From the first appearance of the National Issues Forums in 1982,
teachers have recognized the usefulness of both the NIF issue guides and
the process of framing issues for deliberation as models for the role
and work of citizens in a democracy. In 2006, the foundation began a
series of learning exchanges--known as Teaching with Deliberation--with
teachers interested in using deliberation with their students. Those
learning exchanges, and the reports teachers and administrators produced
over the past ten years, helped identify the key benefits and challenges
teachers experienced when introducing deliberative practices into their
classrooms and documented teachers' observations about the impact
deliberation had on their students' sense of themselves as democratic
citizens.
Deliberation in the Classroom, by Kettering research deputy Stacie
Molnar-Main, is the product of that research. The book's insights,
presented in terms that resonate with educators, support both the wider
use of deliberative practices and the goal of growing the number of
students who recognize a role for themselves as citizens in a democracy.
It highlights the work of educators who place civic education at the
heart of their work by choosing to teach their students an alternative
to the divisive, zero-sum politics advanced by interest groups and
portrayed in the media. These educators embrace participatory models of
learning and decision making and work hard to expose students to
difficult issues and varied perspectives, including unpopular and
marginalized points of view. They understand that critical thinking and
community building are not mutually exclusive terms, and that citizens
need to learn how to talk, listen, and work with others so they can
tackle complex issues that affect their communities.
About the Kettering Foundation
The Kettering Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit operating
foundation rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research.
Kettering's primary research question is: What does it take to make
democracy work as it should? Kettering's research is distinctive because
it is conducted from the perspective of citizens and focuses on what
people can do collectively to address problems affecting their lives,
their communities, and their nation. For more information about
Kettering research and publications, see the Kettering Foundation's
website at www.kettering.org.
