In the spirit of resolutions and transition, the New Year is a great opportunity to inspire positivity, change, and improvement. As such, now is the perfect time to begin mending the divide we’ve been watching grow these past few decades.
During the 2024 Lambeth Lecture, John Hood-–president of the John William Pope Foundation and board member of the John Locke Foundation, and Joy Vermillion Heinsohn-–Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, discussed moving forward by embracing freedom and philanthropy.
You can watch their lecture here.
The lecture itself focuses on moving North Carolina onward and upward, but I want to draw attention to a specific concept addressed by Vermillion Heinsohn: she calls on us to know how to “disagree with both conviction and civility.” This concept is slowly fading away as culture more readily normalizes division and blind acceptance of party stance.
The solution? We contend it is found in sound education.
The classroom is the first and main place where citizens learn to disagree civilly with their peers. In recent decades, however, fostering division has been more commonplace than embracing civil discourse.
One can imagine how this can only perpetuate the danger that was perceived in 1983, when A Nation at Risk detailed the threat of a divided and uneducated populus.
As 2024 is officially left in the past and we look ahead to 2025, our only direction is forward. School board members have the power to encourage civil discourse, friendly disagreement, and informed debate in the classroom. Turning the tide starts with good education and intentional training in the art of discourse.