The National Education Association (NEA) recently posted this report from the Higher Education Research Institution noting that more incoming freshman categorize themselves as being politically aware than at any point in the survey's history, surpassing the previous record percentage that was posted back in 1968 (when, note readers, the author was not to be born for another 10 years). While it may seem slight, the current percentage of freshman who discussed politics was 35%. What's more intriguing is that nearly 40% of freshman indicated that knowledge of current events was important, which was also a record high.
Is this cause for a celebration in our ranks? Have we, after seeing students bottom out back in 2000 (low score for students thinking current events was important), bring politics enough to the forefront of our courses that we should take a second to applaud the fact that we are seeing this gain? I know in my own classroom that I spent (and will continue to spend) a substantial amount of time discussing current events (that's actually what I use a blog for with my 11th graders). Most of my peers do the same, and with great statewide programs like the WorldQuest run by World Affairs Council (for world current events) and Classroom Law Project's regular events, it could be easy to see how we are making strides in approaching political issues.
Yet, I guess that one could argue that this is a mere anomaly of the past year. In earnest, this last election elicited a greater response from youth than I can remember, mainly because (I'm guessing) the youthfulness of President (previously candidate) Obama. And while students seemed very aware of political issues around election time, their knowledge and thirst for information on world events (healthcare...) seemed to disappear a little bit. There is also the obvious point to make that no survey is comprehensive, although it seems that HERI has covered its bases pretty well in terms of a data set.
What caught me in this as well is how many students already identify themselves as Liberal, Moderate, or Conservative, and I'm curious if our membership thinks they do a good job explaining what these different labels mean. I know that on several occasions I've confronted a student of a various persuasion to ask why they were what they were and usually I get a superficial response. How well do we teach those classifications, and is it a good thing to teach those classifications? Could one argue that we foster partisan bickering by helping students to "choose a side" rather than have them evaluate the issues based on their merits...
Sorry for the brief tangent there, but hopefully there is enough here to chew on -- a) should we feel good about such political leanings or chalk them up to President Obama, and b) how much should we work on discussing the various political classifications that exist in our political system?
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