This school year, UC High’s AP US Government and Politics class taught by Teacher Michele Fournier, is pivoting its class structure to prioritize student understanding of the current presidential election cycle before the November elections.
Fournier said, “Because we are having an election in November, I wanted to make sure that students understand the process that leads up to that November election.” As a result, Fournier has adjusted her course framework and schedule accordingly, to provide students with key insights and information into the election process.
Fournier said, “The class would generally start with lessons on things like the basic principles of American democracy, rolling into topics like the Constitution, the Constitutional Convention, and the Revolutionary War. We switched it so that students learn the election process first, and then get into the aforementioned topics later in the year.”
Fournier said that she is emphasizing the importance of connecting her classroom materials to real-world occurrences. “We were actually in school when the Democratic National Convention was happening. It made no sense to have all that going and not talk about it in class.”
Fournier said that the real-time relevance of these lessons further enhances her students’ learning experience. She said, “When you’re just learning it out of the book, and it’s not something that is happening in real life, it seems as if it’s something that exists outside of your understanding, but when you’re in AP Gov, learning about it while it’s happening, it helps a lot.”
This shift has made a noticeable impact.Fournier said, “The [students] are retaining a lot of it.” This engagement and retention is especially important, as according to Fournier, “Most students in eighth grade [the last presidential election cycle] would have little prior knowledge of the election process and its intricacies.”
Beyond educating students about the election process more effectively, taking the class during an election cycle creates opportunities for students to immerse themselves in the political environment. Fournier said that students are welcome to come watch debates in her classroom. All of her classes had the opportunity to watch the September Presidential debate and the October Vice Presidential debate.
“Watching the debates and the convention in class keeps the information fresh in your mind, and helps people understand the process and context of what’s happening,” said Fournier.
UC High Senior Matias Hernadez, a current AP Government student who watched the presidential debate in Fornier’s class said, “Watching the debate was both fun and educational. We had little bingo cards for things that could be said or done in the debate. This made the debate, something that is generally boring, fun to watch.”
Hernadez stated that from both AP Government, and the debate, he has learned more about the candidates than ever before, and truly understands the presidential election process now.
Students like UC High Senior Alejandro Flores-Meja, who did not attend the debate, and came into AP Government with nothing but surface-level political knowledge, are feeling the full effects of this new system despite their past knowledge.
Flores-Meja didn’t grow up in the United States, and as a result, was not exposed to the same political system that many Americans are from a young age. “I didn’t live here until about three years ago, but with Mrs. Fournier’s teaching methods, I am beginning to understand U.S. politics better, and the presidential election process on a very deep level.”
Overall, Fournier’s approach aims to equip students with not only political knowledge, but also the ability to critically engage with the democratic process during a pivotal election year, and according to Fournier, this process is just getting started. “A voter registration drive and a viewing of the Vice-Presidential debate in October have been scheduled,” said Fournier.