Several recent media stories have showcased how expertise from the UW–Madison School of Education is supporting educators this election season.
The stories on Wisconsin Public Radio, WORT-FM, and Wisconsin Watch included expertise from Jeremy Stoddard, professor in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and highlighted the Teaching About the 2024 Elections conference. The conference was held on campus last month.
In the Wisconsin Public Radio story, Stoddard said high-quality teaching about elections and current events is vital to creating informed, engaged citizens. He also said that learning can reduce political polarization.
“Schools might be the only place where they actually get exposed to different views on key issues of the day,” Stoddard told Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Wisconsin Today.” “Otherwise, people get their news filtered in through one way … If they’re not doing it in schools, that’s a real problem.”
The story also pointed out Stoddard’s research has shown teachers who provide high-quality civics education — which includes analyzing media and actively engaging with current events in class — report autonomy over their curriculum and strong support from school administrators.
WORT-FM, a community radio station in Madison, featured Stoddard in a segment that explored a recent Marquette Law School poll that found Republican voters are more likely to be dissatisfied with the schools in their area, and how that polarization can affect classrooms.
“We know about book bans, we know about things that are being called ‘divisive concepts’ not being allowed to be taught,” Stoddard said. “So, there’s a lot of pressure on teachers at the school level, as well as some of this misinformation coming into the classroom that I think a lot of teachers are nervous about.”
Wisconsin Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative statewide news outlet, highlighted how some Wisconsin teachers are approaching teaching about elections this fall.
In the story, Stoddard said focusing on partisanship may not be the best approach.
“(The goal is) to find ways to engage people meaningfully in something like an election, which should be an event that we revere as a democratic institution and peaceful transfer of power,” he said. “I think it shouldn’t be this challenging to do it, but that’s the current sort of partisanship that we’re in.”
Read the full Wisconsin Public Radio story here.
Listen to the WORT-FM segment here.
Read the full Wisconsin Watch story here.