Teaching Election 2016 Part 1: What should I do in my classroom?
As teachers prepare to return to the classroom this fall, especially social studies teachers, they face a serious problem. How do you teach about the Presidential election in a responsible way when you know that one of the major party candidates makes statements that are biased, incendiary, insulting, and so out-and-out false that many members of his own party refuse to support his candidacy?
A Teaching Tolerance online survey of 2,000 K-12 teachers reported raising racial and ethnic tension and bullying in classrooms and schools as Trump supporters feel "emboldened" to use slurs or engage in hostile chants ("Build the Wall"). A high school teacher from New Hampshire wrote, "A lot of students think we should kill any and all people we do not agree with. They also think that all Muslims are the same and are a threat to our country and way of life." A second-grade teacher from Virginia said her Hispanic students are "scared of being sent back to their home countries. They're scared of losing their education." An elementary teacher from Oklahoma reported "My kids are terrified of Trump becoming [p]resident. They believe he can/will deport them--and NONE of them are Hispanic. They are all African American." One Indianapolis, Indiana, teacher, finding the conditions intolerable, wrote on the survey, "I am at a point where I'm going to take a stand even if it costs me my position."
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A Teaching Tolerance online survey of 2,000 K-12 teachers reported raising racial and ethnic tension and bullying in classrooms and schools as Trump supporters feel "emboldened" to use slurs or engage in hostile chants ("Build the Wall"). A high school teacher from New Hampshire wrote, "A lot of students think we should kill any and all people we do not agree with. They also think that all Muslims are the same and are a threat to our country and way of life." A second-grade teacher from Virginia said her Hispanic students are "scared of being sent back to their home countries. They're scared of losing their education." An elementary teacher from Oklahoma reported "My kids are terrified of Trump becoming [p]resident. They believe he can/will deport them--and NONE of them are Hispanic. They are all African American." One Indianapolis, Indiana, teacher, finding the conditions intolerable, wrote on the survey, "I am at a point where I'm going to take a stand even if it costs me my position."
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