Refining dissent: Response to Sarah M. Stitzlein’s ‘Democratic education in an era of town hall protests’ (2011)

Abstract

What is dissent? And how should educators teach students the skills and dispositions of this democratic virtue? By engaging with the 2011 article by Sarah M. Stitzlein on ‘Democratic education in an era of town hall protests’, this retrospective article discusses Stitzlein’s definition of dissent, her curricular approach to teaching dissent, and the context in which she offered both. It concludes by offering a refined definition of dissent and reassessing the curricular implications for democratic educators.