Our Wildwood, Volume 52

FEATURE Teaching Civil Discourse in an Election Year

the 5th graders as part of their social studies program, culminating with a campus-wide election, complete with voter registration forms, ballot boxes, and “poll workers.” To prepare younger students for the polls, 5th graders led a series of lessons for each grade, teaching their younger peers about political parties, voter registration, and ballot measures. Of course, before they were able to share their knowledge with others, they had to master it for themselves. The experience helped them develop both confidence and empathy.

“Many institutions struggled to balance students’ rights to free speech with maintaining a respectful, safe learning environment,” said Deb Christenson, upper school humanities teacher. “At Wildwood, we recognized that fostering civil discourse in K-12 settings is essential preparation for the realities students will face once they leave Wildwood for higher education and beyond.” With a highly divisive election looming, Deb, along with Jaimi Boehm, Karen Dye, Dr. Billy Pugliese, and Landis Green—who took the lead drafting—spent the past summer clarifying what exactly civil discourse at

“At Wildwood, we recognized that fostering civil discourse in K-12 settings is essential preparation for the realities students will face once they leave Wildwood for higher education and beyond.” — DEB CHRISTENSON, UPPER SCHOOL HUMANITIES TEACHER

“It made me feel empowered, like my ideas truly mattered,” said Kaya D. ‘32. Classmate Matilda M. ‘32 added, “We had to answer tough questions from younger students without telling them what to think. That was hard, but it helped me understand what it means to be neutral and fair, and I feel like I grew from that.” Impartiality is a difficult skill to master at any grade level, but one that 5th grade social studies teacher Felix Vazquez hopes students continue to refine throughout their years at Wildwood.

Wildwood means, and how to effectively guide students in developing these skills. The result is Wildwood’s Position Statement on Civil Discourse, published this fall. The statement, influenced by the Chicago Principles and Wildwood’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) mission, clarifies an important distinction: feeling uncomfortable is not the same as being unsafe. This understanding is essential in an election year, when political conversations can quickly become contentious. “Education should not be intended to make people feel comfortable,” said task force member Dr. Billy Pugliese, assistant director of academic services, teaching, and learning at the upper school.. “It is meant to make them think.”

CIVIL DISCOURSE IN THE CLASSROOM

With Wildwood’s Position Statement serving as a framework, teachers embedded civil discourse into their curricula across all grade levels. On the elementary campus, students participated in Wildwood Votes, an interactive election project led by

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