Building Bridges: Fostering Community Amid Polarization Blog Post Series – Part 3
Part 3: Implications
Written by Dr. Margaret Robbins, Jared Colley, Alexandra Blumencranz, and Ann Marsh Rutledge
This blog post series addresses how schools can foster essential dialogues about civics and participatory democracy while protecting their communities from the harmful effects of polarization. It provides practical strategies for building environments where meaningful discourse can thrive and where students, teachers, and stakeholders feel safe to explore, learn, and apply their knowledge for positive impact.
In a world increasingly marked by societal polarization, the implications for education are profound, intertwining critical dimensions such as position, people, protection, practice, and programs to foster a regenerative culture in our schools. Strategic positioning helps cultivate an adaptive and inclusive school culture, while recognizing diverse political beliefs encourages dialogue and strengthens relationships within the community. Effective protection measures, including clear policies and risk management strategies, mitigate the impact of societal polarization often fueled by misinformation and disinformation, promoting safe environments for open discourse. Evolving educational practices to emphasize civic engagement and critical thinking prepares students for complex societal issues. Together, these elements shape a comprehensive framework for schools to equip students to thrive as informed and engaged citizens. How might we create supportive and inclusive educational environments that empower students to navigate and contribute positively to a polarized society?
Position
How might school leaders build greater regenerative capacity for their organizations so that they grow and thrive even amid increased polarization, both now and in the future? To begin, we encourage school leaders to evaluate their strategic positioning and current practices through a proactive lens, preparing for not just one but multiple plausible futures. While we cannot predict the future, we can enhance our readiness to respond to emerging challenges and reshape our circumstances despite inherent critical uncertainties.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 highlights polarization as a critical risk that will exacerbate misinformation and disinformation, further dividing communities and complicating political discourse. Given that the future of political discourse in our communities remains highly uncertain yet significantly impacts learning organizations, leaders must position themselves to respond effectively and transform challenges into opportunities. By fostering a culture of open dialogue and inclusivity, schools can build regenerative capacity that widens the scope of shared mental models, empowering all stakeholders to contribute to a caring community where everyone belongs.
This regenerative approach requires diverse perspectives, emphasizing pluralistic interconnections among students, parents, teachers, and community members. Engaging stakeholders through regular town hall meetings, surveys, or collaborative forums ensures that varied voices are included in decision-making processes. Additionally, leaders should measure the impact of their strategies by establishing metrics around student engagement, community trust, and overall satisfaction within the school environment.
Ultimately, building regenerative capacity is not a one-time effort but a long-term commitment to nurturing an organizational culture that strategically positions the school for adaptability, empathy, creativity, and continuous learning. By embedding these elements into both strategic plans and strategic positioning frameworks, school leaders can effectively respond to the challenges posed by increased polarization and distrust, thereby charting a course toward a more resilient and inclusive future.
People
Inclusive organizations naturally comprise individuals with diverse political beliefs, which can lead to misunderstandings and generalizations. People of different political beliefs sometimes unfairly generalize each other’s differences, according to the report, “Building Bridges with Those Who Dehumanize.” By engaging community members in activities that promote shared values and experiences, schools can foster a strong sense of belonging that transcends political differences. This foundation is crucial when navigating potential challenges or threats. When divisive issues arise, a community grounded in common purpose and shared understanding can more effectively recall their commonalities, ultimately reinforcing resilience and inclusivity.
Protection
In today’s polarized environment, schools must adopt proactive measures that protect both students and faculty while fostering an inclusive community. As part of this effort, school leaders should consider policies related to dress code, social media use, and school-connected political activities, which can sometimes feel partisan in their execution. The NAIS study, “Election Related Policies: A Guide for Independent School Leaders,” emphasizes the importance of developing a comprehensive social media policy. This policy should address how to handle inflammatory posts from faculty, staff, and students, particularly those that endorse specific candidates. While these decisions may vary based on school climate, they are crucial to consider. Finally, it is imperative to educate the entire school community – teachers, leaders, students, and families – about the impact of artificial intelligence, as well as misinformation and disinformation, on our interconnected information ecosystem. As learning organizations, we must collectively develop a robust form of AI and media literacy, helping everyone understand the capabilities and limitations of AI, including how it operates using statistical reasoning and its susceptibility to biases and misinformation. Awareness of “deep fakes” and other forms of manipulated content is essential to navigating the complex landscape of disinformation.
