I liked the way one teacher took care of this. Tarry Lindquist started her school year off by having her students brainstorm all the ways they could make their classroom a “terrible place, a place where no one would want to come, a place where we could guarantee no learning would occur,” (p. 85). Following their description, she then asked them how they would feel having to be in that kind of classroom all year. Her students couldn’t wait to reverse their list to create the opposite of that classroom.
Parker addressed voting, stating that elementary teachers should take every opportunity to involve their students in the voting process, including deliberation (p. 95). It continues to boggle my mind when I think that women, like myself, only received the right to vote less than one hundred years ago. I remember as an 18-year-old being so excited that I was part of the first group of 18-year-olds that were eligible to vote for the U.S. presidency. It made me feel so grown-up and excited to be given the privilege to vote.
Unfortunately, today I often see more apathy than enthusiasm, regarding the right to vote, than I did back in 1972 when I first voted. Parker brings out that a crisis often is the catalyst that diffuses apathy. In 1972, it was the Vietnam War. This last week my mini-crisis was realizing that if I did not receive my ballot, I was not sure if I would be able to vote. Needless to say, my family received our ballots a few days ago, but what if the error hadn’t been found, or what if it was intentional and never corrected? We teachers have the great opportunity to encourage democracy when we continue to make civic responsibility one subject we will always include.
Ahhh, apathetic voters. They drive me crazy. Especially when you consider that the youth vote often falls into that category and they are less conservative than their older counterparts, something I'd like to see more of than I have lately.
ReplyDeleteOh well, you can't force rights on those that don't want them; you just have to hope they'll come to their senses one day and start participating.
I remember going to the voting booth with my parents when I was a child. Now that we all vote by mail, it's even harder to model good citizenship; one has to make sure that you fill in the circles in front of your child!
One of the things that my main placement teacher does that I thought was really cool, is that he has the kids all participate in writing what he calls the classroom agreements, and then they vote on each one. If a majority is not reached, then that rule is not instituted. So the kids get a small, 2nd grade taste of what it means to vote, and how it can have an impact on their lives.
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