WASHINGTON — From mock elections to writing projects and Electoral College math, many teachers around the country are embracing the often nasty presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as a real-world teaching tool. ADVERTISING WASHINGTON — From mock
WASHINGTON — From mock elections to writing projects and Electoral College math, many teachers around the country are embracing the often nasty presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as a real-world teaching tool.
Muslims. Taxes. The wall. Emails. The negative exchanges. They’re all up for discussion in Halie Miller’s fourth-grade class at Glacier Ridge Elementary in Dublin, Ohio. But when the students hold their own debates, they’re polite and respectful.
“We kind of have debates and never yell at each other,” says 9-year-old Mia Dahi. “We give our opinions and what we think about it, but we don’t really fight about it.”
The election provides material for other subjects beyond social studies. In math, Miller’s students have learned about the magic of the number 270, using addition and subtraction to come up with different combinations to get to 270 electoral votes to claim victory.
“Educating students about their role in a democracy was one of the original goals of public education in this country and it should remain so today, as our nation becomes more and more diverse,” Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said in recent remarks at the National Press Club.
This election no doubt has presented challenges for educators, with difficult topics such as sexual assault, infidelity and just the general bitterness and angry rhetoric.
“Teachers all over the country are having some very hard conversations with their students in a non-partisan way,” says National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García.
It’s also opened the door, though, to some good debates. “They’re having discussions about race. They’re having discussions about religious freedom,” she said. “They’re having discussions about should girls aspire to be president as likely as a boy would aspire to be president.”
Alice Reilly, president of the National Social Studies Supervisors Association, says teachers can’t ignore the election.
“It’s part of social studies. It’s part of civics. It’s part of government,” she said.
