The 2026 midterm elections are approaching, and for many educators, that brings a familiar sense of unease. Political polarization, misinformation, heated rhetoric, concerns about appearing partisan, and the possibility of disagreement among students or families can make it tempting to avoid election-related conversations altogether.

It may feel “safer” to steer away.

But these are precisely the moments when our students may need us most. It may be time to steer into the skid.

Growing up in the Midwest, I learned early how dangerous driving conditions can be with rain, snow, and ice. One of the first lessons for new drivers is the importance of “steering into the skid.” When a car begins to slide on icy or wet roads, our instinct is to turn away from the skid. But doing so only worsens the loss of control. Instead, steering into the skid aligns the tires with the direction of the slide, restoring traction and helping regain control.

Election season can feel similarly slippery. When political rhetoric becomes heated, misinformation spreads quickly, or students bring strong opinions into the classroom, our instinct may be to avoid the subject—to protect instructional time, prevent conflict, avoid parent concerns, or simply because we feel unprepared.

But avoiding the election does not mean our students are not experiencing it. They encounter campaign messages, social media posts, political conversations, memes, misinformation, and competing claims throughout their day.

Our classrooms can provide something increasingly rare: a structured place to slow down, ask questions, examine evidence, listen across differences, and make sense of how constitutional democracy works.

That does not mean teachers need to predict election outcomes, defend political parties, or share their own political views. It means helping students learn how to participate in democracy thoughtfully.

Shift the Goal: From “Teaching the Election” to Teaching Democratic Practice

One way to reduce anxiety is to change the question.

Instead of asking, “How do I teach the midterm election without appearing political?” ask, “What knowledge, skills, and dispositions do students need to understand and participate in constitutional democracy?”

Election season provides an authentic context for practicing those skills. Students can learn to ask good questions, distinguish claims from evidence, evaluate the credibility of information, understand how elections and institutions work, examine multiple perspectives, disagree without dehumanizing others, listen to understand, and recognize that political participation extends beyond simply supporting a candidate.

The election becomes the context for civic learning, rather than the teacher becoming the commentator on the election.

Start with Questions, Not Opinions

Teachers do not have to begin an election conversation by asking students who they support. Instead, consider using the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) to help students generate, refine, and prioritize their own questions about the election.

Those questions might reveal that students are curious about considerably more than candidates:

• Why do midterm elections matter?
• Why is voter turnout often lower in midterms?
• What does Congress actually do?
• How are congressional districts created?
• Why do different news sources describe the same event differently?
• What happens if control of Congress changes?
• How can someone participate if they cannot vote yet?

You can also use Visible Thinking Routines such as Compass Points, 3-2-1 Bridge, or Claim-Support-Question to surface what students know, wonder, worry about, and want to investigate.

Beginning with student questions shifts the teacher’s role from political expert to facilitator of inquiry.

 

Revisit Norms for Discussion

A fundamental classroom question is: How shall we live together?

Election season is an ideal time to revisit what productive civic discourse should look, sound, and feel like. Rather than waiting for a difficult conversation to happen, establish the structures students will use before tensions rise.

Consider co-creating a class contract, exploring the difference between dialogue and debate, and helping students reflect on identity and perspective so they can recognize how experiences shape what people notice, value, and believe.

Students might help establish norms such as:

• Critique ideas, not people.
• Ask questions before making assumptions.
• Use evidence to support claims.
• Listen to understand, not simply to respond.
• Avoid stereotypes about political or social groups.
• Make room for people to revise their thinking.
• Distinguish disagreement from disrespect.

Your classroom does not need to become a debate stage. Sometimes the most important civic skill students can practice is simply listening carefully to someone whose perspective differs from their own.

Structure the Conversation

One reason political conversations can feel risky is that we sometimes imagine them as completely open-ended discussions: “Okay, what does everyone think?” They do not have to be.

Powerful discussions do not just happen. They require intention and structure.

Try protocols such as a Socratic Seminar, Big Paper Discussion, Hexagonal Thinking, or the Listen to Learn Protocol. These structures slow conversations down, make participation more equitable, and keep students focused on ideas and evidence rather than personalities.

Provide students with sentence starters and discussion stems that help them ask for evidence, seek clarification, disagree respectfully, and build on another person’s thinking. These supports can be especially helpful for multilingual learners and students who may need more processing time.

The goal is not to determine who “wins” the conversation. The goal is to help students practice reasoning together.

Give Students Something to Think With

Unstructured political discussion can quickly become a competition of opinions. Structured civic learning begins with evidence.

