Democracy & Education (E-Journal)
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Beyond “Yelling at Them”: Exploring the Impact of a Political Simulation in Polarized Times
Full text linkThis paper explores how PurpleState, a political simulation designed to foster skills and knowledge for informed civic participation, develops students’ abilities to counter or resist the effects of political polarization and partisanship. Throughout the simulation, which has been implemented in Virginia and Wisconsin, students are asked to analyze, reason with, and communicate using evidence on a state policy issue (e.g., gun control) with a particular focus on local context. They are also asked to reflect on how what they are learning helps them understand the political information environment and their role in it. Student participants from focus groups (n=32) consistently reported applying the skills and practices from the simulation to other academic and civic contexts, in particular to engage thoughtfully with political messaging as well as the willingness to seek out and the capacity to understand multiple perspectives on controversial policy issues. These behaviors constitute two epistemic ideals, or standards for making sense of the world, that are fundamental to the PurpleState simulation and to countering the effects of polarization. Students also reported valuing and pursuing information to understand different perspectives on policy issues as well as how these issues might impact different communities or regions of their state
Developing Reliable Epistemic Processes for Civic Life: A Response to “‘Beyond “Yelling at Them’: Exploring the Impact of a Political Simulation in Polarized Times”
Full text linkPurpleState, the political communications simulation at the heart of “Beyond ‘Yelling at Them,’” was designed to foster in students the epistemic aim of building knowledge by investigating a civic issue and the epistemic ideal of considering multiple perspectives on an issue (Chinn et al., 2014, 2021). These aims and ideals are essential for contemporary civic actors to become more informed about controversial issues. The authors offered evidence that PurpleState supported students to better understand multiple perspectives on issues in ways that may reduce the effects of polarization. We argue, however, that students may not fully achieve the epistemic aims and ideals that PurpleState tried to promote without attention to reliable epistemic processes, the final element of Chinn and colleagues’ (2014, 2021) AIR model. Teaching students reliable processes for conducting research about controversial issues is essential for political engagement that reduces affective polarization and supports multiracial democracy. We offer recommendations that could enhance PurpleState\u27s ability to prepare students for political engagement in the contemporary media environment
Fostering Open-Minded Political Engagement through Online Interscholastic Discussions: Toward Reducing Affective Political Polarization
Full text linkThis study explores how political discussions among diverse youth can support students’ open-minded political engagement. For this study, we collaborated with two teachers to adapt and enact instruction aimed at supporting students’ discussion of controversial issues across political, geographic, and cultural boundaries. During an instructional unit exploring various ways to strengthen our election system, students engaged in discussions with their classmates and with peers from another school via an online video discussion board. We collected data through observations and interviews. Our findings indicate that the instruction enhanced students’ understanding of their political bubbles and their motivation to engage in boundary-crossing political discussions—and that they found the opportunity to engage with students from another school to be valuable overall
Action Civics as a Powerful Tool—Not a Panacea—in the Provision of High-Quality Civic Education. A Response to “The Domino Effect”: How Early Adolescence Describe their Capacity for Civic Engagement
No full textAction civics happens when young people do research, action, and reflection on social or political issues they care about. In this third decade of the 21st century, action civics is often found in after-school and/or out-of-school contexts, and substantive research now shows its power and potential for providing transformative learning experiences for young people, as is evidenced again in The Domino Effect: How Early Adolescents Describe Their Capacity for Civic Engagement —one of the feature articles of this issue. At the same time, action civics, precisely because it is so often conceived and enacted in out-of-school time spaces, is not, and should not, be considered a panacea for the dearth of school-based opportunities for high-quality civic learning and engagement for students. While recognizing its power and potential, this response article details the problematic of action civics as a panacea to the broader systemic issue of a lack of democratic education today
Democratic Education in the Literature Classroom: Integrating Political Literacy and Political Emotions into Agonistic Literary Discussions. A Response to “Agonism in a Classroom Discussion on Strindberg’s \u3cem\u3eMiss Julie\u3c/em\u3e”
No full textIn an era of rising polarization and populism, how can we transform the literature classroom into a site of democratic education? Drawing on agonistic scholarship, Tysklind et al. (2024) offer the agonistic literary discussion, a novel pedagogical approach aiming to prepare students for the complexities of democracy by forming collective identities and navigating conflictual consensus. To build on the authors’ work, this response article proposes two additions—political literacy and political emotions—and cautions against the risk of antagonism. Agonistic literary discussions can integrate political literacy through teaching relevant knowledge and careful questioning, enabling students to situate characters’ experiences in political contexts and identify power dynamics in texts and society. Political emotions can be infused through inductive discussions and the strategy of circulation, allowing students to grasp relations of power and invest collective identities on an emotional level. However, students risk antagonizing one another when they passionately discuss the political dimension of literary texts. Establishing hegemony and fostering forgiveness may be helpful strategies to mitigate this risk, provided they are applied in careful and power-conscious ways. Expanded in this fashion, agonistic literary discussions can more fully equip students to engage with the tumult of contemporary democracy
