ERIC Number: EJ1371265
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1551-2169
EISSN: EISSN-1551-2177
Available Date: N/A
Coddled or Engaged? Teaching Political Tolerance to Generation Z Students
McBeth, Mark K.
Journal of Political Science Education, v18 n4 p438-454 2022
Critics like to call students in Generation Z (those born in 1995 onward) "coddled" and resistant to ideas that they disagree with. A series of high profile protests at universities have led to the impression that Generation Z is political intolerant of those who they disagree with. At the same time, Generation Z is a more diverse, more educated, and more active political generation. Given political polarization, teaching Generation Z students about political tolerance presents challenges. This paper presents an approach to teach political tolerance in an Introduction to Politics course. Grounded conceptually in the cognitive and neurosciences, the course helps students understand the limitations of rational decision-making in politics and the centrality of emotion and identity. The paper presents a day-by-day recount of an approach to teaching political tolerance including an original survey that measures student political tolerance. The survey indicates that only 30% to 34% of the 69 Generation Z students completing the survey were politically intolerant using a variation of the "least preferred" approach. Additionally, the students were more tolerant of progressive speech, books, and teachers. The paper draws conclusions about teaching political tolerance to Generation Z students and includes suggestions for future research.
Descriptors: Learner Engagement, Political Attitudes, Age Groups, College Students, Introductory Courses, Student Attitudes, Political Science, Attitude Measures
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A