Pennsylvania | June 14, 2021
New Movement Teaches American Kids How to Think, Not What to Think
Pennsylvania | June 14, 2021
An American educator is persuading schools to implement viewpoint diversity in the classroom.
Erin McLaughlin is a teacher from Pennsylvania who is making headlines with her approach to classroom instruction. She argues that viewpoint diversity, which is teaching students how to think rather than what to think, should be at the center of many curriculums.
McLaughlin, in an interview with The College Fix, said that it is the job of educators to teach children how to process things as opposed to what to advocate for.
“First of all, I want to be clear that I am wholly in favor of diversity and inclusion efforts, and a truly inclusive classroom or school would necessarily mean acknowledging and not marginalizing diverse viewpoints,” she said to The College Fix via email. “Secondly, it is the job of educators to put inquiry above advocacy and to teach students how to think, not what to think.”
Mclaughlin told The Fix that she does not “see viewpoint diversity as a political statement, but as a fundamentally human one.”
“It acknowledges that each of us has a perspective that is a culmination of our education and our experiences,” she said. “No one’s education or experience is all-encompassing or complete. At its core, viewpoint diversity works as a framework for education because it includes and allows for differences with one striking similarity—that we all have more to learn. Understanding ourselves and each other better provides a positive path forward not just for our schools, but for our society.”
“Democracy needs diverse viewpoints—that is how it works—and groupthink is dangerous to our democracy,” she said.
Creating a viewpoint diversity curriculum
McLaughlin was first inspired to advocate for viewpoint diversity when she was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania during the 2016 presidential election…
(Excerpts from the Georgia Star)