Debating Difficult Issues: Bringing Population and Migration to the Classroom. Christian Lundberg Department of Communication Studies UNC Chapel Hill

Transcription

1 Debating Difficult Issues: Bringing Population and Migration to the Classroom Christian Lundberg Department of Communication Studies UNC Chapel Hill

2 Overview Why it is (nearly) impossible to have a reasonable discussion about immigration Why we have to do it How can we do it? Our charge is to provide students with the basic capacities to engage and think through tough issues

3 Why it is nearly impossible to have a reasonable discussion about immigration? IMMIGRATION IN PUBLIC LIFE

4 What is an immigrant?

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8 Why it is tough to talk about immigration--american Ambivalence On one hand, we understand ourselves to be a nation of immigrants On the other hand, we often perceive immigration as a threat Two competing narratives

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11 Why it is tough to talk about immigration complexity of the issues Too often, our discussion centers around how we feel about immigrants. But this is hopelessly non-specific for example, it doesn t engage: WHO is moving across borders HOW they are doing it WHY they are doing it

12 Why it is tough to talk about immigration complexity of the issues More significantly the big public debates around immigration are really about a number of smaller but very significant policy issues: Legal or illegal Skilled or unskilled Amnesty or criminalization Hard or Selective enforcement Economic growth or resource drain Integration or multiculturalism Securing the border or free movement of goods and services

13 Why it is tough complexity of the debate Immigration implicates nearly every important debate in public life, and this goes beyond the typical debates about job competition advocates for restriction have argued: Terrorism: a lack of immigration-law enforcement leads to a rise in the incidence of illegal border-crossing, which in turn makes it easier for aspiring terrorists to enter the United States. (discover networks) Disease: Illegal aliens are not screened and many are carrying horrific third world diseases that do not belong in the USA. Many of these diseases are highly contagious and will infect citizens that come in contact with an infected illegal alien. (usillegalaliens.com) Social Cohesion: there has been a growing preoccupation with the possible dangers to social cohesion represented by growing immigration flows and ethnic diversity. (Cheong 07)

14 Why it is tough complexity of the debate The economy, welfare, education, social services and poverty: Since the immigration reforms of the 1960s, the U.S. has imported poverty immigrants tend to be poor and to have children who, in turn, add to America's poverty problem, driving up governmental welfare, social service, and education costs (Heritage Foundation) Environmental destruction: a few examples of the massive environmental destruction being caused by rampant illegal immigration in southern Arizona. California, New Mexico, and Texas. (NumbersUSA) Population growth: One of the early casualties of the rancorous debate over has been the ability to discuss openly the staggering effects of population growth on critical resources such as water. Because immigration is the human engine driving sustained population growth in the U.S., addressing population growth means wading into the immigration debate. (LA Times)

15 Why it is tough complexity of the debate On the other hand, for every argument for restrictions, there is an alternative reasonable case for liberalizing immigration laws: Crime and Terrorism: Giving illegal immigrants legal status would also make them more likely to cooperate with police to solve a variety of crimes. Many immigrants in the country illegally who witness crimes are afraid to come to the police because of fear about being penalized for their status. (The Hill, Quoting Janet Napolitano) Disease: Across the country, with no path to legalization and citizenship, undocumented immigrants are living under the threat of deportation, forced underground by the specter of immigration enforcement. Undocumented people seeking health care at public hospitals and other settings where their status may be questioned or discovered. (Ivan Espinoza Madrigal, 2013) Social Cohesion: It's possible, therefore, that immigration might actually be a force for social cohesion, at least in the long-run. Could it be then that the lack of social cohesion as a result of immigration is (just?) a temporary disequilibrium?

16 Why it is tough complexity of the debate Economy: The lesson of these 236 years is clear immigration makes America stronger. Immigration makes us more prosperous. And immigration positions America to lead in the 21st century. (President Obama, July 4, 2012) Welfare and public services drain: "among poor households with children, immigrants have lower use rates for welfare, food stamps, and Medicaid both before and after welfare reform." 1 In another study, they found that immigrants "pay more in taxes than receive in public services." 2 (publiceye.org)

17 Why it is tough complexity of the debate Environment and population growth: it's debatable whether immigration has any significant environmental impact. US government scientists say there's insufficient evidence to draw a conclusion one way or the other, while cornucopian economists like Julian Simon have argued that immigration-fuelled population increases will make little or no long-term difference to the US environment. It's even been suggested that on a global scale, immigration helps to slow population growth. Immigrants from the developing world tend to reproduce more slowly than they would have done if they'd stayed home, while their remittances promote economic development and slow population growth in their home countries. (The Guardian 2008)

18 Why it is tough Identity So, we have an ambivalent relationship to immigration, and it is difficult, even for argumentatively savvy adults to navigate this field of arguments so it is difficult to see how we can train students to reason their way through this. Let s think about something a little less depressing for a second Reality TV

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23 A few words about identity in public culture Identity is a meaning making process in figuring out who we are, we also engage the world and make conclusions about it We are identified with a set of positive affiliations But these things are as much about who or what we are not and the nots are a powerful force for influencing our worldviews

24 Why immigration is tough--identity All kinds of identity categories are bound up in our pictures of immigrants: Race Class and competition National identity and citizenship Cultural norms Language Gender Religious practice

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27 Identity and Politics Immigration is the perfect storm: 1) We have a broken echo chamber of a public sphere where people self select information and worldviews are becoming more self sealing 2) Immigration impinges on core identity and political affiliations including all the issues above 3) We have a fractured and incoherent public debate around immigration we often don t even define the problem

28 Three implications: 1) People are not open to persuasion or even evaluation of the issues on their own terms 2) It is a difficult climate to have a discussion since any argument pro or con for liberalization or restriction is already coded in uncharitable ways 3) These attitudes show up in difficult internal political fractures is immigration liberalization a conservative or liberal position? (Examples Pat Buchanan, Grover Norquist and Adam Smith, Labor and the Sierra Club)

29 Why we have to do it CONFRONTING THE QUESTION

30 We Have to Have this Conversation For our Schools you are already on the front lines For our Students immigration is here, we need to deal with it For our Communities avoiding a permanent underclass and balancing resources For our Nation what will our national identity be For a Globalizing World new UN report 232 million of 7 Billion are migrants

31 How can we do it THREE CLASSROOM SOLUTIONS

32 Solution One: Deliberation Focused group deliberation around a series of questions Preceded by an opinion paper, research, or a reading packet Emphasizes a set of rules: no one is wrong, we are just soliciting opinions, the goal is to come to the broadest consensus Phase oriented: 1) What is your opinion about the impact of immigration? 2) What are the positives and negatives, and for whom? 3) What can we do about it to come to some consensus?

33 Solution One: Deliberation Evidence says that if you reward students for coming to the strongest, most encompassing consensus that they can change their opinions It provides practice in talking about tough issues in public life Great

34 Solution Two: Simulation Simulation is a great way to get students to role play and take up different perspectives One strategy a stakeholder meeting preceded by an opinion poll or paper that tips student positions Assign the group a problem (for example, should long term resident undocumented workers have an expedited path to citizenship)

35 Solution Two: Simulation Assign roles to students that state their position, their interest in the matter, and the potential tradeoffs that they face. It is even better if you can put them in a position that does not reflect their interests Get creative: they could be representatives of a labor union, conservative or liberal activists, representatives for undocumented workers, representatives for state social services agencies, agricultural lobbyists

36 Solution Two: Simulation Have them negotiate a solution to the problem that you assign. Here s the beauty it is a significant activity whether or not they can actually do so. There is good evidence that this kind of simulation gives students insight on how public policy problems work.

37 Solution Three: Debate Break Students up into teams of 4-8 (depending on your classroom needs) Assign each team a side of a resolution Ask each side to research some evidence for each side of their case Structure speech times in short alternating pairs that allocate equal time to each team (example, )

38 Solution Three: Debate Assign students who are not debating to serve as judges of each debate, and force them to write ballots Assign some basic rules for whether or not judges can consider arguments

39 Solution Three: Debate basic rules No attacks on people, only engagements with arguments Only complete arguments count all assertions need to be backed up by reasons or evidence use the Assertion, Reasoning, Evidence format Tell students they have an obligation to refute to the opposition s arguments, or else the judges have to take them as fact Judges and evaluators decide on the arguments and not on their personal opinion

40 Solution Three: Debate possible resolutions Resolved: Immigration is a threat to the well being of the United States/ or Immigration has helped the United States. Resolved: The US Government should increase funding to secure its borders Resolved: Illegal immigrants take away jobs from U.S. citizens. Resolved: Immigrant driven diversity of cultures and languages in benefits the United States Resolved: The United States should adopt English as its exclusive official language for government services and commerce Resolved: The US government should expand political asylum for

41 Solution Three: Debate Benefits Research shows debate in the classroom: improves critical thinking skills (Allen et. al) improves listening skills (Goodwin) makes students more flexible thinkers, more cooperative, and more able to think from diverse perspectives (especially switch side! Schneider and Schnurer)

42 Solution Three: Debate Benefits Debater helps to fend off accusations of ideological bias, and can make conservative and liberal students feel better about the classroom environment (Kennedy) debate [minimizes] instructor bias; when students defend a position they oppose, they must at least temporarily transcend their own bias. By learning about both sides students are more open- minded and better able to see another person s viewpoint

43 Please contact me for more information