Technology is everywhere in today’s world. Students are more aware of what is going on in the world because of how easily and quickly they can get the information online. They are living in a time of very polarizing events like the pandemic, elections, and so much more. This can be difficult for teaching because the kids will have an opinion. You want the students to know they have a voice and a right to their opinion, but to remember to respect differing opinions. It is important for the students to learn the facts and gain all the information while forming their opinions as well.
In the “How to teach news literacy in polarizing times” article, it listed eight strategies to help ease the stress in teaching polarizing events and communicating properly with your students. Two things that stuck out to me were reflecting on personal biases and emphasizing facts. Making sure students gain the correct information that is not an opinion and making them reflect on it will help them grow in their knowledge. By reflecting on their biases, they might notice the ways in which they take in information. By that I mean whether they listen with an open mind and heart or do they listen for what they want to hear and run with it. Also, not imposing your opinions on the students is so important. It reminded me of the reading from Week 8 of the comparison of two teachers with very different teaching styles. One teacher imposed his opinion on his students so the way he taught was by teaching what he wanted them to hear. You are going to have to teach things that are hard or that you might not particularly like, but these students have to know it for their education and it is important that you hold no bias while passing that information on to them. This enables them to gain the full fact and not a one sided thought.
You make some really great points! I liked how you tied in the reading from a couple of weeks ago about the strategies of the two teachers when teaching Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. They’re great examples of what to do and what not to do when discussing potentially controversial subjects. When we use the eight strategies listed in this article we can surely help students navigate difficult topics and formulate respectful conversations centering around their own developed opinions. I think that teaching students digital literacy can also apply here. If we teach students how to examine the credibility of the source we can help them analyze news articles, political campaigns, social media posts etc., that can assist them in developing an opinion and distinguishing fact-based information from opinion-based.
I think everything you mentioned was spot on! The biggest thing for me is ensuring that when “things get heated” within the classroom, you are able to emphasize the facts. You make an excellent point that we’re living in a polarizing time, and simply not discussing these topics within the history classroom is not the answer to how to deal with the controversial times. I also think it is essential to understand that teachers are human and, in turn, have biases on controversial issues, like everyone else. I think being honest with the fact that we have biases is a significant step for us to create meaningful instruction for our students around these controversial issues.