Yes, Educators Should Talk About January 6th With Students

Insights from Educate, 21st Education

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

Welcome to Insights from Educate, a curated biweekly newsletter of professional learning and inspiration from authentic voices in education.

On the heels of Critical Race Theory, which is still being debated across the country, comes a discussion of how to address the January 6th insurrection with students. MPR News writes “Teachers at culture-war front lines with Jan. 6 education”.

I am not sure when we decided that we needed to “frame” discussions a certain way for students, but the reality is that we are in the business of educating students. This means that if an event happens, then it needs to be discussed. Ignoring the photos, videos, and stories from January 6th does nothing for our student citizens, who will soon participate in the democratic process themselves.

It is vital that educators speak of what is and not what people think should be. January 6th happened. It was real. It was an attack on the democratic process with citizens attempting to stop the electoral process by rampaging through the Capitol building. People were injured and/or killed. These are facts. Avoiding these facts does nothing for our future, and simply inhibits the conversations that need to take place to understand why this happened and what should change because of it.

Professional Learning and Inspiration

Karen D’Souza writes “when it comes to early childhood education, child’s play may well be serious business.” Mounting research continues to show the importance of play in learning for children. Play can help heal trauma and stress (hello, pandemic) and close achievement gaps. Early childhood is the time to learn how to learn, developing important executive functioning skills that transfer to the traditional academic classroom. In addition, recess time is crucial for children to re-balance and expel bundles of energy to remain calmer and ready to learn. D’Souze notes “what children learn through play, teachers say, they are far more likely to remember. Engagement is the secret sauce.”

Jessica Hockett, Ph.D. and Kristina Doubet, Ph.D. define flexible grouping as organizing “students intentionally and…