@adonahue
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#2.
By and large, I found that the readings affirmed my previous experiences in the classroom. For the past few years, I have tried to get away from the “sage on the stage” model mentioned in the podcast. Most lessons are framed in their own mini modules intended to be completed in a single class. Students are assigned background readings ahead of time, so they come to our meeting with some understanding of the tasks at hand and the need for lecture is lessened. Typically, I have small groups work to troubleshoot an issue or a scenario and then share their observations with the larger group. This seems to fit with the first step from the Youniss reading about “citizen education” in schools. I also felt somewhat validated in my decision to avoid classroom debates by Allison Cohen’s presentation. My students often read “debate” and visualize “fight to the death” which is not what I’m going for.
As I was going through this module’s selections, I did find myself thinking about each specific article’s context: when was this written? I loved that the Webb article looked to the Constitutional Convention as an exemplar of the democratic process with different processes at work for varying challenges. He mentioned the value of those politicians being openminded throughout the process. I jotted down the Gerry quote about the aim and the means of the convention delegates to share with students in the fall. It was all charming, but then I realized that Webb was writing in 2012. Clearly, we were still a partisan nation at that point, but from where we are now, it seems down right idyllic. There was one quote in the 2008 Youniss article that seemed especially dated: “Youth learn from one another, especially through negative feedback which sharpens knowledge. One person’s disagreement is an opportunity for another to gain insight into the limits of his or her own thinking.” I don’t remember my students embracing that attitude in 2008 and I don’t remember it taking a leading role among my classmates in high school much earlier. The students I work with have always been under the impression that debates are a zero sum game. There is a winner and a loser and the decision is not always based on the merits of one’s arguments. That observation seems to becoming more deeply rooted as many students watch pundits on their network of choice “own” the opposition swiftly and snidely. I truly hope we can reverse the tide of this kind of thinking with “Socratic Seminars” and informed dialogues. -
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