Inside the Student-Led Movement to Depolarize College

St. Louis-based We Stories provides parents with a course curriculum and reading list for the children with the goal of sparking conversations about race, oppression, and cultural awareness. The target audience of the organization is white families, who—through neighborhood demographics or socioeconomic status—may not have to directly engage with these issues unless they choose to do so.

Hyper-polarization on an issue hinders progress. The Convergence Center for Policy Resolution uses conflict resolution classes to help opponents across the U.S. find common ground on social issues like education, nourishing food, and health care.

Step Up Nigeria’s "Catch Them Young Initiative" uses children’s storybooks and animated films to teach school children how to become anti-corruption ambassadors. The books, which have recently been adapted to animated films, address the dangers of corrupt practices like vote-buying and bribery. The organization not only distributes the books and films, but also trains teachers to give the lessons. Over 250 teachers have been trained and at least 20,000 children have received anti-corruption education materials.

The Human Library hosts one-on-one conversations between people who have faced prejudice (they're the "books" that get borrowed) and "readers" who yearn to ask awkward questions that they've never been comfortable asking. "Books" tell about being transgender, an immigrant, polyamorous, a wheelchair user, a former gang member, and more. The events spread to dozens of countries, funded by corporations that hire The Human Library to help their employees learn about diversity in its many forms. Both the "readers" and the "books" can experience deep connections in only a half-hour encounter.

In 2019, close to half, or 45 percent of white students scored proficient or above in reading comprehension, compared to 18 percent of Black fourth graders, and 23 percent of Latinx fourth graders. However, research shows that exposing students of color to books that reflect their culture increases reading comprehension and motivation. In the wake of those disparities, American teachers are beginning to reckon with the lack of diverse authors they teach. Some teachers are launching social justice classes, requiring more diverse books, and challenging norms.

To maintain community connections, University of Georgia’s Multicultural Services and Programs hosted socially-distanced drive-in events on UGA fields. The Vietnamese Student Association hosted its annual Night In Saigon, where attendees could watch the performances from their cars, with masks on if their windows were down. Over 200 people attended the Black Affairs Council’s BACYard Bash event celebrating Black culture. A COVID-19 committee walked around the event to ensure people wore masks and remained six feet apart. Food trucks served attendees to comply with food preparation restrictions.

Science is dominated by white men, and some of the most well-regarded scientists were notoriously racist. Some science teachers are not shying away from the history of racism embedded in science but are embracing it. In this episode of Short Wave, three teachers share how they’re integrating race into the curriculum from delving into the ethics of experiments, to journaling, to reading “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." “To fix the lab we have to fix the classroom.”

After the insurrection at the U.S. capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, teachers across the country responded to the event by finding ways to discuss the event with students. “They have turned to science fiction, Shakespearean tragedy and the fall of Rome in search of parallels to help their students process the often frightening and surely historic events.” Students and teachers turned to discussions to unpack the event.

Meet A Jew is a volunteer organization in Germany helping combat anti-semitism and bigotry by educating students in elementary and secondary schools about Jewish culture and traditions of those living in Germany. The organization has about three hundred volunteers from a variety of different backgrounds, who then hold 90-minute sessions where students are welcomed to ask anything.

In order to better educate students about indigenous history, in 2015, Washington passed the “Since Time Immemorial” (STI) curriculum, the law requires schools to teach a tribally developed curriculum. This has led to some school districts collaborating with local tribes and more students learning about indigenous people. “There are still Native people around today — we’re here.”