Citizenship Education and Speech in the College Classroom

More than half of college students of all political leanings say that they always or often withhold views on political and social issues in the classroom due to potential consequences. Classrooms can become places where students learn the skills needed for respectful and engaged deliberation, but only if professor learn how to teach them. This essay argues that colleges should put significant resources into development of high-quality training in leading productive cooperative deliberations and create large incentives for faculty to use them.