By Felicia A. Grey, Ph.D., Political Science Professor
I. Introduction
I grew up watching the news. In my native Jamaica where I spent most of my formative years, watching the news was a central part of my upbringing. Prime Time News was aired each night at 7:00 pm. At that time, all of us had to be quiet as we sat together as a family and watched the news broadcast. If anyone was playing or doing anything else, we would hear, “Quiet, it’s news time!” We therefore revered that time as a family that we would sit together and learn about what was happening in our country and also around the world.
My engagement with the news was not limited to the television. My parents would also buy the newspapers, especially the “Sunday Gleaner”, a major print source that we would gather around on Sunday evenings to read about our government, sports, and death announcements, and also do the games that were included.
Watching, reading and listening the news became even more important to me in high school when I participated in Schools’ Challenge Quiz. This is an annual competition similar to Jeopardy where high schools across Jamaica compete in rounds to answer questions from the different subject areas, general knowledge, and local and international affairs. We therefore had to read the newspapers and watch the news in order to answer some of these questions. I therefore grew up engaging with the news as a family tradition, but also for competitive purposes.
It was when I went to graduate school at Old Dominion University in Virginia, however, that I really saw how the news can be used as a pedagogical tool. Here, as I took courses led by Dr. David Earnest, a protégé of renowned International Relations scholar, James Rosenau, that we learned how to ask, “Of What is This an Instance?” as we analyze happenings in our world.
II. Current Events and Critical Thinking
Today, I use elements of Rosenau’s “Of What is This An Instance?” (OWITAI) and Sartori’s “Ladder of Abstraction” as I use current events to teach. Each Friday, students are required to submit an article from some news source and to write a paragraph explaining why they chose it. This article can be related to something that we are discussing in class, or just something that the student wants to talk about. I then choose one of these articles, post the link on Blackboard and begin the first session that we meet each week to discuss this article. This exercise has promoted student reflection, engagement and critical thinking, while also enriching the dynamics of the class.
- Student Reflection
The news can be exciting, depressing and challenging all at once. Our students come to us from different backgrounds and their lived experiences affect how they view the news. I have found, however, that giving students that space where they can write about why they chose a particular news item helps them to reflect on things that they care about and why. As a professor, these reflections also help me to better understand my students and the type of care that I need to take when I approach different topics.
- Student Engagement
The OWITAI submissions help to promote student engagement in my classes. Students sometimes write to me to ask if I saw a particular news item and they also look forward to our first meeting so that they can talk about all that has been happening locally and internationally. One of the things that I especially like about this exercise is that it encourages students to speak, but to also listen and respect opinions different than their own. Listening is a foundational Jesuit practice and therefore finds salience as a pedagogical tool as students speak, but also listen respectfully and with discernment to understand others.
The OWITAI submissions also promote student engagement in that they allow students to directly contribute towards the curriculum. At the start of the semester, I create a syllabus with all the topics that I will teach. The syllabus is therefore built from the professor’s view. Each week, however, by submitting different articles, the students indicate to the professor other things that they would like to talk about. In this way, the class becomes a combination of ideas from both the professor and students and this leads to more interest, engagement and participation.
- Student Analysis
The current events are explored because of their applicability to class concepts. The topics are therefore not randomly chosen. The students therefore are encouraged to use the theories, authors and cases that we study to discuss these events. International relations theories such as realism which is state-centric and focuses on war, liberalism which deals with cooperation and interdependence along with constructivism, Marxism and feminism can be used to examine different local and international events. Reports of a pending government shutdown can lead to discussions about continuing resolutions and policy riders. Other topics such as trade, inventions, the United Nations, the Supreme Court decisions and others can come alive for students as they discuss current events. While we may never fully understand all that is happening, our classes can give students the tools to explain these events from different perspectives. Inviting them to assess these perspectives from different vantage points can therefore improve their critical and analytical skills.
III. Current Events and Classroom Culture
A strong, positive and mutually reinforcing classroom culture is needed if one is going incorporate current events into the teaching and learning interchange. This therefore takes intentionality, self-awareness and continuous reflection. It is also important to set the framework for discussions on the first day. I therefore offer some tips on how to promote that classroom culture:
- Discuss on the first day what a positive classroom space looks like for everyone
- Start off with general topics that are less controversial
- Encourage students to choose articles from various sources
- Model active listening and speaking by allowing all voices to be heard
- Allow students to choose if they want to disclose that they submitted the articles for discussion
- Introduce the more topical issues after the class has developed a strong sense of trust in each other
- Keep reminding each other of the shared norms for discussions
- Always link the current events to the theories and class concepts
IV. Conclusion
In concluding, the news can sometimes be overwhelming. At the same time, however, it also provides opportunities to enrich the classroom. Current events can promote student reflection, engagement and critical thinking. Current events can also be used to promote respectful dialogue as students make sense of the world. While this exercise may not change how we see the world, it can help us to better understand why others see it the way that they do. This promotion of mutual understanding and respect through civil discourse is something that our liberal arts tradition promotes. Our students can therefore learn how to speak and listen, while actively contributing towards their own learning.