About This Lesson
SAC (Structured Academic Controversy)
Deliberations are civil discussions among students about public policy. These are very similar to a strategy some teachers use called deliberative discussion.
Purpose
The purpose of this method is to explore controversial topics effectively in a social studies classroom. The model ensures a “best case fair hearing” for the issue, followed by informed decision making and consensus building among students. It also demands engaged participation from every student in the room. By following a highly scaffolded process, students will be able to advocate both for and against an issue/policy, determine the most relevant and convincing arguments, and search for consensus in small groups. Ultimately, the strategy will help them reach conclusions about important, controversial public policy questions.
This is often an ideal method to introduce controversial issue discussions in a highly structured and non-threatening way, laying the foundation for large-group and whole-class discussions.
Note: this method works best in cases where there are two clear opposing viewpoints (as opposed to an issue with varying perspectives of equal merit).
