What does the president do all day? This is but one of dozens of questions generated last week by a class of fourth graders. Among the other questions are “At the end of commercials, why do candidates say, ‘I am so and so and I approve this message,’” “Can you have a president from one party and a vice-president from another,” and “Do votes from people with powerful jobs count more than votes by regular people?” I admire these questions, they are thoughtful, show a growing awareness of nuance and conflict yet still maintain a genuine curiosity about the very abstract world of politics and governance and are evidence of the students grappling with the wider world. These questions came from one of the many conversations about the election that are taking place across the three divisions. A group of lower school teachers is planning an election simulation which will include voting for organizations our community service program might support, allowing the students to vote on an issue important to them, to have a real experience rather than pretending to be their parents and voting for the candidate supported around the dinner table.
In the middle school, in addition to frequent homeroom conversations, especially on mornings after a debate, the student government is planning a mock election that will include poll questions on a variety of issues, both national and quite local—a number focused on issues of life in the middle school, making the election process relevant for these students. In the high school, history teacher Peter Heniz is offering an 11th/12th grade history elective on the election. Of his class, Peter writes:
After studying the changes in the membership and ideologies of the political parties in the United States over time, the members of the Electioneering class decided that the best way to educate their classmates on the electoral process was to hold a debate from the perspectives of the most influential voting blocs in the current election. For two weeks, seven students immersed themselves in the arguments made by groups ranging from urban minorities to libertarians and Christian conservatives to young independents. Then they had it out in front of the whole school. The unscripted format was a risk for the class, but by zeroing in on their group’s talking points and mastering the statistics and anecdotes that they researched, the students were able to give their classmates an insightful and energizing lesson.
Peter and his students are already planning their next election focused assembly for a week from now. This assembly is likely to include some additional focus on the issues and on election night itself, helping all to understand the information that will be coming their way. They will also be visiting middle school classes to share some of what they have learned about the political process and the issues.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we have fewer than a half dozen students who are old enough to vote this year. However, we have over 200 students, roughly one-third of all current LREI students, who will be eligible to vote next time round. We have a responsibility to help these students to understand the very complex issues that a presidential election brings to the fore. Additionally, the students generally enjoy and are engaged by these conversations, allowing us to challenge them to develop their analytical skills, to understand the points of view of others and to grapple with big, real and important issues.
While the debates and the intensity one finds during the last few weeks of a hotly contested election will only last for a few more weeks, hopefully the discussions and activities that this year’s election has sparked will encourage many of our students to remain focused on the issues as we move beyond November 6th.