Controversy in the Classroom

• Scarlet Wohlman, Political Science, University of Delaware

• Francis O'Malley, Institute of Public Administration- Biden School, University of Delaware
• Scott Abbott, Institute of Public Administration- Biden School, University of Delaware

With the upcoming election and current political atmosphere, educators are struggling on how to handle controversial conversations in their classrooms. Nationwide, an increasing number of teachers are avoiding tackling current events due to legislation impacting authorized content in curriculum and a fear of reactions from parents, administrators, and communities. The idea for this presentation evolved out of my summer internship at the Biden School and Institute for Public Administration’s Delaware Center for Civics Education. During this time, I had the opportunity to speak with various social studies teachers around the state and listen to their concerns as we prepare for the new school year. With the heat of a highly contentious election season building steam, teachers have moved even further away from discussing current events, ultimately impacting our students’ education. Conversations around contentious issues are an unavoidable aspect in democratic societies, and should be incorporated into the curriculum to support the development of productive and responsible citizens. How can we have faith in our future government if the next generation of leaders learn avoidance methods over constructive dialogue skills. Through isolating young adults in classrooms with their peers and giving them all the resources to determine their personal beliefs, they will strengthen their views as well as gain an understanding of why they hold those stances. Through researching the importances of educators holding discussions about current events, I found the positive impacts left on children’s development to be extensive, as I provide the challenges, approaches, and recommendations in my presentation. With the influence of hyper-partisanship in our nation, we can not allow it to infest our students and must teach them the ways of discussion and compromise in order for our democracy to stay alive.