial issues in different local contexts beyond their own individual perspectives, and valuing students' multiple perspectives.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-18">Limitations</hd> <p>An important limitation is that no observations were made regarding classroom practices based on digital stories within the scope of the research. Possible negative reflections of this limitation were tried to be eliminated by triangulating with different data collection tools, including reflective teacher diary, semi-structured and focus group interview forms. Another important limitation is that during the preliminary interview phase, teachers refrained from expressing their views on the political/ideological dimension of controversial issues in a frank manner out of concern that it might harm their professional lives. In this context, participants were informed about the importance of data privacy. It was observed that the participants expressed their opinions more clearly and sincerely in the second interview and focus group meeting. Another limitation is that the research was conducted with a relatively small participant group consisting of four primary school teachers. In future studies, the sample size could be expanded and teachers from different educational settings could be included to provide a more comprehensive understanding. Finally, teaching controversial issues through digital stories focused only on the social studies lesson. Considering that the intersection of digital stories and controversial issues in other different courses can be benefited from, the context of future research can be expanded in this direction.</p> <hd id="AN0187695516-19">Disclosure statement</hd> <p>We have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence this paper. No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.</p> <ref id="AN0187695516-20"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref53" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> This research was presented as an oral presentation at the International Eurasian Educational Research Congress (EJER 2023). It has not been published anywhere.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0187695516-21"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibtext> Abdel Latif, M. M. (2022). EFL teachers' critical literacy instructional perspectives and practices: The case of the Egyptian university context. 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| Header | DbId: eric DbLabel: ERIC An: EJ1489490 AccessLevel: 3 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: A Perspective on Digital Storytelling Experiences of Primary School Teachers on Teaching Controversial Issues in Turkey – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burcu+Sel%22">Burcu Sel</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7663-0434">0000-0002-7663-0434</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Fadime+Akgul+Cobanoglu%22">Fadime Akgul Cobanoglu</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3539-2027">0000-0003-3539-2027</externalLink>) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Social+Studies%22"><i>Social Studies</i></searchLink>. 2025 116(5):311-328. – Name: Avail Label: Availability Group: Avail Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals – Name: PeerReviewed Label: Peer Reviewed Group: SrcInfo Data: Y – Name: Pages Label: Page Count Group: Src Data: 18 – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Date Group: Date Data: 2025 – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research – Name: Audience Label: Education Level Group: Audnce Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Descriptors Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Teachers%22">Elementary School Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Controversial+Issues+%28Course+Content%29%22">Controversial Issues (Course Content)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Skills%22">Teaching Skills</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Barriers%22">Barriers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Story+Telling%22">Story Telling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Electronic+Learning%22">Electronic Learning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Technology+Uses+in+Education%22">Technology Uses in Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Program+Effectiveness%22">Program Effectiveness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Studies%22">Social Studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Role%22">Teacher Role</searchLink> – Name: Subject Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Turkey%22">Turkey</searchLink> – Name: DOI Label: DOI Group: ID Data: 10.1080/00377996.2024.2394934 – Name: ISSN Label: ISSN Group: ISSN Data: 0037-7996<br />2152-405X – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: In this study, it was aimed to determine the sources of concern of primary school teachers in terms of controversial issues and the difficulties they experience in instructional processes and to improve their teaching skills related to controversial issues with digital stories. In this context, participatory action research method was utilized. A four-week action plan based on controversial issues supported by digital stories was implemented. The participants of the study consisted of four teachers. During the implementation process, digital stories based on controversial issues prepared by the researchers within the scope of action plans were utilized. Semi-structured interview form, focus group interview form and reflective teacher diary were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using content analysis through MAXQUDA 2020 program. As a result of the research, the problems faced by primary school teachers in teaching controversial issues are insufficiency of time, difficulties in managing the discussion, requiring intensive preparation, problems arising from cultural background, inadequacy of materials, inadequacy in terms of textbooks, overcrowded classes, lack of family support, extending the discussion outside the classroom and receiving negative reactions from school administration. When the experiences of primary school teachers in teaching controversial issues supported by digital stories are examined, it is seen that ensuring active participation, arousing interest/curiosity, developing a positive understanding of the lesson, associating with real life, moving away from textbooks, concretization, technology integration, increasing permanence, gaining a desire for research, developing interdisciplinary understanding findings have been reached. – Name: AbstractInfo Label: Abstractor Group: Ab Data: As Provided – Name: DateEntry Label: Entry Date Group: Date Data: 2025 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: EJ1489490 |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/00377996.2024.2394934 Languages: – Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 18 StartPage: 311 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries Type: general – SubjectFull: Elementary School Teachers Type: general – SubjectFull: Controversial Issues (Course Content) Type: general – SubjectFull: Teaching Skills Type: general – SubjectFull: Barriers Type: general – SubjectFull: Story Telling Type: general – SubjectFull: Electronic Learning Type: general – SubjectFull: Technology Uses in Education Type: general – SubjectFull: Program Effectiveness Type: general – SubjectFull: Social Studies Type: general – SubjectFull: Teacher Role Type: general – SubjectFull: Turkey Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: A Perspective on Digital Storytelling Experiences of Primary School Teachers on Teaching Controversial Issues in Turkey Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Burcu Sel – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Fadime Akgul Cobanoglu IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 0037-7996 – Type: issn-electronic Value: 2152-405X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 116 – Type: issue Value: 5 Titles: – TitleFull: Social Studies Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
