Week 13

Education at the Intersection of Current Political Issues

Kayla Michelle Nelson

Manya Shah

Qiming Wang
 Agenda: Environmental and Sex Education
From Monday
What is climate change education in
Trump Country?
Have we been paying attention?
Educational anaesthetics in a time of
crises.
“It Has to Be a Priority: Why Schools
Can’t Ignore the Climate Crisis.
Discussion
& Activity
From Wednesday
Sex Education: Adolescents’ Receipt of Sex
Education
Poll: What did our sex educations look like?
Sex Education: The Nuanced Push for
American Sex Education
Discuss: does a sex education that pleases
all (or most) exist?
 Environmental Crisis and Education

Climate Education under the Trump Administration

Political polarization

Curriculum for Schools

The purpose of education

Why schools can't ignore climate issues

Sustainability
The efforts of student organizations and environmentalists led to the Green New Deal

In 2017, the Sunrise movement was born to reject fossil fuels and support renewable energy.
From the birth of this protest to the present, the Sunrise Movement has gradually become one of
the movements that can influence policy decisions. In the wake of the 2018 U.S. election, the
Sunrise movement has focused on climate change proposals that decarbonize and commit to a
transition to renewable energy.

Picture Resource: https://greennewdealmadiso.wixsite.com/mysite-1/event

Discussion

WHAT DO Y’ALL THINK?

Or

No comments
Sex Education: Adolescents’ Receipt of Sex Education
● Young people in the U.S. are less likely to
receive an adequate sex education than
they were 25 years ago
● Federal efforts to provide funding have
fallen short (not enough money)
● “Robust efforts are needed to ensure that
youth of color and queer youth receive
timely sex education on the full range of
topics to ensure equity and reduce health
disparities” (Linberg & Kandtor, 2021)
Poll:
❖ How many of us had a sex education that emphasized abstinence?

❖ How many of us had sex education that included education on non-straight

sex?

❖ How many of us had sex education that you felt was adequete in preparing
you to have a safe and pleasureable first sexual expreince?

❖ How many of us feel like the sex education we recieved influenced our
actions and choices related to sex as young people?
Sex Education: The Nuanced Push for American Sex Education
❖ “Only 38 percent of high schools and 14 percent of
middle schools across the country teach all 19 topics
identified as critical for sex education by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention” (Janfaza, 2020).
❖ Public opinion overhlmingly supports sex education, yet
the federal go-to curriculum has focused primarily on
abstinence
❖ “When America argues over sex ed, the disagreement is
never really about the need to educate our children, but
rather about the topics of
politics, religion, sexuality, and gender that are all
inherently linked to sex” (Janfaza, 2020).
Sex Education: Discuss
❖ Janfaza argues that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree that sex education is necessary, but the
topics of politics, religion, sexuality, and gender make it impossible for their to be agreement on the content.
➢ Do you think there is a sex education curriculum that could be neutral
to some/all of these topics?
➢ What would it look like?
➢ What topics could not be made neutral; how could teaching those
topics anyway be justified?
➢ What arguments in favor of a holistic sex educaion could be made to
those who support abstinence only eduaction?
Activity: Environmental Education
● Split into groups of 4 people
● 2 people, take the side of supporting a rigorous and truthful climate education in
schools
● 2 people take the side of "watering down" or simply not having climate education in
schools
● Pro-climate educators, practice discussing evidence-based arguments for why we need
climate education
● Anti-climate educators, try to get into the shoes of someone who opposes this idea, ask
thought-provoking questions that may come from someone with this mindset
● As a group, brainstorm the best way to entertain these questions while remaining fact-
based and persuasive
Activity: Sex Education

● In the groups of 4, switch sides (supporters

become opposers and opposers become
supporters)
● Supporters, discuss why sex-education is vital
● Opposers, pose questions that align with
views of someone who opposes non-
abstinence only education
● Brainstorm solutions to the opposition
together