Culver instructors seek to build culture of curiosity as part of “E Pluribus Unum”

 

Culver Academies has launched a yearlong effort to encourage instructors and staff to talk with students about contentious issues, such as politics, and to teach them to listen respectfully to differing viewpoints.

School officials believe Culver students should have access to a broad exchange of ideas so they can explore their own thoughts and beliefs involving complicated issues.

Research has shown that talking about current affairs in the classroom leads to more student engagement, improves communication and critical thinking skills and makes it more likely they will engage in civic life as adults. Yet some teachers nationwide have expressed concern that talking about the presidential campaign for fear of accusations of bias or indoctrination.

Responsible educators can’t ignore politics because it is such an important part of American life, said Jen Cerny, a humanities master instructor.

“Part of the reason the country feels so divided is that politics is affecting relationships.  It’s common for birds of a political feather to flock together.  It’s easy to talk about each other and not with each other.  We need to build some willingness and courage and trust to talk to one another.  We need to remember that our political adversaries aren’t evil or ignorant or stupid.  We need conversation across political difference to remind ourselves of the humanity of those we disagree with,” she said. 

A group of Culver instructors this summer came up with a stated mission: “We aim to build a culture of courageous curiosity, particularly related to difficult topics, so we can model behaviors for students that strengthen rather than weaken our community.”

Emily Uebler, Ph.D., Culver’s dean of professional development and a humanities master instructor, said the statement was written through the lens of teachers and staff so that Culver students will be able to model behaviors that strengthen their communities. She said it wouldn’t have been right to ignore what’s happening in the country and not say anything.

“Culver is a mission-driven school and educating students for leadership and responsible citizenship is in our mission statement,” she said.

Culver students were introduced to the idea at an All-School Meeting in August when senior French instructor Anastasia Beeson ’94 SS’93 disclosed the theme for this year: “E Pluribus Unum,” a Latin expression that means “Out of Many, One.” She told the students it wasn’t just a motto; it was a call to action.

She encouraged the students to listen to those with a different culture, political affiliation, spiritual persuasion or nationality.

“Imagine how much more we could learn by stepping outside of our comfort zone more often? I’d like to challenge you to make it a goal this year to surround yourself, or at least make a few deep connections, with people who are very different from you – because they have a gift to give you. And you have a gift to give them,” she said.

 

 

So how can instructors at Culver encourage students to have these difficult discussions in productive ways?

That was the subject of a daylong seminar for instructors and staff before the school year started. It was run by the Mill Institute, a non-partisan, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide training and resources to support schools in sustaining the open and rigorous exchange of ideas. They advocate for helping students to be less certain in what they know and more curious throughout their lives.

Cerny said there’s a simple reason people should listen to those with differing opinions.

“The other person just might be right,” she said.

The challenge, she said, is how to encourage productive discussion.

“How can we get enough practice with the discomfort of talking across political differences so that when we do, we always do it in a way that it brings light and not heat,” Cerny said.

Uebler said Culver officials knew that taking the day of training just before classes started would be a challenge to teachers. But they also knew that it would send a message that Culver values the need for the exchange of differing ideas in the classroom.

“We shouldn’t just politely nod or ignore the issues and go on our way, where we have side conversations and echo chambers,” she said. “We wanted to send that signal to the community and get them thinking about: ‘How does this apply to me and my role at Culver.’ ”

For teachers in humanities, where government and politics are taught, the implications are obvious. They are not as obvious in classes such as science and mathematics but are just as important, Uebler said.

Uebler said an instructor could choose to frame their class in a way that avoids including divisive issues.

“But I hope that the Mill Institute being here will encourage people to lean toward the idea as opposed to away from it and ignoring it,” she said.

Kurt Christiansen, a master humanities instructor, said he believes having the Mill Institute on campus sent an important message “that this is something we should care about.”

Christiansen and a handful of humanities instructors began tracking the work of psychologist Jonathan Haidt, when the 2018 book “The Coddling of the American Mind,” he wrote with Greg Lukianoff came out. The book connected the narrowing of university campus discourse because of political polarization.

Christiansen said the book questions how much free speech has become limited in education. Christiansen said he is alarmed at how some colleges have banned controversial speakers and at other campuses those speakers are being shouted down by students.

“I believe that every and any speaker should be invited to a campus and I should listen. I don’t have to agree. But I think ideas should be freely expressed and a response should also be freely expressed,” he said.

Christiansen said he’s worried that in a world of increasing political polarization that because of misinformation and disinformation that people can’t even agree on the facts.

“I think we’re facing a crisis.  We may disagree about what to do about it, but we should be able to agree about what the facts are,” he said. “I believe even at the high school level, seeking out truth needs to be central do what we do in the classroom.”

Christiansen and Cerny attended a conference this summer held by Heterodox Academy, a nonpartisan nonprofit alliance of faculty, staff and students that advocates for viewpoint diversity and the need to encourage engagement and tolerate dissent.

“We need to build an environment where someone can say something outlandish and feel like they’re going to be treated with respect, even if it’s an idea others would find repulsive,” Christiansen said.

Listening to different viewpoints could also help strengthen another person’s argument.

“You don’t have to always come out of something changing your mind. Sometimes you might come away with a better understanding of the thing you believe in the first place,” Uebler said.

The daylong session and Beeson’s speech introducing the “E Pluribus Unum” theme were just the beginning.

 

 

 

On Sept. 6, Sharon McMahon, known as “America’s government teacher,” spoke to students as part of the Class of 1962 Student Enrichment Series. She told students about the need for people with differing viewpoints to work together to find common ground and “do the most good for the most amount of people.”

“That is who history has smiled kindly upon, the people who do the most good for the largest number of people. That does not come with defeating your fellow Americans,” she said.  

On Sept. 11, Don Fox ’75, a senior instructor and the Richard W. Freeman chair of the leadership education department, humanities chair John Rogers and Becky Strati, the library director, held a non-partisan Debate Watch Party attended by about 130 seniors even though it was not required.

Fox also trained eight students to help register classmates, faculty and staff to vote in the presidential election.

On Sept. 30, faculty, academic staff and counselors will hold small-group conversations on one of four topics: immigration, cost of living, gun control and climate change. The group will involve people from different political parties and those involved will be asked to have challenging conversations and to work to find common ground, just as we are asking students to do. Ashley Brewer, a master instructor of Latin and ancient Mediterranean cultures, is leading this effort with a team of teachers.

On the day after the election, Latin instructor Evan Armacost will lead a discussion with students on the results and reflect on the past few months. He also will be leading all other required student programming on the subject this year. Fox, who coordinated the Debate Watch Party, is leading the team organizing optional programming.

On Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, classes will be delayed and there will be programming planned to discuss what students did at the MLK ceremony the night before and talking about Inauguration Day, what it means and what we should be thinking about as a community.

On Feb. 24, David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, PBS NewsHour contributor and author of “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen,” will speak to students. He advocates for deep listening and engaged conversation that leads to better understanding. 

Christiansen believes people must be willing to fully explore all issues, even those they think they’ve already made up their minds on.

“I think if we’re really going to teach kids to be good leaders when they leave here, this is a really important skill: the ability to think in these ways and listen and engage with ideas you may not like is important,” he said.