As the 2018 midterm election approaches, America’s polarized politics are on full display. In this episode of “The Report Card with Nat Malkus,” on the AEI Education Podcast, Jonathan Zimmerman and Norman Ornstein join to discuss how addressing controversial topics in the classroom head-on and giving all students the opportunity to engage in competitive, civil debate can — paradoxically — help create more informed citizens and improve the nation’s political discourse.

Show notes:

The Case for Contention: Teaching Controversial Issues in America’s Schools | Jonathan Zimmerman and Emily Robertson | University of Chicago Press, 2017

The Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation

National Association for Urban Debate Leagues

Washington Urban Debate League

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