It Depends on the Situation: Census Data, Google Analytics, and Teaching During the 2018 Midterms

• In Event: Politics, Partisanship, and Media in the Trump Era: Impacts on Teachers, Teaching, and Youth Engagement

Abstract

Objectives
It is no secret that the United States has become increasingly polarized politically. Previously, polarization was issue-based, but now those who identify by Republican or Democrat increasingly dislike and distrust anyone who is not in their identified party (Iyengar, et al., 2019). This balkanization potential weakens the foundations of democratic pluralism and the exchange of diverse perspectives and even social cohesion. Concomitantly, the internet affords an abundance of media that often reifies one’s own political position and social perspectives as a result of motivated reasoning (Flynn, Nyhan, and Reifler, 2017; Kahne & Bowyer, 2017).

Perspective & Framework
Studies in civics education indicate that teachers’ political ideologies shape pedagogical decision-making and selection of media sources (Clark et al., 2020; Knowles, 2018). Amplified by motivated reasoning, social studies teachers are likely to emphasize or obfuscate civic education content depending on their political identity. Research on teaching elections further indicates that political motivations and local context influence teachers’ decisions on how to approach candidates and issues (Journell, 2011; Levy et al., 2016).

Methods
In fall 2018, the researchers surveyed and interviewed a pool of social studies teachers across the United States on how and to what extent they taught the 2018 midterm elections. Findings indicated that teachers’ instructional decision-making was correlated with their self-reported professional autonomy as well as their use of ambitious civic education practices (e.g., discussion of issues) (AUTHORS, 2020). This study extends this earlier research by considering how local context predicts the use of these civic education practices and what aspects of the midterms/issues the teachers emphasized (e.g., issues included “Muslim travel ban,” US/Mexico border).
To explore this trajectory, the researchers combined responses from the aforementioned national survey with nuanced census data and a Google analytics algorithm. As an example, data on teachers’ tendencies to teach the midterms with metrics examining the proportion of Non-White individuals within the community, the level of Anti-Arab sentiment, and the percentage of children with military parents within the community each school is located in. Incorporating multilevel, statistical modeling, the researchers examined the extent that context-specific, situatedness of the school was predictive of how the 2018 midterms were taught.

Findings
Preliminary analyses offer promising findings that location significantly validates (or impedes) instructional decision-making. For example, analyses indicate that teachers working communities with large proportion of Non-White persons report increased tendencies toward emphasizing the importance of voting and enfranchisement. Furthermore, Anti-Arab sentiment (a proxy for racism) was negatively correlated with how much time teachers emphasized voting rights. Furthermore, teachers working in communities with larger amounts of Anti-Arab sentiment and proportionally greater amounts of children with military parents were less likely to teach controversial issues and more concerned about negative reactions from parents and administrators.

Significance
Initial results from this study offer substantial evidence that teachers face vary degrees of support and impediments toward democratic education. This paper will explore how these results might be used to inform ways that teacher education can serve to support, and at times subvert, contexts that threaten civic education.

Authors

• Jeremy D. Stoddard, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Paul G. Fitchett, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Karl Vachuska