Addressing the polarized classroom: Questions and strategies

Politically speaking, classrooms have never been a more challenging space to navigate. Students come to school armed with new and ever-changing conspiracy theories with which to provoke their classmates and teachers. Anti-vax parents demand that their scientifically suspect views be aired and given respect. Teachers find themselves under fire from local communities and politicians when they attempt to give instruction on politically tense topics like climate change, or respect for gender diverse people.

Several members of the CSLP have focused their research and scholarly interests on confronting this growing polarization, and aim to provide teachers with the skills and resources needed to operate in these higher stress environments.

The Team

David Waddington - CSLP co-director, Concordia University, Department of Education

Kevin McDonough - McGill University, Department of Integrated Studies in Education

Bruce Maxwell - Université de Montréal, Département d'administration et fondements de l'éducation

Tessa MacLean - PhD Student, McGill University, Educational Studies

Political Challenages of/for/in 21st Century Schools: Addresssing Polarization in the Classroom

October 4-6, 2024, the team convened a Fall Institute to address urgent theoretical and practical questions and solutions about the role of education in politically polarized societies. Jointly organized by McGill University and Concordia University, the Institute was held at McGill University and featured two days of knowledge mobilization activities designed to further understanding of what problems arise when political polarization infiltrates schools and classrooms, and how teachers and schools can productively address these problems.

• Conference details & program
• Full coverage including embedded session recordings

Academic Publications

• Waddington, D., Maxwell, B., MacLean, T., McDonough, K. & Tavassoli, N. (2024). How free are classroom teachers? Understanding teacher academic freedom in the United States and Canada. Teachers and Teaching, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2024.2422859
• Maxwell, B., McDonough, K., & Waddington, D. I. (2022). Teachers' freedom of speech in the classroom. In M. A. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Teacher Education (pp. 1946-1950). Springer. [PDF link]
• Maxwell, B., McDonough, K., & Waddington, D. I. (2020). La liberté d’expression des enseignants en classe: quatre principes directeurs et leurs fondements juridiques. Revue des sciences de l’éducation, 46(3), 174-198. https://doi.org/10.7202/1075992ar
• Maxwell, B., Waddington, D. I., McDonough, B. (2019). Academic freedom in primary and secondary school teaching. Theory and Research in Education, 17(2), 119-138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878519862543
• Maxwell, B., McDonough, B., & Waddington, D. I. (2018). Broaching the subject: Developing law-based principles for teacher free speech in the classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, 196-203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.11.020
• Maxwell, B., McDonough, K., & Waddington, D. I. (2017). Does state secularism require teachers to abstain from wearing religious symbols at school? Philosophy of Education Archive, 422-430. [PDF link]
• McDonough, K., Maxwell, B., & Waddington, D. (2015). Teachers, the state and religious symbols: A question of professional ethics. Theory and Research in Education, 13(3), 249-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477878515598054
• Maxwell, B., Waddington, D. I., McDonough, K., Cormier, A.-A., & Schwimmer, M. (2012). Interculturalism, multiculturalism, and the state funding and regulation of conservative religious schools. Educational Theory, 62(4), 427-447. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2012.00455.x

Speaker Series on Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Education

This series, launched by David Waddington and Kevin McDonough in 2021, has continued to attract substantial online audiences from around the world, as well as significant in-person audiences. Significant guests in the series include Sigal Ben-Porath (Penn) and Daniel Weinstock (McGill) on educational polarization, Daniel Weinstock on autonomy, Sarah Stitzlein on educating citizens in a populist context, and Maya Goldenberg on the nature of disinformation.

All recorded sessions from the Speaker Series are available through our YouTube channel.

External resources

• Lauren Bialystok and Bruce Maxwell discuss sex education and parental rights
• Sivane Hirsch’s guide on how to address polarized topics
• Eamonn Callan on Education in Safe and Unsafe Spaces
  • Responses by Cris Mayo, Sigal Ben-Porath, and Jonathan Turcotte-Summers to Callan's Safe and Unsafe Spaces
• Eamonn Callan on When to Shut Students Up
• Diana E. Hess and Paula McAvoy on The Political Classroom
• Sigal Ben-Porath's Cancel Wars and Free Speech on Campus