Doing Democracy: Let’s Talk About Teaching the Fall 2020 Election!
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2020
$15 per person

LOCATION: ONLINE VIA ZOOM (LINK TO BE PROVIDED VIA EMAIL)

“Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.” -- John Dewey, 1980

“A school should be a model home, a complete community, an embryonic democracy.” -- Colonel Francis Wayland Parker

At the heart of the progressive education movement, is the underlying philosophy that schools are important agencies for both perpetuating and improving life in a democratic society. As the Fall 2020, United States presidential election approaches, educators have a tremendous opportunity to engage students in the civic mission of schools. This public talk is designed for teachers, parents, and community members who are looking to use the current election cycle as a catalyst for exploring power, governance, and authority and who want to ensure that the election will be taught in schools.

Hosted by the Hanahau’oli School Professional Development Center, it will feature a number of scholars, educators, and community organizations that are dedicated to making sure that students have access to learning about voting and elections, and that they develop the civic competencies to fully engage in the democratic process—whether that is at the community, local, state or national level. Topics addressed at the talk will include political campaign strategies, the media’s impact on democratic processes, youth-led democratic movements, voter suppression, and the ways in which schools might engage students in the Fall 2020 election. For a complete list of featured speakers and summary of their talks, see the descriptions below.

Panelists include:

Colin Moore - " Messaging and Turnout: How Students Can Understand Political Campaign Strategies"

Amy Perruso - "Place-Based and Futures-Focused Civic Education: Building a Youth Movement"

Keahe Davis - "Democracy and the Fine Art of Suppression"

Jacqueline Jensen - “Making the Election Visible: How One Teacher Plans to Turn the 2020 Presidential Election into a School-wide Learning Experience"

David Ball - "Civic Engagement in a Turbulent Time: Examples from the Secondary School Setting"