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IOS FoD Democratic Education Seminar 5: Felisa Tibbitts "Can Schools Activate our Youth?"

During their academic career, many students experience a political coming of age which induces them to start or join activist groups concerned with various social, cultural, and political causes great and small. For some, this process begins in high school, where they are offered some sort of civic education and other classes that provide opportunities to explore their (political) interests. Yet, most pupils that end up as activists indicate that they found the formal programs too rigid and constraining rather than encouraging. This encouragement they found through other (informal) channels in and around their schools. Research by prof. dr. Tibbitts et al. explores these formal and informal channels through in-depth interviews with a group of 18–24-year-old (student) activists from the US to find out what factors in educational environments are encouraging or discouraging student activism. 

            Since American culture has great influence on European culture (from music to politics), most recently expressed during the Black Lives Matter protests, these findings are as relevant to European teachers as to American ones. On April 18th from 16.00 to 18.00 we will gather at Drift 6 room 0.07, join us to discuss her research findings and to reflect on how these findings challenge us – as teachers – to step up our game when teaching sensitive topics!