Rethinking Civic Education. A Review of \u3cem\u3eEducation for Liberal Democracy: Using Classroom Discussion to Build Knowledge and Voice\u3c/em\u3e
No full textIn his book Education for Liberal Democracy: Using Classroom Discussion to Build Knowledge and Voice, Walter Parker (2023) takes a centrist approach to redesigning civic education. Throughout the book, Parker provides valuable strategies teachers can implement into the K–12 social studies classroom to teach for democracy. While we believe Parker\u27s instructional strategies lay the groundwork for reshaping civic education, we contend that the book does not adequately address issues of inequality and inequity. We would also challenge Parker to think about how teachers can educate for democracy outside of the social studies curriculum in the United States and globally. With that, however, we believe that Education for Liberal Democracy is a great start for educators to implement democracy education into the classroom
Science Education for Democracy and Sustainability: A Transnational Critique of Policy Texts in a Fast-Globalizing Reform Ensemble
No full textIn a fast-globalizing reform ensemble, we reframe science education for a concept of civic engagement connected to a new social contract for democracy and sustainability. The American philosopher of education John Dewey, writing in the early 1900s, asserted that democracy requires a facelift with each generation in order to respond to the urgent needs of the moment. Dewey asserted that education acts as a midwife in the delivery of democracy. In this transnational comparative study, we conduct a generative critique of science education reforms in two democratic nation states, Ireland and New Zealand. We draw from critical and feminist perspectives in order to conduct a discourse analysis of two frequently used themes in science education reforms: (1) inclusion and (2) civic engagement. We scrutinize two curriculum policy documents, one in each country to critically interrogate the framing between science education and democracy and to advocate for a radical reimagining of science education in the Anthropocene. Our scrutiny reveals unexamined assumptions in science education reforms in both countries underpinned by a strong logical positivist tradition. Our study provides a suitable theory and method to interrogate discourses in ways that hold complexities and nuances in play and foregrounds care and justice
The Roles of Productivity, Emotions, and Identities in Classroom Discourse. A Response to Productive Discussion across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences with Comfort and Discomfort within Structured Discussions of Public Policy Issues
Full text link“Productive Classroom Discussion across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences of Comfort and Discomfort within Structured Discussion Strategies” offers a fresh perspective on high school classroom discussions by centering the role of emotions–in particular comfort and discomfort–and their relationship to students’ identities. In this response, we describe how this perspective on emotions and identities is vital and humanizing. We then build on the study’s considerations of emotions and identities in discussion, particularly for students from marginalized backgrounds, and offer additional perspectives about the purpose, format, and framing of these kinds of discussions
Teaching Dobbs Where Divisive Concepts and Abortion Are Restricted: Teacher Learning, Controversial Issues, and Mixed-Reality Technology
Full text linkThough scholarship has long championed the positive impacts of classroom considerations of controversial or difficult issues, teachers have often hesitated to broach divisive topics for numerous reasons, including legislation purporting to limit controversy in classrooms and, often, that they had limited or no preparation to teach controversies, especially not politically contentious sociopolitical contexts. I worked with a research team to use a mixed-reality teaching simulation of a controversial issue discussion as a low-stakes learning context for developing skills for collective pedagogical reasoning. The teaching simulation centered on Dobbs v. Jackson, the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a constitutional right to abortion. This article presents a qualitative case study of one participating preservice social studies teacher, Cristina. In it, I trace Cristina’s participation in my class and the teaching simulation through her decisions to teach about abortion in her middle school student teaching placement the following semester. Findings suggest that the teaching simulation played an important role in her professional development and learning, facilitating her efforts to discuss abortion in a state with bans on abortion and teaching divisive concepts
A Plea for Deliberation in the Classroom. A Response to Fostering Open-Minded Political Engagement through Online Interscholastic Discussions
Full text linkThis response to “Fostering Open-Minded Political Engagement through Online Interscholastic Discussions” reviews the strengths of the study, highlights the limitations, and discusses the importance of continuing and scaling fostering open-minded political engagement in schools, particularly in middle and high schools. Polarization, both affective and political, is one of the most pressing issues of contemporary civic life, and this study takes this issue head-on and enables students to be thoughtful in their exchanges with diverse others. The authors leverage deliberative democracy theory and educational frameworks to explore how boundary-crossing discussions can enhance students\u27 political open-mindedness and engagement. While the paper contributes valuable insights into the pedagogical possibilities of cross-school discussions, this response offers a critical assessment for further iterations of this study