Consensus Circle Presidential Rating: Shifting Traditional Social Studies Instruction While Preparing Students for Democracy

Abstract Political history lends itself to traditional patterns of teaching and learning in social studies such as students memorizing facts presented in lectures or textbooks. This article presents a recurring activity structure for teaching U.S. political history—Consensus Circle Presidential Rating (CCPR)—which requires students to read across different sources, form and defend a judgment of a presidency’s impact, and engage in persuasion and consensus-seeking with peers. I juxtapose CCPR with traditional patterns of teaching and learning to suggest how CCPR can shift teachers’ and students’ roles during social studies instruction to promote critical thinking, perspective taking, and civil discussion and disagreement. Teaching political history in general—and this activity in particular—could reinforce the marginalization of women and people of color; conversely, CCPR could compliment history teaching that foregrounds the experience of diverse Americans while conveying the important roles government and social movements play in shaping American society. The article provides a student-friendly assignment sheet, a graphic organizer for note-taking, and examples of sources to help teachers consider how they might adapt this activity to their own context.