Americans are increasingly divided about public-policy issues, they feel negatively toward people in the opposing political party, and they rarely spend time with those who think differently than they do, according to polling data.
Indeed, schools have become political battlegrounds. Reports of unruly school board meetings, protests over curricula, and politically motivated lawsuits against district policies have been making regular appearances in the media in recent years.
This has led some teachers to avoid discussing topics that could be controversial. A nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey conducted in July found that 3 in 10 teachers have changed their approach to a lesson because they were concerned it could be controversial and result in complaints from parents, students, or administrators.
Still, a majority of educators (77 percent) believe that schools should own the responsibility to teach students how to have respectful conversations with people they disagree with, according to EdWeek Research Center data.
Many political scientists and historians emphasize that schools have a role to play in countering polarization and ensuring a healthy democracy, especially as social media and artificial intelligence exacerbate societal divisions.
Below are select quotes from Education Week interviews of political scientists and education historians discussing ways schools can counter polarization and help students learn to get along with those who think differently than they do:
1. Focus on media literacy for educators and students
I think professional development opportunities that focus specifically on building information literacy skills in educators are essential and must be ongoing. I view media literacy as a crucial part of broader information literacy. Schools must allocate resources to prepare educators so they feel confident about their ability to critically evaluate claims and work with students to build those same skills in them. Librarians and other information systems specialists should play key roles in constructing and even delivering these trainings. Last, schools should encourage educators to lean into the political minutiae as they teach students to critically weigh information claims so they can build the capacity to critique arguments and agendas from all angles and consider which groups are harmed and which groups benefit.
— ArCasia James-Gallaway, an education historian and teacher educator at Texas A&M University
It’s really important for students to learn information literacy skills so that they can understand what kinds of information are credible and what kinds are not credible, what kinds of sources of information should be trusted and what kinds of sources of information should be viewed skeptically. Related to that, it's important for students to get critical thinking skills so they can evaluate information, evaluate materials that they read or see online or watch on TV, evaluate arguments that are being made by political figures, thought leaders, commentators, other people that they may come across in any medium.
— Jordan Tama, a provost associate professor at American University’s School of International Service
2. Encourage students to listen to different perspectives
Another thing to emphasize is the importance of developing an appreciation for engaging across differences or engagement with different perspectives. Students should be exposed to different perspectives and given practice in engaging respectfully and constructively with different perspectives, both through materials that they read or view as part of a curriculum and in classroom discussions. Related to that, it's important for educators to not teach in a way that suggests that there's only one right view of an issue, or only one right way to see an issue. Instead, open up space for dialogue and discussion and conversation across different perspectives.
— Jordan Tama
If we continue to villainize the other side, we don't have productive conversations happening. We've lost the art of having productive conversations and saying it's OK to disagree. So schools should provide the space for students to practice democracy and have those tough conversations without villainizing the other side. It's OK to have emotions and passions for things that you believe in, but how do you express that in a way that's productive?
— Katlynn Cross, a high school social studies teacher in Georgia researching political polarization within public education
3. Emphasize civics education in meaningful ways
It's important for American students to get some common base of civics knowledge. Civics has been under-emphasized in American schools, generally, in recent decades. But there will be less polarization if Americans at least have a common base of knowledge about the basics of the U.S. political system and the foundations of democracy, so when they're entering into political conversations, they're at least starting with some common foundation.
— Jordan Tama
4. Use teaching materials that aren’t politically biased
[Schools] should be doing their best to encourage curricula that are not politically biased. There's something fortunately that's been going on, where we have had a very good reckoning with the impossibility of being objective. It's totally true: We all have biases. Nobody's perfectly objective. Anyone who says they are is just full of it, I think. But at the same time, it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to see perspectives different from our own. One of the biggest compliments that my students have given me is, ‘We love that we don't know what you think,’ because I assign people who I really disagree with. One thing from a pedagogical perspective is making sure that professors or teachers are assigning a wide range of political perspectives and are absolutely not using their classroom as a pulpit to promote one idea. Even if everyone agrees with them, that's a problem. But it's also a problem if they're alienating people in the class.
— Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, an associate professor of history at The New School in New York City
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