To Love the Questions...

By Marilyn Moore

Oh, to be a social studies teacher at this time in history.  The headlines of the day (and the past many months) are what make this former social studies teacher's heart leap for joy and my mind go into overdrive.  So much content, so many questions, so much that is real and of-this-minute in disciplines that sometimes seem dry and removed from real life.  

Take, for example, the concept of "federalism."  Not exactly a hot-button idea, not often discussed, seldom given much thought - until you take a look at the election map that dominated the 24-hour news channels for days.  It wasn't a national map; it was a map of the fifty states.  And the popular vote, while important and engaging, wasn't the figure everyone was watching.  We were watching for the Electoral College figure, which is influenced/determined by the vote of the states, not the national popular vote.  That's what federalism looks like, decisions made by the collective decisions of states.  And social studies teachers everywhere are teaching that concept right now, and most likely posing the question, "What were the founders of this country thinking when they devised this system?"  

"The right to vote" is another great concept my former colleagues are teaching.  It's a right most of us take for granted, and a right, and a responsibility, that this year most of us exercised.  (Except, of course, not everyone has had the right to vote from the beginning.  In fact, this year marks the 100th anniversary of women being able to vote, which was not won until more than 100 years after the founding of this constitutional republic.  And Native Americans followed later.  And even with those constitutional provisions, systematic voter suppression was the law of the land for decades.  Why would that be?  Who benefits from some not being able to vote?) Over 150 million US citizens voted this year, more than ever before in a presidential election.  We sorted through the rules and regulations that govern early voting, voting by mail, voting at the polling place.  We balanced voting with staying safe in a pandemic.  And we wondered about the rules...why are the rules for absentee voting, for example, different in Pennsylvania from those in Texas?  And why do some states vote entirely by mail?  And why are mail-in ballots in some states counted (but not reported) before Election Day, while other states don't start counting those ballots until after Election Day?  Social studies teachers are guiding their students to the concept above, "federalism."

Now that the election is over, and nearly all the votes are counted (though no state is reporting 100% of ballots counted at this point), there's this time of transition.  Social studies teachers are asking students to consider how decisions are being made at this time.  What is law, and what is custom?  And who decides?  And when is it finally all decided?  Who has the last say?  (Hint:  See the above concept, federalism.  It's officially decided when each state's electors cast their ballots, in accordance with their state's laws.) The US prides itself on the peaceful transfer of power at the time of presidential elections.  What does that look like?  What norms and values and customs are part of that picture? 

The important part of these questions is not that teachers are answering them, but that teachers are asking students to consider them.  A questioning mind, a search for information, a robust discussion of the issues and values that are inherent in the questions...that's what social studies teacher help their students develop.  And moments in history such as these are just the best.  

Another question that I suspect teachers are asking students to consider, and that I would pose for all of us to ponder, is about human behavior in times of great turmoil and upheaval.  Living in a pandemic, at the time of a significant presidential election, has been just that - turmoil and upheaval.  We know how much our lives have changed, how much our institutions have adapted, or not, and the impact of those adaptations on our lives.  That's obvious to students, too - school right now is very different from school a year ago.  

The question I think about, a lot, is how people react and respond, and what beliefs and values people's responses reflect.  For those who generally comply with safety measures advocated by public health experts, is it because they value the evidence upon which the measures are based, because they want to protect their own and others' health, because they want the pandemic to end with as little loss of life as possible, or because they generally place the greater good as a higher value than individual freedom?  Or is it some combination of all of the above?  And for those who resist compliance with public health directives, is it because they are brave, because they refuse to live in fear, because they don't like being told what to do, because they place a higher value on individual rights over the greater good, because they don't trust or believe the evidence upon which the directives are based, or some combination of all the above?  

In the case of humans who are confronted with making personal decisions in a pandemic, or in the case of citizens who are confronted with making decisions about a presidential election, the question I find engaging is, "What information, and what values and beliefs, cause people to decide what to do?"  It is not uncommon for people to have the same information at hand, but to make very different decisions about their own behavior, which means information is not the only factor in decisions; values, beliefs, culture, norms, all come into play.  And this discussion is a rich one in a social studies class, where teachers teach students not what to think, but help them develop awareness of their own thinking and inquiry skills into the reasoning behind the collective decisions that nations and communities have made in the past and continue to make today.

The likely development of a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus brings another great opportunity for social studies teachers, and for science teachers, too.  From what has been announced, it is likely that such a vaccine will be available in the next few months.  It is also clear that not everyone will be able to receive that vaccine at the moment it is first distributed.  A great question for consideration:  what groups of people should receive the vaccine first?  And who is next, and who after that?  And who is the last?  And related to that string of questions, who decides?  And related to that, should the vaccine be required for some/all people?  For teachers, the important question is the next question, the probing question, the one that says, "Help me understand your thinking on that.  What were you considering when you decided that (name the group) should be the first to receive the vaccine?"  "What's your reasoning for requiring, or not requiring, the vaccine?"  Followed by, "Tell me more about that...."  There's always another probing question in a classroom...it's the best part of teaching and learning.  

And finally, far removed from this world, is another event I hope my former colleagues are considering with their students.  (And yes, I know, there is never enough time for everything, and this one probably isn't in the standards, but it's at the heart of who we are....) A few weeks ago, a probe from a NASA spacecraft touched the asteroid Bennu and collected up to two kilograms of crumbled rock from its surface.  It's a remarkable engineering feat, requiring touching an 11-foot arm from a craft the size of a van to an area the size of a few parking places on an asteroid that is roughly the size of the Empire State Building which is rotating and speeding through space, 200 millions miles from Earth.  And our scientists watched that happen...truly awesome!  Two years from now, if all goes according to plan, that sample of asteroid rubble will be in labs in the US and in other countries, and scientists will have a significant artifact for study of the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. As the scientist Jamie Elsila explained, "This will allow people not yet born using techniques not yet invented to answer questions not yet asked." This, this, is at the heart of all the questions that teachers so carefully frame for students, so that they develop the habits of mind to pose and consider the questions not yet asked.

I know that these conversations, these discussions, are happening every day in classrooms, and I am in awe of the teachers who do this important work.  From the concept of federalism, to the questions of who votes, and why, to the consideration of human behavior in a pandemic, to the questions at the heart of our very existence...these are why teachers do what they do.  And they do so with my great admiration, and my gratitude.  And yeah, I miss it, more than just a little...