海角大神

Rancor over COVID-19 policies, diversity and equity initiatives, and school choice has divided communities and supercharged school board meetings. Is there any way to find common ground about education amid such divisions?听

Some people say yes.听

Frederick Hess and Pedro Noguera, two education policy leaders, published a book earlier this year 鈥� 鈥淎 Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Toughest Questions in K-12 Education鈥� 鈥� made up of in-depth emails they shared over seven months to better understand each other鈥檚 beliefs and unearth hidden agreement. They currently host a podcast, 鈥淐ommon Ground,鈥� with recent episodes tackling the role of parents in education and anti-racist education.听

The authors describe themselves in the book鈥檚 preface as having 鈥渟pent much of the past few decades on opposing sides of important educational debates, with Pedro generally on the Left and Rick mostly on the Right.鈥� Dr. Hess is director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, and Dr. Noguera is dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.听

The goal of their exchange, the two write in the book, is to offer a model for those who 鈥渄esire to disagree with grace and explore differences without rancor.鈥�听

The book鈥檚 impact will be 鈥渦p to the readers and what they do with it,鈥� says Dr. Noguera in a phone interview. He and Dr. Hess have done a series of book tour events, mostly on Zoom, where the two live-demo talking through tough issues respectfully for their audience. They鈥檝e spoken at the Wyoming Education Summit, at听an annual meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers, and to staff of foundations like the Walton Family Foundation, among others. The most frequent feedback is that the book is a breath of fresh air, says Dr. Noguera.听

Fred Campos, from Bedford, Texas, is an elected school board member of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District.听He was assigned to read the book for a leadership training program he鈥檚 participating in with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB).听

Mr. Campos listened to the audio version of the book twice and says he 鈥渓oves the premise that we should not go to the extremes.鈥� As a second-term board member, he鈥檚 adjusting to a 鈥渘ew era鈥� of more polarization and increased attendance after a fairly quiet first term. The book helped him better understand why some in his community wanted a mask-optional policy 鈥� which differed from his position in favor of mask mandates.听

鈥淥ne thing I think both authors did well is they were complimentary of one another, respectful, and that modeling is huge, whether you鈥檙e dealing with parents, other board members, or staff,鈥� Mr. Campos says.听

鈥淟ight a candle鈥�

The idea for 鈥淐ommon Ground鈥� started before COVID-19 and the latest waves of education furor. Even in pre-pandemic days, tension existed within the field. For Dr. Hess, disputes over education over the past few years felt more polarized than at any time in his nearly 30-year career as a K-12 educator, college professor, and researcher.听听

One November night in 2019, Dr. Hess says he was sitting in his office, staring into space, and pondering how to actually model a different style of conversation. He started thinking about who was someone who disagreed with him on major issues and might be willing to engage in a civil dialogue.听

鈥淓ducation is supposed to be about teaching kids how to wrestle with things, how to look past our differences, and it felt like rather than leaning on this, we鈥檝e been as bad as anyone,鈥� he says in a phone interview. 鈥淪o I finally said, 鈥業鈥檓 a big fan of 鈥榣ight a candle rather than curse darkness,鈥� 鈥� so I picked up the phone and called Pedro, and he was great about it.鈥澨�听

鈥淚 immediately said yes because I appreciated the need for dialogue on these issues, and like him, I was frustrated by the tenor of the debate and the kind of paralysis that I would say characterize the field,鈥� says Dr. Noguera.听

The two wrote emails to each other from January through听July 2020, on 11 hot-button education topics such as school choice, the achievement gap, testing and accountability, diversity and equity, and teacher pay. They also addressed major events that hit while they were writing, such as COVID-19, the shuttering of schools, and the murder of George Floyd.听

Both men say they were provoked at various times by each other鈥檚 viewpoints. Because they were communicating in writing,听they had time to reflect before responding and gather evidence to back their points. The two found areas of common ground on nearly every topic, especially on teacher pay and testing, after airing their differences.听听

In a joint Zoom interview with the Monitor, the pair easily banter with each other, but say it took time to develop rapport. They鈥檙e often asked for advice on how to start difficult conversations. Dr. Hess says he thinks anyone can do it, but it takes certain skills.

鈥淚t takes an interest in listening to one another. It takes the habit of pausing on your first 鈥榯hat鈥檚 wrong鈥� in order to listen, hear them, and ask a question instead of pushing back,鈥� he says.

鈥淚 think the need for this can鈥檛 be understated, especially now,鈥� Dr.听Noguera adds during the Zoom meeting. 鈥淭his country is so divided and it鈥檚 dangerous, because it鈥檚 becoming more and more violent. And so modeling how to have civil debate is really important.鈥澨�

Kay Douglas is a former school board member, a senior consultant at TASB, and the instructor who assigned 鈥淐ommon Ground鈥� to the leadership cohort that Mr. Campos is a part of. She says the book offers a valuable example of intentionally trying to understand and work with others.听

鈥淥therwise, we are going to self-destruct. People are so stressed and the stress level keeps going up,鈥� she says.

鈥淢uscles that we have to build鈥�

For Dr. Noguera, learning how to debate respectfully was something he learned around his kitchen table. When he was growing up, his dad, an immigrant from Trinidad, was a police officer in New York City. He would sometimes bring home friends with conservative views on crime.

鈥淚 was a kid and I鈥檇 listen to these conversations and get angry, but because they were adults and I was a kid and I wanted to engage, I had to figure out how to do that respectfully because my parents insisted on respect,鈥� he says.听

As a professor, Dr. Noguera has invited people who disagree with him on policy to debate him in his classes, because he thinks it makes his ideas stronger and shows that people can disagree 鈥渨ithout attacking an individual鈥檚 personhood.鈥� Conjuring up the worst intentions about other people, he says, is unproductive and unhealthy for democracy.听

Dr. Hess agrees that subjecting his ideas to scrutiny from the other side is a way to check blind spots and make policies stronger. He compares civil dialogue to going to the gym.听

鈥淟istening to somebody, actually taking care to understand why they are pushing back, answering them without going to sound bites or talking points, these things are like muscles that we have to build,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f all you do is fire off tweets or Facebook posts or talk to people who think like you, it鈥檚 like you never go to the gym to build those muscles.鈥澨�

In September, Dr. Hess and Dr. Noguera spoke at the Wyoming Education Summit, attended by teachers, administrators, home-school parents, and school board members.

Jillian Balow, Wyoming superintendent of public instruction, says the听theme听of the book听was particularly relevant since the state has also seen an uptick in school board meeting听attendance and parents concerned about curricular materials. She鈥檚 pondering ways to make policymaking more transparent, such as establishing community teams to look through school policies and identify areas for public involvement.听

鈥淲e have a system that really caters to people talking past each other,鈥� Ms. Balow says.听She points to schools traditionally including parents in their own child鈥檚 learning, but providing fewer outlets for involving parents in policy or curricular decisions.

鈥淢aybe there are some opportunities 鈥� so there鈥檚 less talking past and more finding common ground,鈥� she adds.