Three decades ago, John Gray鈥檚 mega-hit book, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, sold 15 million copies. The premise was simple: When we see the world in different ways, it鈥檚 easy to misunderstand or talk past one another.
That insight applies emphatically in today鈥檚 very online world. In polarized times, it鈥檚 all too easy to imagine that those who disagree with us are not just wrong but evil. Education is especially susceptible to this dynamic, given how personal our relationships with preschools, schools, and colleges can be. Because today鈥檚 education debates tend to map onto partisan differences, those on right and left can wind up with a superficial, distorted sense of one another鈥檚 views and values. That divides communities, makes it harder to solve practical problems, and corrodes public discourse.
While your mileage may vary, we think one big problem here is the professional education community鈥檚 trouble understanding or engaging with those on the right. There are certainly lots of right-leaning teachers and school leaders, but there just aren鈥檛 many visible conservatives in professional education associations, schools of education, or teachers鈥� unions. In the coverage of today鈥檚 education debates, conservatives tend to come off as cartoon villains hellbent on gutting public education, censoring history, and banning books. We鈥檝e had plenty of experience with education professors who don鈥檛 assign readings by conservative thinkers because students 鈥渃an see that stuff on Fox News鈥�; superintendents who say they鈥檇 welcome feedback from 鈥渟erious鈥� conservatives on gender policies but 鈥渃an鈥檛 find any鈥�; and school leaders who dismiss concerns about social-emotional learning as 鈥渢rumped-up nonsense鈥� promoted by 鈥渙utside agitators.鈥�
Now, we鈥檒l readily concede that the right today features its share of toxic actors. But we鈥檙e also used to seeing individuals we know and views we share depicted in ways that we find wholly unrecognizable. We fear that many well-meaning, nonpolitical educators wind up with a twisted sense of the views of right-leaning parents and voters. As a result, good-faith disagreements turn ugly, while something like 40 percent or more of the nation can wind up feeling maligned or misunderstood.
Over the years, educators have talked a lot about code-switching as a way to advance understanding and inclusion. Perhaps it鈥檚 time to apply some of those insights to our ideological divides. This is what we have in mind:
Where you may see 鈥溾�� trying to 鈥渂an books,鈥� conservatives see young kids encountering sexually explicit images and text without parental consent.
Where you may see heartless Republican governors 鈥�,鈥� conservatives see parents concerned about .
Where you may see bigoted parents seeking to 鈥溾�� history, conservatives see a response to politicized materials that replace one-dimensional portrayals of America the Great with equally stilted narratives of America the Evil.
Where you may see bigoted parents seeking to 'whitewash' history, conservatives see a response to politicized materials that replace one-dimensional portrayals of America the Great with equally stilted narratives of America the Evil.
While America鈥檚 politics are angry and alienated right now, those feelings needn鈥檛 bleed so forcefully into schools. After all, parents are intensely practical people. Whatever their views on Donald Trump or Joe Biden, they want their kids to be safe, valued, and educated. When our exposure to conservative (or progressive) thought comes mostly via social media and cable TV, it can be easy to forget that. We鈥檇 argue that anyone who views the debates as simple contests between the forces of goodness and malice is exhibiting an authoritarian moral sensibility that鈥檚 ill-suited to inclusive leadership in democratic schools.
We鈥檝e found that being on the wrong side of conventional wisdom in education isn鈥檛 fun, but it has given us plenty of practice trying to explain where we鈥檙e coming from. Indeed, we spend most of our new book, Getting Education Right, doing just that. In the book, we offer a few principles that can help educators better understand conservatives鈥攁nd, in turn, foster franker, more constructive discourse.
First, it鈥檚 useful to appreciate the central role of family in conservative thought. Russell Kirk, sometimes dubbed 鈥渢he father of American conservativism,鈥� in 1977 that 鈥渢he family always has been the source and center of community.鈥� When conservative parents rebel against school policies that keep them in the dark about their child鈥檚 gender identity, it鈥檚 because they think that (except in extraordinary situations) parents know and love their children best and have their best interests at heart. When they鈥檙e dismissed as narrow-minded bigots鈥攅ven by educators who鈥檇 notify parents if they gave that child an aspirin鈥攕uch parents start to see schools as hostile entities. Appreciating how parents see their role, even when you disagree with them, can enable a healthier relationship between families and schools.
Second, conservatives believe that schools should generally respect鈥攔ather than subvert鈥攖he shared traditions, norms, and practices of the communities served by the schools. That鈥檚 why right-leaning parents and advocates will frequently push back against curricula that depict the United States as a nefarious force or dismiss classic works of literature as 鈥减谤辞产濒别尘补迟颈肠.鈥� This, rather than bigotry or ignorance, is why so many conservatives recoiled from the 1619 Project鈥檚 contention that the American Revolution is best understood as a convoluted conspiracy to preserve slavery. Rather than viewing our history with disdain, conservatives see cause for gratitude for the sacrifices of our forebears.
Third, while progressive icons like John Dewey and Paulo Freire have long made the case for a pedagogy in which educators seek to make students agents of social change, conservatives want educators to play a more circumscribed role. In the conservative imagination, the role of teachers is not to be classroom activists but to help students master academic knowledge, cultivate character, and become responsible citizens. If the reach of schools is less all-encompassing, it also becomes more important for families to send to school children who are respectful, diligent, and ready to learn. For conservatives, asking that educators not overreach or that parents do their part isn鈥檛 a matter of being anti-teacher or casting blame; it鈥檚 about an ethos of shared responsibility.
Now, if your response to these points is鈥斺�淲ait! These aren鈥檛 conservative values! They鈥檙e shared values!鈥濃�攖hat鈥檚 great. If you see it that way, it鈥檚 easier to intuit that a lot of politically polarized fights aren鈥檛 about good versus evil so much as how to apply our shared values in practice. If you鈥檙e thinking, 鈥淓h, I still think those conservatives are flat wrong,鈥� that鈥檚 wholly fair, too. But even just signaling that you understand things look different from Mars than they do from Venus can go a long way toward fostering healthier relationships and more constructive engagement.
