Conflict and Political Engagement: A Case Study of a Simulation

• In Event: The State of Simulations Research in the Social Studies: A Call for a Coherent Agenda

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes: An unsettled question in the literature of controversial issues discussions is how exposure to conflict will affect an adolescent’s political engagement. Mutz (2006) found that “cross cutting political talk” resulted in decreased commitment to engage in disagreeable political discussions. Hibbing and Theise-Morse (2002) however, concluded that comfort with political conflict will likely result in increased political engagement. This study examines a simulation in which students were exposed to political conflict daily for a semester. The study seeks to determine how exposure to conflict affected students’ political engagement, and what role the simulation played in fostering the outcomes.
Theoretical Perspective: Within the field of democratic education, controversial issues discussions are highly touted (Hess, 2009; McIntosh & Munoz, 2009; Parker, 2003; Hahn, 1998; Torney-Purta, et al., 2001; McDevitt &Kiousis, 2006; Civic Mission of Schools, 2007); however, the research shows it is also very rare (Kahne, et al., 2000; Newman, 1988; Nystrand, et al., 1998; Kahne & Middaugh, 2008). The central reasons for its rarity include teachers’ fear of losing control (Bickmore, 1993), unsupportive school board policies (McDevitt & Caton-Rosser, 2009), the high skill level required of the facilitator (Hess,1998; Hess & Posselt, 2002) and rejection of discussion as a pedagogical tool (Newman, 1988; Barton & Levstik, 2004). A legislative simulation potentially solves these problems.
Methods: This study investigates how teachers at one high school created and refined a simulation that immerses students in controversial issues discussions. This instrumental collective case employs a mixed methodology. Quantitative data in the form of pre and post questionnaires were given to 120 students. The questionnaire contains 86 items that were constructed into 11 scales. Qualitative data in the form of 27 student interviews and 10 class observations were also collected.
Results: Students in this simulation were exposed to conflict on a daily basis and reported high levels of political engagement. Most students indicated that the simulation played a significant role in helping them to learn about politics. Students compared learning from a “boring” textbook in their other courses to the hands-on learning encouraged during the simulation in the form of research, debate, and committee work. Students also reported that the roles they assumed – whether as a committee member, senator, or floor leader, helped to galvanize their interest in politics. Perhaps most significantly, the enhanced political engagement reported by students who were enrolled in the legislative semester was widespread. Students, who were not previously interested in politics, reported dramatically increased levels of interest in politics at the end of the semester.
Scholarly Significance: Encouraging young people to become involved in the political process is a noble goal. Political simulations that provide students the means to discover their political ideology and engage in structured conflicts may prove to be an effective avenue for doing so. These findings speak to the need to explore the effects described by this study more broadly as well as to inquire into whether novel methods such as simulations would encourage teachers to engage their students in controversial issues.

Author

• Louis M. Ganzler, University of Wisconsin