Practice
In navigating the complexities of societal polarization, school leaders can take proactive steps to prepare their communities and to foster environments that nurture belonging and minimize division. According to Myra McGovern, essential strategies are to “recognize your own blind spots, really listen to better understand perspectives, decenter the binary (with the understanding that the two-party system in the United States creates a binary), highlight areas of agreement to find common ground, and use stories to unite.” McGovern’s work reminds readers of the importance of empathy and grace.
Implementing a policy on civil discourse may be beneficial, although its necessity will depend on the specific context of the school. If a school chooses to adopt such a policy, leaders should ensure that the language is clear and accessible. This policy should outline expectations regarding respectful communication, detail procedures for addressing instances of disrespect, and clarify the consequences for such behavior. For faculty members, engaging in hypothetical “what would you do?” scenarios can effectively prepare them for potential challenges. For instance, how should teachers respond if a student wears attire that may be perceived as politically charged by some but is not viewed that way by the student? Such strategic foresight exercises equip educators to handle unpredictable situations with greater confidence, ultimately leading to more productive interactions with students (Lenci, 2024).
When teaching potentially divisive material, educators—particularly those in the Humanities and Social Sciences—should start by addressing the fundamental “why” alongside the “how.” Why is it essential to discuss certain topics, and what benefits will they provide students? The answers will vary based on grade levels and the school’s unique context. Once the rationale is established, careful consideration must be given to how the material will be presented, how to engage students’ interests, and how to facilitate meaningful discussions. Additionally, educators must reflect on their feelings about the content and their willingness to engage in conversations with those who hold differing viewpoints. Supporting teachers in this process is vital, and incorporating discussions about societal issues into staff meetings can help normalize these conversations while modeling respectful dialogue.
Transparency is key when communicating with parents about classroom content related to potentially divisive topics. School leaders should determine the best methods for keeping parents informed, whether through a weekly curriculum newsletter, direct outreach from teachers, or a combination of both. Additionally, schools should establish guidelines for discussing significant societal events and consider what follow-up discussions will occur afterward. Addressing these questions in advance can help prevent miscommunication and misunderstandings among faculty, students, and families. Clear communication about instructional practices and policies is crucial at both the classroom and institutional levels.
Programs
One promising approach to addressing the complex power dynamics among parents, administrators, and faculty—especially when disagreements arise over curricular methods—is to engage students more deeply in the curriculum and leadership opportunities within schools.
Updating civics education to reflect our new digital realities is crucial for preparing students to thrive in a polarized environment (Chand, 2022). As the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2024 highlights, misinformation and disinformation are emerging as some of the most severe global risks, with foreign and domestic actors likely to exploit these tools to deepen societal and political divides. In this context, equipping students with the skills to critically evaluate information is essential. Also, by encouraging students to become more informed and involved in local elections and issues, schools can help decrease polarization while reinforcing faith in the democratic process. Local elections often involve more nonpartisan issues than national ones, making them an ideal entry point for student engagement. How might we ensure that our programmatic offerings offer exposure and opportunities for mastery around skills such as media literacy and civic engagement? And how might we think expansively about how we assess and credit student contributions and demonstrations of mastery when engaging in this work in contexts well beyond the classroom?
When faced with the inevitable impact of critical uncertainties like those forecasted by our polarized environment, organizations and their leaders need to strategically position themselves by taking a systems-thinking approach. Thinking about the impact of such uncertainties by identifying implications for an organization’s people, protection, practice, and programs is one way to define and establish one’s strategic position so that, no matter what happens, leaders have the agency to influence outcomes towards more preferable futures. In this case, that preferable outcome is one where everyone experiences an authentic sense of belonging even in the context where political and ideological differences are evident. What are the implications for your organization’s people, protection, practice, and programs, and how does that help you identify your strategic position?
References:
Chand, Sunanna and Jason Swanson (2022). Dreaming Into Learning Futures. The Reinvention Lab and KnowledgeWorks.
Lenci, Kent (2023). Building Bridges With Those Who Dehumanize. Middle Ground Solutions.
McGovern, Myra (2022). Getting To We: Communicating In The Age Of Polarization. National Association of Independent Schools
World Economic Forum (2024). The Global Risks Report.
