{"id":2391,"date":"2024-12-18T17:21:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T17:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/?post_type=furman-update&#038;p=2391"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:00:11","slug":"riley-institutes-winkler-contributes-opinion-piece-about-teachers","status":"publish","type":"furman-update","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/news\/riley-institutes-winkler-contributes-opinion-piece-about-teachers\/","title":{"rendered":"Riley Institute\u2019s Winkler contributes opinion piece about teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Tina Underwood<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In an opinion piece appearing in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestate.com\/opinion\/article290920464.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The State<\/a>, Furman University\u2019s Claudia Winkler reflects on the important role teachers play in the development of young adults. Winkler, director of marketing and communications at The Riley Institute, accompanied teachers in Washington, D.C. for the institute\u2019s Teachers of Government program designed to enhance civics education in South Carolina. It was there that she learned of the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The incident, perpetrated by a young man just two years after his high school career, spurred Winkler to write the essay. In it, she urged school policymakers to allow educators the freedom to teach critical thinking skills when comes to assessing the value of our textbooks as well as what\u2019s promulgated in the media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t allow teachers to help students evaluate information critically and weigh some perspectives as more valid than others, then how do we expect young people to navigate the modern news landscape? They won\u2019t,\u201d Winkler wrote. \u201cThey will believe everything, nothing (conspiracy thinking), or, given the sophistication of algorithms, only what fits into their worldview.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A subscription may be required to access the content. Furman ID holders may view the article through databases located at Furman University Libraries.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I learned of a near-assassination attempt on former President Trump at the Kennedy Center, a memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy, The news that the perpetrator was just two years out of high school highlighted the crucial role educators play in nurturing democratic values. Our group had been grappling with how to teach government amid political polarization and restrictive legislation. Despite claims of indoctrination, teachers focus on fostering critical thinking and civic engagement. By supporting educators in delivering robust social studies instruction, we help students understand complex social structures and become informed, thoughtful citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2582,"template":"","update-categories":[51,49,12,4],"class_list":["post-2391","furman-update","type-furman-update","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","furman-update-category-applied-public-policy","furman-update-category-furman-innovation-lab","furman-update-category-public-education","furman-update-category-teachers-of-government"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/furman-update"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2391\/revisions\/2608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"furman-update-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/riley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update-categories?post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}