Controversial subjects are those subjects which Christian families and churches commonly consider divisive or very sensitive, whether or not the introduction of the topic was planned by the teacher or brought up by a student. Some examples of controversial subjects: environmentalism, old earth/young earth, partisan politics, human sexual relations, Halloween, Santa, holiday or religious traditions, etc.
This policy is designed to respect the convictions of parents and teachers in various sensitive subject areas, while at the same time maintaining the school’s goal of teaching all subjects in the light of a comprehensive Christian worldview.
To the extent allowed by law, this policy applies to all teaching staff in the course of their teaching duties. The guidelines for dealing with controversial subjects are as follows:
- In the course of teaching a class, a teacher sees that a subject has arisen which he or she has good reason to believe is controversial or obviously of a sensitive nature, and discussion of that subject will not help him or her achieve the goals set for that class in the curriculum guide, then the teacher will not allow class time for the discussion of the topic at all.
- If a subject arises which the teacher has reason to believe is controversial and/or of a sensitive nature, and the discussion of that topic will help achieve the goals set out in the curriculum guide for that subject, then the teacher will do the following:
- As necessary, instruct the class on the responsibility of Christians to be charitable in debate.
- Instruct the class on their responsibility to honor the teaching they have received from their parents on this subject.
- As appropriate (i.e., pertinent to the stated goals of the class), direct the students’ attention to informed sources on each side of the subject concerned. This may be done in a variety of forms, such as a research paper, guest speakers, reading differing authors, etc. Strongly encourage the students to become knowledgeable of the most widely held views on the topic.
- Refrain from pursuing tangents or other unplanned subject matter that will lead to a possible mishandling/poor teaching of controversial subjects.
- Due to the extremely sensitive and intimate nature of human sexual relations, discussion and instruction on this topic generally will be limited to human reproduction in biology, and biblical principles and references, as they arise in appropriate class contexts.
- The teacher is to remember that according to scripture he/she is serving as a role model of a mature Christian adult to the students. As such, teachers are never to enter into an adversarial debate with student(s) on controversial subjects within a classroom setting. Even though the teacher may hold strong personal convictions regarding the subject, in light of this policy, and sound teaching practices, he or she is to encourage a gracious and scholarly attitude in the students.
Secondary doctrines are those doctrines that are not addressed in Geneva's Statement of Faith. The School acknowledges that there exists a wide range of differing opinions on doctrinal issues among Christian denominations and churches. While there is no flexibility on the primary doctrines as defined in Geneva’s Statement of Faith, secondary doctrinal differences are to be expected. Therefore, the following guidelines are designed to help teachers deal with secondary doctrine issue when they arise:
- Classroom discussion and other times of discussion during school hours (including extracurricular activities) of secondary doctrine should be on an informative, non-partisan level. Teachers must be careful not to speak to the students in a manner that would cause offense to the students or the parents.
- Presentation of all sides of an issue is encouraged.
- The teacher should encourage the students to follow up any questions they have with their parents and pastor.
- The teacher is to remember that according to Scripture he or she is serving as a role model of a mature Christian adult to the students. As such, teachers are never to enter into an adversarial debate with student(s) on controversial subjects within a classroom setting. Even though the teacher may hold strong personal convictions regarding the subject, in light of this policy, and sound teaching practices, he/she is to encourage a gracious and scholarly attitude in the students.