Nancy Thomas, Director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE), remarked on a phone call in 2020 with colleagues in the Campus Compact network that the common denominator for schools that had high voter turnout rates? They talk about it. Everywhere. In classes, with athletic teams, in the cafeteria, in formal debates and informal coffee chats. And not just once or during election years. They talk about politics–all. the. time.
Yet we also know that for a variety of reasons, it’s harder than ever to talk about politics now.
Here are some options to spark and guide critical yet respectful discourse about politics and political issues.
The results of recent Gallup poll acknowledged a tension between the overwhelming majority of students (81%) who would think students should be exposed to all kinds of speech, even if offensive or biased) and the nearly same amount ( (76%) who acknowledged that diversity and inclusion and free speech protections “occasionally” or “frequently” come into conflict on college campuses.
Tackle this tension head on by investigating the legal and social conceptions of free speech using IDHE’s Free Speech and Inclusion on Campus guide or the National Issues Forum Free Speech and the Inclusive Campus: How do we foster the campus community we want? guide.
Particularly for classrooms and formal settings, consider choosing a tested dialogue and deliberation method to provide structure and parameters to your discussion. Choosing a particular method also allows participants to add specific facilitation, listening, and speaking skills to their toolbox.
The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation’s Beginner’s Guide offers several resources to get you started. Use the Engagement Streams Framework to first choose the intention or purpose (Exploration, Conflict Transformation, Decision Making, and Collaborative Action), then select a method that matches it.
A few options to consider:
- Try using a dialogue and deliberation method for a discussion session you already had planned around a topic in your course. Project Pericles has a whole module around deliberative dialogue and a handy guide to construct a deliberative dialogue–no matter what your topic is!
- Looking for topic ideas? Check out the multi-disciplinary prompts list from Project Pericles contributors
- Want something ready made that you can implement without much additional effort? The National Issues Forum, Living Room Conversations, and Everyday Democracy collectively have well over 150+ different guides on a wide range of topics.
Facilitating a dialogue, particularly a political one, can be daunting. Hare are some general guidelines:
- establish ground rules and expectations from the very beginning
- share your duties as a facilitator
- stick to the allotted time
- encourage everyone to participate
- restate and clarify statements when needed
- when in doubt, move to curiosity: “Tell me more about that.”
- sit in circles to encourage a sense of togetherness
Design aspects to consider, each with their benefits and drawbacks:
- whether the instructor or the students should facilitate the dialogues,
- in or out of the classroom time,
- with the course’s students or with outside participants,
- in-person or virtual.
Not sure where to begin? See IDHE’s training guide on How to Facilitate Political Discussions or visit NCDD’s resource library to investigate tried and true strategies for facilitating dialogues and deliberation.
Students can learn a lot by watching the debates, not only about the candidates’ views and positions on issues, but on communication styles, rhetorical techniques, and the performative nature of politics. Watching debates (and post-debate analysis) with others can sharpen critical listening skills and allow opportunities to continue the topics on–in person, on social media, or in Moodle forums.
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