Polling data shows that Americans are increasingly divided over public policy issues, harbor negative feelings toward people from the opposite political party, and spend little time with people who think differently than they do.
And that polarization often spills over into K-12 schools.Political scientists and historians say:
Indeed, schools have become political battlegrounds, with frequent media reports in recent years of chaotic school board meetings, protests over curriculum, and politically motivated lawsuits challenging school district policies.
This has led some teachers to avoid discussing potentially controversial topics.A national survey conducted in July by the EdWeek Research Center found that three in 10 teachers have changed the way they approach a lesson because they were worried that the lesson would become controversial and lead to complaints from parents, students or administrators.
Still, a majority of educators (77%) believe schools have a responsibility to teach students how to have respectful conversations with people they disagree with, according to data from the EdWeek Research Center.
Many political scientists and historians have emphasized the role of schools in countering polarization. Ensuring a healthy democracy is crucial, especially as social media and artificial intelligence exacerbate social divisions.
Below are some excerpts from an interview in Education Week magazine: A political scientist and an education historian discuss ways schools can combat polarization and help students navigate people who think differently than they do.
1. Focus on media literacy for educators and students
I believe that professional development opportunities with a specific focus on building educators’ information literacy capacity are essential and should continue. I believe that media literacy is an important part of broader information literacy. Schools need to allocate resources to prepare educators so that they are confident in their ability to critically evaluate claims and to work with students to develop those same skills. Librarians and other information systems professionals need to play a key role in developing and delivering this training. Finally, schools need to encourage educators to get into the political minutiae as they teach students to critically evaluate information claims. Doing so will equip students with the ability to critique arguments and agendas from all angles and consider which groups are harmed and which groups benefit.
— Alcacia James Gallaway, educational historian and teacher educator at Texas A&M University
It is very important for students to have information literacy skills, which allow them to understand what information is credible, what information is not, which sources they should trust, and which sources they should be skeptical of. Related to that, critical thinking skills allow them to evaluate information, to evaluate the material they read or watch online or on television, and to evaluate the claims made by politicians, thought leaders, pundits, and other people they encounter across all media.
— Jordan Tama, Associate Professor and Vice President of the School of International Service, American University
2. Encourage students to hear different perspectives
Another point to emphasize is the importance of developing an understanding of working across differences and engaging with different perspectives. Students need to be exposed to different perspectives through the materials they read and watch as part of the curriculum and through classroom discussions, and they need to practice engaging with them respectfully and constructively. Related to this, it is important that educators do not teach in a way that suggests there is only one correct way of looking at an issue, or one right way to look at an issue. Instead, create space for dialogue, discussion, and conversation across different perspectives.
Jordan Tama
If we continue to demonize those who disagree, constructive conversations will not happen. We have lost the ability to have constructive conversations and say it's okay to disagree. So schools should provide spaces for students to practice democracy and have tough conversations without demonizing those who disagree. It's okay to have feelings and passions about what you believe in, but how do you express them in a constructive way?
— Katlyn Cross, a high school social studies teacher in Georgia who studies political polarization in public education
3. Emphasize civic education in a meaningful way
It's important for American students to have a common knowledge of civics. Civics has generally been neglected in American schools in recent decades. But if Americans at least had a common knowledge of the basics of our political system and the foundations of our democracy, then when we start having political conversations, we'll at least start from a common foundation, and we'll be less polarized.
Jordan Tama
4. Use politically neutral teaching materials
[Schools] Universities should do their best to encourage a politically unbiased curriculum. Fortunately, there are efforts being made to very well recognize the impossibility of objectivity. That's absolutely true. We all have biases. No one is completely objective. I think people who claim to be are just exaggerating. But at the same time, that doesn't mean we shouldn't make an effort to see perspectives different from our own. One of the greatest compliments I've gotten from my students is, “We're happy we don't know what you think,” because I assign people to my classes who I totally disagree with. One thing to watch out for from an educational standpoint is to make sure that professors and teachers are assigning a wide range of political perspectives and are never using the classroom as a pulpit to promote one idea. Even if everyone agrees, that's a problem. But it's also a problem if they're alienating people in the class.
— Natalia Melman Petrzela, Associate Professor of History, The New School in New York City