Listening, Leading, and Learning in Community during the 2016 Election

How do teachers invite students to both be themselves and become a community in these times? Alan Singer has been sharing suggestions at Huffington Post for teachers during this election season, writing, “Our obligation is not to maintain some abstract form of ‘balance’ in the classroom, but to help students become critical thinkers who learn to listen to others, evaluate their statements carefully and respectfully, and support conclusions with evidence.” Participants in this webinar explored this assertion further and discussed how this election season can be a time to uncover students’ passions and interests and learn together how to live in community.

This hangout was produced in support of Letters to the Next President 2.0, a project engaging youth in civic participation on issues and topics that matter to them in the US Presidential Election. It was also co-streamed at connectedlearning.tv.

View the Conversation

During the broadcast, the conversation also took place on Twitter using the hashtag #2nextprez.

Participants for this Webinar Included: 

• Christina Puntel (host), Learning Support teacher in Philadelphia whose teaching is shaped by her work with the Philadelphia Teachers’ Learning Cooperative and the Philadelphia Writing Project.
• Lisa Hantman, Teaches grade three in a public school in Philadelphia. She teaches an intentional, authentic curriculum to support an investment in learning and with a focus on social justice.
• Carla Truttman, Teaches 11th and 12th grade Language Arts and Social Studies in a small, rural high school in far Northern California.
• Heather Van Benthuysen, Veteran English teacher, now Civics Instructional Specialist for Chicago Public Schools.

Resources for this webinar:

• Citizen Ready NOW – presentation by Steve Zemelman, Heather Van Benthuysen, and others
• Letters to the Next President 2.0
• National Writing Project
• KQED
• A Community for Asking Big Questions
• Flipboard (mentioned in hangout)
• Mikva Challenge Project Soapbox (mentioned in hangout)
• People by Peter Spier (mentioned in hangout)
• #WhatsMyIssue (mentioned in hangout)
• National Action Civics Collaborative (mentioned in hangout)
• Generation Citizen (mentioned in hangout)
• “Wild Geese” by Wendell Berry (mentioned in hangout)

Photo/ Jason Miczek