Analysis of the Reasons of Teaching Controversial Issues on Public Policy to the Senior High School Students

Abstract

The aims of this research are to get a description about the condition of civics teaching and learning process in senior high schools, and to describe the reasons of integrating the teaching of controversial issues on public policy into civics instructional materials.

This descriptive research uses questionnaire to collect the data, and the subjects of the research are thirty students and eight teachers from three different schools with different categories. The data then analyzed using descriptive quantitative technique with percentage scoring.

It can be found that the teachers and the students admitted that it is important to integrate the materials about controversial issues on public policy into the civics lesson. In spite of contextualism reasons, it is also hoped that this integration will elevate the students’ ability. Through the use of these materials, teachers can develop their knowledge about public policy, basic knowledge about its orientation, perception, emotion, communication, attitude and belief, and the skills to analyze the issues of public policy.

Keywords: controversial issue, public policy, civics