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Case: Politically or Racially-Aware
I believe in democracy. As a high school social sciences teacher, I strongly believe in democratic education and political awareness. I want my students to be aware of what is going on around them locally, nationally, and internationally. I require my students to keep up with news. Everything they learn from newspapers, magazines, and television becomes substance to use in my lessons. Before the presidential elections, I asked my students to watch all the debates, try to see the different perspectives, and how those perspectives may lead to different courses of action and to different implications for people. As part of this effort, I gave students a "persuasive writing" assignment. I gave them a list of topics from the debates, such as abortion, healthcare, affirmative action, and foreign policy. Students were to take a position on one of these issues and write a persuasive essay. When it was time for students to share their writings in class, things got out of hand. Every single topic we discussed along with the essays turned into a discussion of race. My Black and White students took opposite perspectives on every issue and during the discussions, they were not civil. I felt like my efforts for democratic education were not producing anything good. Should I change my activities? How come the political awareness I wanted develop in my students actually turned out to be racial awareness? Some guidance please!
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
As they say, sometimes its not good to talk politics in mixed company. However, I do understand the merit of such civics education. I had some similar situations during the 2008 election when I taught a civics unit to my 8th grade Georgia History class. I think we have to put a lot of time into fostering an atmosphere where students feel free to express their feelings but not threatened. It may be wise to limit the amount of rebuttals that students are aloud to make in dealing with discussion, particularly if it seems to get out of hand. Ultimately, you are the gatekeeper and have to know what kind of stimuli will influence your students. I think we also need to get to know our students and their dispositions well before embarking on such controversial tasks. This year when I did a mini lesson on the election with my middle and high schoolers, I knew my students and what their probable responses would be on who they would vote for. I remained unbiased and allowed them to have their say as long as it was respectful and they did not anger any of the other students. |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree that teachers need to spend a lot of time creating an atmosphere of respect in their classrooms. Your suggestion of limiting the time or number of responses was also a good one. Doing so would give the teacher more control of process of the debate. If students were observed to be getting angry or offended by each other the teacher could easily stop the debate and discuss the issue using pre-established respectful ground rules. |
| Rated On: September 25, 2014 4:26 pm |
| Rated By: Myzusy |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree with this solution. |
| Rated On: February 25, 2015 7:47 pm |
| Rated By: aNaQev |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: If I were in this situation, I would exactly do this |
| Rated On: February 26, 2015 6:13 pm |
| Rated By: aSaByN |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree, when discussions about controversial topics stress that they must still be respectful to one another. |
| Rated On: March 5, 2017 9:39 pm |
| Rated By: avenyB |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I also agree that we should try not to offend anyone during the assignment. Keeping the debate tasteful and not disrespecting anyone is the best solution. |
| Rated On: October 16, 2017 5:31 am |
| Rated By: yPeMug |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree! |
| Rated On: February 21, 2018 6:27 pm |
| Rated By: uJyGep |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree with this solution. |
| Rated On: February 26, 2018 12:09 am |
| Rated By: DuTepy |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: October 9, 2018 1:33 am |
| Rated By: pagyDa |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: This seems like an effective solution since it directly addresses the problem in a positive way. |
| Rated On: October 13, 2018 6:32 pm |
| Rated By: byRyLe |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: i agree |
| Rated On: October 27, 2018 7:25 pm |
| Rated By: Carla Crumb |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I agree with limiting this topic when it comes to students as it can be seen as an issue in teaching this specific topic. |
| Rated On: February 21, 2020 8:11 pm |
| Rated By: vaMuvy |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I liked the term gatekeeper |
| Rated On: February 23, 2020 7:15 pm |
| Rated By: yHuDav |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: good idea |
| Rated On: October 18, 2020 4:43 pm |
| Rated By: VePuWu |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I have had the same type of debate system in my classroom around the time of elections and I think it's an interesting way to approach it, as long as they are repectful. |
| Rated On: October 31, 2021 2:51 pm |
| Rated By: Pearl Reberkenny |
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