Four Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty members discussed the increasingly important role of politics in education at an event Tuesday night.
The event, hosted by the Askwith Education Forum, was titled “K-12 Education in an Era of Polarization: How Educators Can Navigate the Sector While Maintaining the Mission of Education.” The panel discussion included Professor Mayra Levinson, Professor Paul Reville, and Senior Lecturer Jennifer P. Cheatham.
Irvin L. Scott, another senior lecturer at HGSE who moderated the discussion, said that book bans and censorship, conflicts at school board meetings, and increased media attention are all important issues in education today. It's evidence of a growing sense of harmony, he said, adding that educators can work to alleviate it. political conflict.
“What can we do as educators to move this field forward and engage students and families to bridge the gap?” Scott asked.
Reville said the tensions in today's political climate are exacerbated by social media platforms and news outlets, citing sex education, gender identity and reading materials as specific issues. He also highlighted the growing defensiveness among political factions, mainly due to fear.
“There's a sense of fear and threat that my way of life is actually under attack, and if I don't actively engage in this fight, I'm likely to lose my way of life,” Reville said. Ta.
The key to redressing these divides, Reville says, is to practice empathy. He described an exercise that asked his students to have a conversation with people who had a different perspective, calling it an “eye-opening experience.”
“We lack empathy, we lack understanding,” he added, stressing the need to “develop mechanisms to understand from other perspectives.”
Cheatham said people in educational leadership positions often lack the ability to deal with political issues, but they also deal with conflicts in the areas of local, state, and federal policy as well as on a personal level. He said he had to learn how. She also emphasized the importance of having open conversations and building strong relationships.
“We don't teach education leaders enough about that,” she says. “It's about understanding not only who the players are, but what their interests are, what their real hopes and fears are.”
Levinson highlighted the ethical dilemmas that educators often face when faced with politically questionable decisions, with teachers often losing their jobs, being persecuted in person or on social media, or engaging in controversial content. They added that they risk putting themselves and their families at risk when teaching.
“Am I going to teach this topic, use this book, raise this theory, challenge that comment, enhance that identity?” Levinson said. “Or are you just trying to save yourself so you can come back here another day?”
Mr. Reville spoke about his work as the founder of EdRedesign Lab, a program focused on child welfare that brings together a variety of stakeholders, including schools, organizations, and residents, to improve specific outcomes within neighborhoods. He emphasized the importance of addressing serious issues.
“We have people on our board to the right of Donald Trump, and we have people on the left who are very progressive, but we're committed to mixed-income housing, education, health care, and economic development. ” Reville said in the reference. to another organization where he serves as a board member.
Mr Cheatham urged leaders to prioritize student voices, stressing that students are often the ones tackling social and political issues on a personal level.
“We need to listen to young people's voices about what they need to have dignity in their schools and classrooms,” she says.
Levinson cited examples of bullying, suicide and other forms of psychological and physical violence, adding that students face a “deep sense of physical threat.” Panelists particularly recognized Ms. Nex Benedict. Nex Benedict was a 16-year-old non-binary student from Oklahoma who died earlier this month after an altercation at her high school.
“This is a life-or-death situation in many ways,” Scott concluded. “I wanted to put their names up here tonight as a way to ground us all.”
—Staff writer Katie B. Tian can be reached at katie.tian@thecrimson.com.
