During each federal election cycle, students in Pat Sprinkle’s U.S. history and government classes are assigned a political race to observe. The high schoolers research candidates, make a prediction about the results, write a reflection examining what they’ve learned and teach the rest of their class about the race in which they’ve established expertise.
This isn’t part of the required curriculum at the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies, but Sprinkle says it’s important to give students an opportunity to think critically about campaign strategies, the role of money in politics and current events. All of the races his students watch are competitive and out of state, to ensure they learn about the “diversity and depth” of the country, he says.
“We’re teaching this as a way to evaluate our institutions and to think mindfully and critically about campaigns as a linkage institution to the American people,” Sprinkle adds.
With the Nov. 3 midterms days away, teachers such as Sprinkle are treating the election as a live civics lab at a time when many young people feel shut out of their government. Educators say their approaches — teaching how the system works rather than whom to support, favoring respectful exchange of views and grounding elections in the history of voting rights — build critical thinking without pushing students…
Source: EdSurge — Read the full article on the original site ↗