WINNER 2016 Grawemeyer Award in Education

Helping students develop their ability to deliberate political questions is an essential component of democratic education, but introducing political issues into the classroom is pedagogically challenging and raises ethical dilemmas for teachers. Diana E. Hess and Paula McAvoy argue that teachers will make better professional judgments about these issues if they aim toward creating "political classrooms," which engage students in deliberations about questions that ask, "How should we live together?"

Based on the findings from a large, mixed-method study about discussions of political issues within high school classrooms, The Political Classroom presents in-depth and engaging cases of teacher practice. Paying particular attention to how political polarization and social inequality affect classroom dynamics, Hess and McAvoy promote a coherent plan for providing students with a nonpartisan political education and for improving the quality of classroom deliberations.

Author: Diana E. Hess, Paula McAvoy
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 11/21/2014
Series: Critical Social Thought
Pages: 248
Weight: 0.8lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780415880992


Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2015

About the Author

Diana E. Hess is Dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Paula McAvoy is Program Director of the Center for Ethics and Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.