Registration

CSEE Members

Registration through September 15: $100 per person

Late Registration September 16 and 17: $150

Non-Members

Registration through September 15: $200 per person

Late Registration September 16 and 17: $250 

Those who are unable to attend the live event time will have access to a recording of the all-group portions to stream for one month.

Target Audience

This event is for K-12 school faculty and administration interested in civics dialogue.

About

With the presidential election approaching, many schools are considering what the best way is to discuss politics, the election, and civics at school. And while we may want to avoid the conversation for fear of stirring up differences, there can be no understanding without dialogue. Here, we will discuss fostering an environment where students can engage in meaningful discussion while respecting diverse perspectives. This workshop will help participants ground these conversations in the values of their school and focus on issues, not individuals or partisan politics. We will also address campaigning, negative rhetoric, the role of social media, and political incentive structures.

This seminar will introduce participants to effective discussion protocols, and then employ that structure to explore current issues. The goal is to empower educators to take these tools back to the classroom to utilize with their students. Along the way, we will also investigate opportunities to effectively engage students in civics through internal and external programming.

Participants will:

• use school values to ground these conversations
• learn effective discussion protocols
• workshop current issues using collaborative discussion
• discover meaningful opportunities to engage students in the civic process. 

Presenter

Spencer Burrows is the Equity and Civic Engagement Coordinator at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, CA. There, he leads the school initiative to expand access to the civics process for all students, through leadership training, civics education, and experiential learning. This year he created a formal leadership training program for the upper school student leaders where they learn concrete leadership skills, workshop their own leadership practice for the student group they lead, match students to intern for local politicians, and bring leaders like Ambassador Leslie Bassett on campus to speak to the students. Burrows also serves as the 11th Grade Dean, instructs US Government and Politics, and coaches the Mock Trial team. He earned his B.A. from UCLA, and J.D. from University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco.

As a Visiting Scholar, some of his work will include hosting a fall 2024 virtual event for school faculty and administration on how to discuss the upcoming November election with their students, and co-hosting a spring event on student leadership. He will also lead a Virtual Department Group for educators centered on civics education.

Online Format

CSEE online courses are held on Zoom and include a mix of presentation and group discussion. Once you register, you will receive an automated email with your unique Zoom login for the event. Should you need to miss the session, this event will be recorded, with recordings available to stream for one month after the live event.

About CSEE

CSEE is an association that supports independent schools throughout North America to foster communities distinguished in character, integrity, equity, belonging, and purpose.

See CSEE's Event and Cancellation Policy