In the end, nobody wins the culture wars, says journalist Monica Guzman. The key to transcending these conflicts is to become curious rather than confrontational — to reframe the us/them confusion with complexity. Guzman also urges us to reject the easy answers — the sense of certainty many of us feel that we have all of the answers and they don’t.

Becoming curious means we must become better listeners. Real listening demonstrates that we really understand and care about what others are thinking, Guzman says. Too often we’re only interested in conveying what we believe and trying to win arguments. When we listen, people begin to open up and to take risks, and that’s when real progress can be made.

Brown had no intentions of battling his parents over their anti-LGBTQ views until, that is, he viewed a viral video of his mother demanding that a local school board in Texas remove library books that she considered pornographic or that promoted LGBTQ themes. She also urged the Board to have a local pastor decide which books should remain in the schools’ libraries.

In this episode, Brown describes the painful estrangement from his parents and siblings and why he decided to speak out against his mother’s efforts to ban books in public school libraries.

Lawmakers in some states have enacted new policies that prevent or discourage teachers from discussing current events, controversial topics, and in some cases to study anything that causes students to feel “uncomfortable.” Others believe schools are an important place for students to learn about the events that impact their lives, their communities, and their country and that teachers can (and should) do this in a non-partisan manner.

In this podcast interview, Amanda Ripley suggests ways to respond to the “conflict entrepreneurs” that are fueling the culture wars in education, and she explains what it will take to shift from “high conflict”—the kind that wreaks havoc on relationships and public discourse—to “healthy conflict” that schools and all of our public institutions need to thrive.

America’s culture wars are driving great teachers out of the classroom, exacerbating a shortage that has reached critical levels in most states. The story of Willie Carver, Kentucky's Teacher of the Year for 2022, is especially tragic. He was honored at the White House along with 49 other outstanding teachers this past spring. He was beloved by his students and colleagues. But Carver was also an openly gay teacher and became weary (and fearful) of the unrelenting hostility toward LGBTQ educators and students at his school.

In this episode, Carver explains the conditions that led to his painful decision to leave Montgomery County High School. Carver said he became a teacher so that every student could believe in their own worth and potential, a mission his students say he successfully achieved and one he still hopes to promote outside of the classroom.

On one side of this issue are those who believe discussions about gender and sexual identity shouldn’t take place in the classroom.

On the other side are those who believe that as students learn about diversity and respect for others in school, they must learn about differences in gender and sexual identity. Many also argue that LGBTQ students must have a safe and supportive learning environment, especially given the high number who suffer emotionally and socially as a result of bullying and prejudice.

The central questions guiding this Courageous Conversation are this: What role should schools play regarding policies, instruction, and classroom discussions related to sexual and gender identity? How can schools respect the rights of parents while also ensuring that students are well-supported and have a safe place to learn?

High school students on Kentucky’s Student Voice Team discuss findings and recommendations in a report they produced called, Race to Learn. Their findings and recommendations reflect survey responses from nearly 11,000 fellow middle and high school students about how they want their schools to deal with race and racism. At least one of the students’ recommendations cannot be implemented because of restrictions in new state laws.

Educators, parents, students, policy makers, and concerned citizens have become deeply divided about how history, current events, and controversial issues should be discussed in our public schools. At the center of these debates are questions about race and racism – what exactly students should learn about these concepts, how the concepts should be taught, and what the outcomes should be. These and a few related questions guide our conversation.

Education board rooms across the country have recently become battlegrounds over mask and vaccine mandates, how history should be taught, and how race and racism should be studied. Amidst these contentious debates are concerns among some that too many educators are indoctrinating their students with partisan viewpoints. But what does it really mean to indoctrinate and is it always undesirable or undemocratic?