Written by: Dr. Katy Anthes
Politics seem a little tense right now, huh? And that’s a challenge because as civic leaders, we must navigate politics at our local, state and national levels. These days that seems harder and harder as we hear relentlessly about political polarization. In fact, “polarization” was the Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2024—so there is little denying the fact that we are all grappling with it and it permeates whatever job we are in.
When I stepped down from being Colorado’s Education Commissioner (overseeing all 178 school districts and working with the State Board of Education, the Legislature and the Governor on education policy) in 2023, I wanted to work on this issue of polarization—and more specifically how it was impacting education leaders—superintendents, school board members and others. What I am learning is relevant for everyone – no matter your role, your job or your community.
I decided to dive into this issue because public education, which is arguably the bedrock of a thriving democracy is in a challenging place given the high conflict environment we find ourselves in. Superintendents find it difficult to make sustained progress on their initiatives because they are navigating divisive semantics, culture wars and intense ideologies that often have very little to do with quality learning for students. Legislatures, board rooms and town halls devolve into shouting matches, superintendents lose their jobs too easily and quickly (or choose to leave given the political paralysis) and teachers are fearful of teaching anything that might engage students in questioning their assumptions or to think more critically. And now we see some unprecedented actions from the federal level that is creating more division. From the federal government to statehouse to the schoolhouse, the daily work environment in education is growing increasingly challenging. I’m guessing it is in your area of work too.
The organization More In Common talks about it like this: “Societies are fracturing as the forces of division grow stronger, driving people apart. We are losing trust in each other and in the future. Feelings of frustration, powerlessness and a loss of belonging are making us vulnerable to ‘us versus them’ stories, which turn us against each other” [1] and thus, I believe preventing us from making progress on issues critical for the public good. In my opinion, this is one of the most consequential issues of our time and I wanted to do something—even if only a drop in the bucket—to make it better.
I had to navigate a fair bit of polarization during my time as Commissioner—and I saw a lot of it from my vantage point. I think I have some natural skills to manage and even prevent destructive polarization at the state level and was able to make some real impact. Now, I want to use those skills and the others that I have developed to support civic leaders at all levels in navigating, preventing and managing polarization. I believe we can—and we must, make progress toward changing this environment by building our “good conflict” muscles—muscles that allow us to be curious, disagree, problem solve, bring new ideas to bear and then go have dinner with the people we disagreed with. The good news is More in Common reports that up to 87% of the general public are tired of this division—and so we have a lot of human capital to work with to turn this tide.
At the upcoming Purpose Hour, I’m excited to share what I’ve learned over the last year, and share some strategies that may work to make progress. You can find out a bit more about what I’m doing at FORWARD- From Polarization to Progress. And, I look forward to seeing you at Purpose Hour on March 13th at CiviCO! You can learn more and REGISTER HERE.
Reference:
[1] More in Common Organization website
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