An Educated Citizenry

President's Corner

Where do you turn for the latest news? A recent Pew Research Center study revealed that about 70 percent of people in the United States get at least some of their news from social media platforms — with Facebook leading in popularity.

Increasingly, we choose to get news from sources that confirm our individual belief systems, whether in newspapers, cable or network news or even social media. Interestingly, the Pew study indicated that close to 60 percent of those who said they got their news on social media also said they expected that news to be largely inaccurate.

Long ago, before the times of social media and cable news, Thomas Jefferson said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” I believe it has never been more important, or more difficult, to teach students to be smart consumers of news and to reinforce the idea that well-informed citizens are critical to the survival of our democracy.

The polarization that is dividing our country right now puts school leaders and teachers in a difficult position. They must constantly be aware that something they say in the classroom may land them at the center of a controversy. I fear some teachers may be shying away from these important conversations as a result.

Now is the time for school system leaders to lay out clear staff guidelines rooted in board of education policies that allow and encourage discussions of current events and civics, especially when there are great divisions. Our classrooms always must be places where we model the power of a civil discussion among those who are passionate about multiple sides of an issue.

Debate and discussion are pillars of our republic, and modeling this type of dialogue is important for a well-rounded education. But these discussions and this education will not happen unless our teachers know they are supported as they strive to facilitate this process. It would be easy to avoid discussing “controversial” issues that may lead to a passionate debate, but our students and nation deserve more from us.

I am in my third decade as a public school educator, and I am so impressed with our current generation of young people. They are curious and engaged in the issues of the day. I believe they want to be a part of the public debate. Our public schools should be places where all points of view can be discussed and debated and where we can model and teach the next generation how to be savvy media consumers and engaged digital citizens.

As Jefferson noted, our republic was born and built on the importance of passionate civil debate. We must encourage our young people to speak up and speak out about what they believe while demonstrating respect for the opinions of others who may disagree.

This issue of School Administrator features compelling articles that focus on these topics through several different lenses and inspires us to bring out the best in our students and, in turn, bring out the best in ourselves.

As we enter the third full year of the pandemic and all of the challenges that it has brought our way, let’s recommit to public schools as a place where respectful, rigorous debates and discussions, aligned to state and local learning standards, are encouraged and modeled. Let’s ensure our staff members are prepared to lead these discussions and have our full support.