POLITICS IN THE CLASSROOM
Accepting the inevitability of politics in the classroom frees us to stop debating whether and start discussing how . In the rest of this article , I ’ ll run through five key questions that I think educators and school communities ought to tackle . I ’ ll share some thoughts on each question , but I don ’ t for a second think that I have all ( or necessarily even any !) of the right answers . I do think that these are at least some of the right questions , and I hope they might spark some worthwhile conversation . I ’ d love to hear your thoughts !
What are our school ’ s political goals — what do we want every single graduate of our school to think and do in terms of civic engagement ?
I hope every student who graduates from my school exercises their right to vote , if and when they can , no matter who they vote for . I hope every graduate knows how to learn about different candidates and issues , and how to separate what ’ s true from what isn ’ t . I hope every graduate cares about the political process and the role they play in it . I hope every graduate strives to improve their community and world in ways that feel right to them . In the classroom , if I can connect what we ’ re doing to any of those goals , then I feel like I ’ m on firm ground .
What aren ’ t our school ’ s political goals ?
I think it ’ s important to explicitly state what we are not trying to accomplish . I don ’ t want to convince any students to become Democrats . I don ’ t want to convince any students to become Republicans . I don ’ t want
Accepting the inevitability of politics in the classroom frees us to stop debating whether and start discussing how .
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to convince any students to vote for or against a particular candidate . I don ’ t want to convince any students to disregard all news from a particular source ( though I want to make sure they have the tools to know when to exercise caution ). If a student or parent ever thinks that I ’ m trying to do one of those things , then I hope they ’ ll let me know so we can have a conversation and clear things up .
Should students know their teacher ’ s political party , candidate preferences , etc .?
This is a tricky one . First of all I , of course , don ’ t think any teacher should ever feel compelled to share anything they don ’ t want to . And I understand the fear that if students know their teacher ’ s political views , they might feel some pressure to conform to them . At the same time , I think there can be real value in being forthright about our views and stressing the fact that we ’ re eager to hear other perspectives . After all , students are perceptive ; anyone who really wanted to know my political leanings ,
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CSEE Connections Summer 2021 Page 3