Generating Dynamic Democratic Discussions: An Analysis of Teaching with U.S. Presidential Debates

Autor/inn/en	Levy, Brett L. M.; Collet-Gildard, Lauren; Owenby, Thomas C.
Titel	Generating Dynamic Democratic Discussions: An Analysis of Teaching with U.S. Presidential Debates
Quelle	In: Social Studies, 108 (2017) 2, S.39-54 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0037-7996
DOI	10.1080/00377996.2016.1266594
Schlagwörter	Debate; History Instruction; Political Campaigns; Elections; Presidents; Teaching Methods; Instructional Materials; Controversial Issues (Course Content); High Schools; Semi Structured Interviews; Student Participation; Learner Engagement; Classroom Techniques; Scaffolding (Teaching Technique); Political Issues; Observation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Debating; Streitgespräch; History lessons; Geschichtsunterricht; Election; Wahl; President; Präsident; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Lehrmaterial; Lehrmittel; Unterrichtsmedien; Controversial issues; Kontroverse; High school; Oberschule; Schülermitarbeit; Schülermitwirkung; Studentische Mitbestimmung; Klassenführung; Politischer Faktor; Beobachtung
Abstract	Researchers have found that when young people participate in discussions of controversial political issues, they often become more politically engaged and informed (Hess, 2009). Nonetheless, some educators avoid fostering such discussions because they can become heated and distract from academic learning (Hess, 2002). Presidential elections, including the highly publicized debates, provide substantial material for discussions of major national and international issues, but no published research has examined how educators can leverage these events to generate productive civic learning experiences. In this article, we analyze data collected in seven high school classrooms during the 2012 presidential election to examine the challenges and opportunities associated with generating substantive, dynamic discussions of presidential debates. Our findings indicate that students enjoyed learning about candidates' different perspectives and that certain strategies were especially helpful for fostering substantive discussions: (a) scaffolding students' preparation for discussion; (b) providing opportunities for students to address open-ended questions; (c) redirecting students' engagement in competitive, interpersonal dynamics to learning about public issues; and (d) countering students' partisan tendencies. We discuss implications for practice and research and present a conceptual framework for generating dynamic, substantive democratic discussions. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01