If you grew up in New England, as I did, the end of August is distinctive for bringing chilly nights, the first scattered red and gold leaves on trees, and the desire to cling onto summer for just a few more weeks. It is also unmistakably back to school time, as those who have already started classes know all too well.
This time of the year can be exciting and full of possibility. It is an opportunity to create a brand-new culture with new students – one that welcomes rigorous conversations, challenges their curiosity, and reminds them that deepening their knowledge on any subject requires intellectual risk-taking.
This is particularly true as Americans step into one of the most contentious and eventful election years in a generation. Students may be tempted to use oversimplified language to proclaim their “side” the only valid choice. They will repeat things they have heard at the dinner table, or on social media or from their friends. Creating learning spaces that challenge these understandable behaviors and instead invites students to question their certainty requires some foundational work at the beginning of the year.
This is why we created the Viewpoint Diversity Challenge (VDC) – a free, one-hour session that high school teachers can use to establish ground rules for open and honest conversations and give students an opportunity to practice exploring contentious topics using recent news stories. Last year, 130 classrooms used the VDC at the start of the year, and all surveyed teachers said they would use it again. You’ll see more information about the VDC below, but you can also click here to link to the free materials.
Whether you are already a week or two into school or enjoying the last few weeks of summer, we hope this time fills you with purpose and excitement.
Onwards!
Ellie
Viewpoint Diversity Challenge 2024
Unsettling Our Thinking: How will we dive into sensitive topics this year?
This week we relaunched our Viewpoint Diversity Challenge! The Viewpoint Diversity Challenge supports high school students to have conversations about sensitive political topics in a way that lets all voices be heard. During the challenge, students engage with current news stories while learning tools for exploring the underlying values, assumptions and beliefs of opposing viewpoints. This one-hour lesson will help students set personal goals and ground rules for the classroom to help establish a climate of open inquiry for the academic year.
This fall’s challenge includes a new supplementary activity to further explore how echo chambers get created, as well as updated current event news articles from Tangle.
Over 130 classrooms participated in last fall’s challenge! Of educators surveyed, 100% said they would use the lesson again, and 90% said the lesson made it easier to discuss issues in class.
Have questions about running the Viewpoint Diversity Challenge in your classroom? We will be holding open office hours on Thursday August 29th from from 11am-3pm CT and again on Tuesday, September 10th from 10am-12pm CT. Reach out to mill@uaustin.org to be added to the calendar invites for these sessions.
Exploring Contentious Topics During Election Season
We are just about a month away from the release of The Democracy Project, a collection of educational resources designed to support teachers as they engage students in discussions around some of the contentious issues that divide us–particularly in an election year. The project will include teaching materials that explore the topics of free speech, abortion, guns, immigration, and economic inequality in new and interesting ways–with a set of pedagogical frames to help instruct and inspire.
Many thanks to the wonderful teachers who made invaluable contributions to this project: Patrick Halbrook, Kimberly Wilson, Travis Gilmore, Linda Luu, and Tola Atewologun.
In the meantime, here are 10 great articles that represent a range of views on the state of our democracy. Any combination of these articles can help teachers and their students ground their thinking on American democracy before jumping into topic-specific discussions...
Voices from our Community For Teachers, By Teachers, About Teaching
Throughout the school year we feature pieces of writing from educators on how they're addressing open inquiry in their classroom. We would love to feature your voice in one of our upcoming newsletter issues! If you are an educator interested in contributing, let us know here.
Below you will find examples of educator submissions from this past year:
Additional Resources for the Classroom Faces of X: A series of short videos that integrate different perspectives on divisive social issues
This month we are featuringFaces of X—a project created by producer and storyteller Stephanie Lepp. In this series, each video steel-mans different perspectives on the issue. (Steel-manning articulates the strongest version of a perspective, as opposed to straw-manning which articulates the weakest.) Then — in the triad of thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis — each video attempts to integrate the steel-man perspectives into a synthesis view. A synthesis then becomes a new thesis in our evolving understanding of reality.
We have three exciting upcoming opportunities for educators to engage with the Mill Institute Community. Registration for these events are free, but spaces are limited. Reserve your spots today by clicking on the links below!
Please join the Mill Institute for our first professional development workshop of the new school year.This two-hour session will give teachers an early look at The Democracy Project before its release on September 16. In addition to highlighting some of our favorite resources, we will take you through a few of the pedagogical approaches we have developed to support your teaching on contentious topics. Register
Our Teacher Discussion Group is back! This discussion group is a space for educators to examine contentious topics together and to consider pedagogical approaches to addressing contentious topics in the classroom.
This month's discussion will focus on what our duties are as citizens (voting, civic participation, service) and how schools and educators can help students to learn to engage in these duties. Register
This workshop offers an introduction to the Mill Institute and is focused on applying theory to practice. Targeted to middle and high school teachers, participating educators will receive hands-on training with our Viewpoint Diversity Challenge. Educators who RSVP'd for our August workshop are already pre-registered for this event, however there are still spots available! Register
See you next month! As always, email mill@uaustin.org to get in touch.
Follow Us
Keep up with the latest news as it happens by following us on social media.
