ABSTRACT
I would not say that I completely changed my opinions, but I have at least understood what the other side is and can be like, okay, that makes sense to me. And there are other times, too, when I still think that what I believe is right. The teacher had taught me that you cannot just have an opinion on something without looking at every side of it. Just because you believe in something one way does not mean you should not look at the other side and try and understand it and get a better understanding of the issue as a whole. (High School Senior in a Social Issues Class)
I think the closet conservatives do not feel comfortable. I think they are just not as knowledgeable as us [referring to the left-leaning members of the debate team in the class], so they feel like, ‘if I say something, the bulls are going to attack me with their information,’ which is probably true. But our views on issues are more informed-and more likely to be correct than theirs. (High School Senior in an International Relations Class)
Both of these students are in classes that include a robust and sustained focus on controversial political issues discussions, yet the first student is learning that it is important to listen to and consider disparate views, while the second seems to believe that some students, specifically he and his friends, have the right views and are justified in verbally attacking those with whom they disagree. What accounts for this difference? And what difference does it make? This chapter focuses on ideological diversity in high school classes. Its major purpose is to explore empirically and practically what is typically talked about theoreticallythe influence that ideological diversity within a class has on how young people experience and learn from the discussion of controversial political issues.
