Political Discourse in High School Social Studies

Most social studies teachers use current events and many engage with controversial topics. Students show increased interest in these topics and benefit civically from deliberation of political issues. I use data from 6 interviews with social studies teachers and 8 interviews with students across two high schools to find varied depth and purpose in utilization of current events. I found that most students found discussion useful to their learning and participation increased in classes where students had more social connections with peers. Conversely, social exclusion caused less participation. In some accounts, political discourse was described as toxic and drama prone, leading some teachers to avoid controversial discussion and leading some students to apoliticism. Teachers expressed a strong commitment to neutrality, which students valued in a facilitator. In some cases, teachers chose neutrality over maintaining values. These findings suggest that teachers need more support to produce high quality civic education, which, according to the theory of deliberative democracy, requires inclusive and cooperative discussions of political issues.