Teachers set aside politics to help students tackle economic inequality
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Stacy Teicher Khadaroo Staff writer
When Allegra Smisek鈥檚 8th -graders in suburban Hopkins, Minn., play a simulation game, representing countries with more or less resources, 鈥渢hey quickly find out that the students that start with less need to form alliances 鈥� or work for the wealthy countries in order to survive,鈥� she says.
Over the course of several class periods, the Global Studies students exchange work for fictitious currency, and help their teams adjust after natural disasters. Suddenly, they鈥檝e got a better idea of some of the forces driving economic inequality.
It鈥檚 a topic that might be coming up more often now, as the United States Congress wrangles over a tax overhaul and the 鈥淧aradise Papers鈥� uncover profits tucked away in tax havens. Polls have long shown that a majority of Americans 鈥� both Democrats and Republicans 鈥� would like to see wealth gaps narrowing.聽
But how is the subject broached in classrooms, and how often? Does it depend on teachers鈥� political views?
Many social studies teachers do regularly touch on economic inequality, although nearly half the states don鈥檛 mention it in their curriculum standards. It turns out that teachers' own political ideology has no relation to how often they do so, a first-of-its kind study has found.
Instead, it鈥檚 their level of civic and political engagement that makes the difference.
Weekly discussions聽
Fifty-three percent of social studies teachers addressed some aspect of economic inequality once or more each week, whether in lesson plans or in response to student questions, according to a newly published study based on a 2015聽 of 685 teachers from a representative sample of US public high schools. The majority also specifically addressed the distribution of income or wealth, report John Rogers of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Joel Westheimer of the University of Ottawa in the journal 鈥淧S: Political Science and Politics.鈥�
Liberals, conservatives, and moderates mentioned economic imbalances with roughly the same frequency. Among the sample, 24 percent identified as conservative, 40 percent as liberal.
But teachers highly engaged in civics or politics were 32 percent more likely to bring up the subject聽weekly than the moderately engaged teachers. And they were more likely to use data, talk about causes and possible remedies, and ask students to distinguish between fact and opinion.
Ms. Smisek, who was not part of the study, sees that dynamic play out in her diverse public school district where she also coordinates K-12 social studies. 鈥淲e have conservative teachers and liberal teachers, but what I see is the more engaged and active they are politically, regardless of ideology 鈥� the more [they want students] to recognize that they have power to make change,鈥� she says.
Her students go back as far as the origin of humans and earth鈥檚 geological features in their exploration of global inequalities.
Smisek recently presented her lesson plans 鈥� based on Jared Diamond鈥檚 鈥淕uns, Germs, and Steel鈥� 鈥� at a national conference, showing how they could be adapted for 6th to 12th grade. 鈥淪tudents love trying to figure out: How did we end up with the world that we have?鈥� she says.
She herself is involved in groups that tackle gender, racial, and economic inequality. But she says she keeps her teaching nonpartisan and sometimes inserts a conservative perspective if it doesn鈥檛 come up in class, where she estimates the split is about 70 percent liberal, 30 percent conservative.
Once they learn about inequities, students turn to service projects. One example: They research the economies of various countries, and each team loans $25 to an entrepreneur through the microlending website Kiva. Originally funded by a grant, the class money regenerates as the entrepreneurs pay back the loans.
Ushuu Namarra鈥檚 team chose Rwanda and loaned money to a group that makes and sells crafts, so it could buy more supplies. It is led by a woman with four children, and the group鈥檚 name translates as 鈥渓et us trust each other,鈥� says Ushuu, now a ninth-grader at Smisek鈥檚 school, Hopkins North Junior High.
鈥淚t felt good to help them and think maybe we can make a difference and there will be more economic equality in the future,鈥� Ushuu says.聽
Some teachers in Professor Rogers鈥� study reported barriers to addressing economic inequality more effectively, ranging from a lack of understanding of economics to the fear of bringing up politically sensitive issues.
Teachers in training may need more support for navigating such discussions in class and not fearing political discourse. 鈥淏eing political means embracing the kind of controversy and ideological sparring that is the engine of democracy,鈥� Rogers says.聽
Some dissent
But not everyone agrees that it鈥檚 a good thing for teachers to be talking so much about income inequality.
Too many teachers of all political stripes 鈥渁re walking away from content and climbing on a soap box,鈥� says Sean Hiland, a social studies teacher at St. Pius X Catholic High School in Atlanta, and creator of the podcast 鈥淐onservative Teacher.鈥�
In his World History lessons on the industrial revolution, Mr. Hiland does address the economic inequality it spawned. Students compare the writings of Karl Marx and Adam Smith. He鈥檚 also had US Government students debate various tax structures.
鈥淚 teach my kids to be skeptical of all arguments 鈥� [and] easy solutions,鈥� Hiland says.听鈥�In an age of social media and quick responses 鈥� the greatest service that we can do 鈥� is teach them to approach everything with a critical eye.鈥�
Rogers did find a few differences among types of teachers and school settings. Liberals, for instance, touched on hunger, homelessness, and gender and racial inequality more often than conservatives. In more-affluent schools, teachers discussed income inequality more often in the context of developing empathy, while in the poorest schools they tended to focus on the importance of hard work and individual agency.
Smisek agrees that teachers shouldn鈥檛 impart their personal views but rather teach students to come to their own conclusions based on research. And she鈥檚 happy to hold a job that in and of itself is a form of civic engagement. 鈥淢ore than ever before, students want to talk about things happening in the news,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey often feel powerless, but they鈥檙e hungry for opportunities to engage in their communities.鈥�
