November 4, 2024
By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President
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To vote is to engage.
The mission that has fueled Inspired Teaching for over 29 years is to change the school experience for students from one that prizes compliance and obedience to one that promotes engagement. We embrace that mission because we believe every child has a right to a meaningful education. Children need to be engaged in school so that they will know how to be engaged for the rest of their lives.
Voting is the ultimate expression of engagement.
As teachers and school leaders, it’s our job to ensure our young people learn the skills and information they’ll need to participate in society, be good citizens, become leaders in our communities and our country, and vote.
It’s also our job to participate in our own communities and our country, in order to strengthen society and to model engagement to our students.
In August, before school even started, an EdWeek article reported that “fifty-eight percent of K-12 teachers answered ‘no’ when asked if they planned to talk about the election. Of those respondents, 53% said they would avoid talking about the election because it “is entirely unrelated to the subject” they teach. But 22% said instruction about the election “could lead to parent complaints,” and 19% said they didn’t believe their “students can discuss this topic with one another in a respectful manner.”
But how do we learn to participate thoughtfully in a democracy if the place where we’re supposed to be learning avoids the subject?
Our students are going to have big questions about the election this week. And it’s entirely possible to connect their curiosity (anxiety, fear, confusion, excitement) to any subject we’re teaching.
ELA: Dissect the meaning of a proposition that was on your local ballot.
Math: Look at the statistics and numbers involved in the returns.
Science: Consider candidate positions on climate change. (Or propositions or questions on the topic like this one in California.)
Art: Examine the role graphics played in various candidates’ campaigns, and in the way various media outlets share election results.
Civics: Analyze voter turnout data and inquire into the reasons why some people voted, and some did not.
It’s also possible to talk about why we vote without getting into how we voted. Because when adults ignore the subject entirely, we stoke fears that something mysterious and upsetting is taking place, something children don’t have the capacity to understand. And that fuels a belief that democracy is a foreign subject, not the bedrock of our roles as citizens of this country.
As vital as voting is, this week we’ll need to remind our students that civic engagement goes beyond the ballot box no matter who is elected. Depending on the outcome of the election and how much they hear at home, on the bus or train, on social media, etc., some students may come to school sad or scared, or jubilant and celebratory. You may have both emotions in your classroom at the same time. And it can be important to give students an outlet for exploring how they feel while being very clear that the outcome of an election isn’t the end of our ability to engage as citizens.
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How can you seize this moment to spark students’ curiosity about the issues that are important to their local communities and to our country?
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How can you help them see themselves as curious, engaged citizens?
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How might your students share their own experience and expertise with newly elected leaders?
Elections impact the communities we call home. As adults our votes are the message we send to the policymakers who govern. But our role as teachers, as nurturers of future voters, goes beyond our votes, goes beyond election day and its aftermath. Every day we can teach our students what it means to be part of caring for, speaking across differences within, and making wise decisions that benefit our communities.
No matter what happens this week, that’s the real work that lies ahead for all of us.
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