August 12, 2008
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QUESTION: With this being an election year (and an up-coming election semester), how can a teacher use conversations about the election (change, politics, advertising, media) in the classroom…? Or, firstly, CAN a teacher use that topic in the classroom? I say “heck yes” but I have a feeling I’m in the minority lately about that. For many of my students, this will be the first time they vote. It should be talked about, yes? Maybe not argued necessarily (and I’ll keep my anti-Bush comments to myself, promise), but talked about. This will affect their futures… jobs… gas prices… mortgages… their children’s educations…
Comments (5)
it absolutely should be used in a classroom. i don’t know what age/subject you teach, but if i taught a class large enough (and could make it applicable to my subject) we’d be staging political debates, holding mock elections, and constantly reinforcing the duties of citizenship.
Yes. Talk about it. And get voter registration forms in your classroom to get those first timers registered!!! Oh. And tell them to vote Obama.
Just kidding.
Not really.
@PhilippiansThree14 -
@AreYouThereGodItsMeEmilyC -
Thanks for the quick feedback… I teach English & Humanities… the election/politics fits in well with my 120 course that is all about controversy & argument, but I’m also teaching an FYE course that’s about the First Year Experience at college. I figure, voting for the first time is a big part of that college experience. I remember not knowing where to vote in the town I went to college. It’s not even about having debates (although that’s a great idea for the controversial/argument class), it’s about discussing it like they may when they get out of college. This election, like others before it, will affect them & their future – they should probably think about it… even just a little.
@teacher47 - absolutely they should be thinking about it! when i was in high school i had a teacher that set up a mock election for the entire school of 3000 students. our class was responsible for running it and got great insight into the entire process.
oh… and teach them how to think through the issues for themselves. young people these days base so much on emotion and appearances, rather than learning how to discover what a person actually stands for, what their campaign is based on, what their political party’s platform is… etc.