Starter 8.25: Causes of Partisan Perceptions
Choose several of the items on this list and discuss where you have seen the principles in play in society. Think about yourself and your own views. Do you find yourself falling victim to any of these causes of partisan perception? Or think about the climate of information we are living in. What are examples of people seeing the same events/ideas in different ways. Why does this happen?
What is confirmation bias? How does our media environment feed our confirmation bias in today’s politically divided society and keep us from having our ideas shaken and disturbed?
Seminar Prep (30 minutes)
Please review the three seminar readings from this week and try to draw on all three of them for these questions:
- What preconceived notions or prior beliefs did these readings challenge for you? (Think specifically about what you believed to be true about the world, school, yourself, other people)
- What are your key takeaways from these readings? What ideas do you hope you’ll carry forward with you?
- Now take some time to review the seminar questions listed below and circle a few that you for sure would like to ask/discuss during seminar.
Seminar Questions from “The Function of Education” by Krishnamurti
- What kind of student do you want to be this year?
- How do you want to engage with your education?
- What do you want junior year to be like for you and for our class?
- What does Krishnamurti argue the function of education is? What is the THESIS of his essay?
- What ideas/beliefs/values that seem core to our cultural/social/political lives as Americans does he call into question or challenge? Why? Do you agree that these things should be questioned/challenged/changed? What alternatives does he propose? What alternatives do you propse?
- What push backs/challenges do you have for the author? With which ideas do you disagree or find problematic?
- Does Animas create an environment where this is possible? Should we be aspiring to?
Seminar Questions from “Willing to be Disturbed”
- What is her thesis? Do you agree with her thesis?
- In what ways do you need to be challenged regarding your beliefs/perspectives? How can you do that? What role do you play in that process? How can Ashley and your classmates best support you in challenging your beliefs?
- What are ideas that we as a society need to be “willing to be disturbed” on?
- To what extent do you feel safe to share your political views in class at AHS?
- Is it more important to speak or listen? To be a persuasive speaker or good listener?
Seminar Questions from “The Seduction of Safety, on Campus and Beyond”
- Does one need to feel safe in order to be a successful learner? What else should a classroom environment/culture provide to be conducive to learning?
- How would you define “a safe space”?
- What do you need to feel safe?
- To what extent would you consider Animas’s communal areas and broader community to be a “safe space”?
- What feels safe? What feels unsafe?
- To what extent have your classrooms at Animas been “safe spaces” in the past?
- What groups of students at Animas might feel less safe? How can we support these groups?
- What is “hate speech”? Do you believe free speech should protect hate speech? Why or why not?
THE BIG IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: So what kind of classroom do we want to create? What norms and behaviors will be necessary to achieve it?
TO-DO (by Monday)
- Review my syllabus and have your parents review it. Return the letter signed..
- Set up your Digital Comp Book
- Honors ONLY: Zinn, Chapter 1 with questions