Provide students with a shared source—a data set, primary source, news article, campaign advertisement, polling graphic, constitutional provision, or short collection of perspectives—and ask them to examine the evidence before discussing conclusions.

Questions such as these can help: What do you notice? What do you wonder? What claim is being made? What evidence supports it? What additional information would you need? What perspective might be missing?

This keeps the focus on inquiry rather than ideology.

Teach the Election Without Centering Candidates

Teachers who are concerned about political controversy do not necessarily need to center candidates at all. There is enormous civic learning surrounding an election:

• Institutions: What powers are voters actually choosing when they elect members of Congress?
• Federalism: Which decisions are made nationally, statewide, or locally?
• Representation: Who represents our community, and what responsibilities do they have?
• Media literacy: How do we know whether a political claim is credible?
• Polling: How are polls conducted, and why do polls sometimes differ?
• Campaign communication: How do campaigns persuade voters?
• Voting: Who votes, who does not, and what affects participation?
• Civic participation: How can people who are too young to vote influence their communities? 

These questions allow students to understand elections while keeping the focus squarely on civic learning.

Words Matter

Classrooms should model the kind of discourse we hope to see in the world.

Be intentional with language. Use formal, respectful terms. Avoid “othering” language. Do not tolerate dehumanizing speech. Help students distinguish criticism of a policy, institution, party, or candidate from attacks on the dignity of people who hold different views.

Learning for Justice’s Let’s Talk resource offers specific guidance for responding to inappropriate language and navigating difficult classroom conversations.

We can disagree about policies, priorities, candidates, and solutions while maintaining the dignity of the people with whom we disagree.

Model Media Literacy

Election season is also an extraordinary opportunity to teach students how to navigate information. Misinformation can spread quickly, particularly through social media.

Resources from the News Literacy Project can help students recognize misinformation trends and build news and media literacy skills. Stanford’s Civic Online Reasoning resources provide strategies for evaluating online information and investigating the credibility of claims and sources.

Rather than simply telling students which sources to trust, teach them strategies for determining credibility. Ask: Who is behind this information? What evidence is provided? What do other credible sources say? Is this reporting, analysis, commentary, advertising, satire, or something else? Can the claim be verified elsewhere?

Students should not have to sort fact from fiction alone. We can equip them with habits and tools they can use well beyond election season.

Make Space for Uncertainty

Teachers sometimes feel they need to know the answer before allowing students to ask the question. You do not.

Some of the most powerful sentences an educator can say are: “I don’t know. Let’s find out.” “What evidence would we need to answer that?” “Where could we verify that claim?” “There may be more than one reasonable perspective here.”

Modeling intellectual humility is not weakness. It is democratic practice.

Nonpartisan Does Not Mean Avoiding Politics

Perhaps one of the most important distinctions for educators entering election season is this: Being nonpartisan does not require being silent.

Teachers do not need to tell students what to think about candidates or political parties. We can instead teach students how to think, inquire, verify, listen, deliberate, and participate.

We can insist on evidence. We can reject dehumanizing language. We can protect every student’s dignity. We can teach constitutional processes accurately. We can create space for legitimate disagreement. And we can model curiosity instead of contempt.

Those commitments are not partisan. They are essential conditions for learning together in a constitutional democracy.

Seek Support for Yourself

You do not have to do this alone. Connect with colleagues and professional learning networks to share strategies, identify trusted instructional materials, and problem-solve difficult situations. Consider communicating with administrators before controversy occurs so everyone understands the instructional purpose and structures you are using.

Planning ahead can transform the question from “What do I do if something happens?” to “What structures have we already established that will help us respond?”

Additional Resources

Election-related conversations can sometimes move beyond questions of candidates, campaigns, and policy—particularly when political events intersect with conflict, violence, or issues that affect students and their communities personally. These resources can help you prepare for and navigate those more challenging moments:

• Strategies for de-escalating political discussions
• Age-appropriate guides for discussing difficult or traumatic events
• Tools for fostering civil discourse in difficult classroom conversations

The Goal Is Not Agreement

Perhaps the most important thing students can learn during election season is that democracy does not require us to agree. It requires us to know how to live together despite disagreement.

That means asking questions. Examining evidence. Listening. Challenging ideas without attacking people. Recognizing misinformation. Changing our minds when evidence warrants it. Finding common ground where possible. And understanding that democracy is something we practice—not simply something we study.

Election season can certainly make classrooms feel slippery. But avoiding the road altogether does not prepare students to travel it.

When the road gets difficult, we do not turn away.

We steer into the skid.