Should Teachers Aim to Develop a Partisan Identity Within Students?

• In Event: 46.066 - Philosophical Perspectives on Teaching

Abstract

This paper asks whether teaching high school students to develop a partisan identity is a justifiable aim within democratic education. We begin by discussing political science research that shows that in the current conditions of political polarization, citizens who are politically engaged are also the most partisan (they identify with one of the two major political parties in the United States). Given this, and given that a central aim of democratic education is to develop the motivation to participate, we ask whether teaching toward partisanship is justified. We develop the argument by considering evidence from a case study of a high school that does teach toward partisan identification.

Authors

• Paula McAvoy, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Diana E. Hess, University of Wisconsin