Should Teachers Help Students Develop Partisan Identities?

Autor/inn/en	Hess, Diana E.; McAvoy, Paula
Titel	Should Teachers Help Students Develop Partisan Identities?
Quelle	In: Social Education, 78 (2014) 6, S.293-297 (5 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0037-7724
Schlagwörter	Simulation; Legislation; Political Affiliation; Political Attitudes; Controversial Issues (Course Content); Ideology; Educational Practices; High Schools; Intellectual Freedom; Political Socialization; Performance Factors; High School Students + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Simulation program; Simulationsprogramm; Gesetzgebungslehre; Politisches Interesse; Political attitude; Politische Einstellung; Controversial issues; Kontroverse; Ideologie; Bildungspraxis; High school; Oberschule; Akademische Freiheit; Intellektuelle Unabhängigkeit; Politische Sozialisation; Leistungsindikator; High schools; Student; Students; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin
Abstract	Five years ago, Diana Hess was teaching a graduate seminar called "Democratic Education." The purpose of the seminar was to critically analyze two seemingly simple, but actually very complex, questions: What is democracy? What is democratic education? Both are contested concepts, and the seminar was designed to help students understand and grapple with their multiple meanings in the context of political and educational practices in the U.S. and in other nations. In the highly polarized political climate in which young people are currently being raised, political science research is finding that the most engaged Americans are those who have strong partisan identities. Given that many social studies teachers want to encourage young people to be politically engaged, does it follow that one aim of democratic education should be to help students know where their own views stand with respect to those of contemporary political parties "and," if aligned, feel an affiliation toward a political party? In short, should teachers help students develop their own partisan identities? To address this question, the authors begin with an explanation of the political science research investigating the relationships among partisanship, polarization, and political engagement. Then, in order to help teachers consider this issue, Hess and McAvoy present some reasons to be concerned about teaching toward a partisan identity, followed by some reasons why this aim may deserve support. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10