Focus on the Public Discourse

Image credit: Center for Human Studies at George Mason University

One of the biggest challenges facing people who teach history, public policy, and social science is that many of our students aren't really following the news in any systematic way.

When I ask students how they keep up with current events, most give me blank stares. Those who do follow current events usually admit that most of what they know comes from the introductory monologues of  late night television, or from comedic entertainment, such as Jon Stewart or the Colbert Report.

Many schools require that their social policy courses include detailed analysis of a political issue or a particular piece of legislation. I think this is a bit too ambitious and prevents us from seizing an opportunity to give students an academic experience that will really be meaningful to them, and is more likely to stay with them for the rest of their lives.

It seems to me that our objective in these courses should be introduce students to the world of current events, and sources one uses to weigh and consider historical developments. I think it is a waste of time to have students write complicated policy papers if they haven't first had the opportunity to discover and appreciate the public discourse surrounding those policies and how they are affected by all of this.

I believe we are doing well if, during the course of a semester, we teach students how to find, interpret, and evaluate information content in newspapers and over the internet. An informed and intelligent citizenry begins with being aware of the public discourse, and being in a position where they can contrast and compare opinions, and evaluate how policy makers and "talking heads" arrived at their particular point-of-view.

Immersing students in news sources and news content, before moving on to more complicated policy papers, is a demanding task and should not be lightly dismissed. If students become thoroughly familiar with public policy discourse in non-academic and non-specialist publications they will develop a sense of what it will take for them to meaningfully contribute to, and influence, public opinion when they become professionals.

One step at a time. Save the policy analysis papers for more advanced courses. Our first task is to expose students to the world of current events and the discourse of public opinion. In fact, our first task is to fire their imaginations about these things. Our first task is to create assignments that immerse students in the world of blogs, newspapers, magazines, and other popular media so that they begin to evaluate the content of these sources in creative and critical ways.  This will help them to develop skills that will more likely be meaningful to them for the rest of their lives.

C. Matthew Hawkins