Civil Discourse Series Launches During Fall Family Weekend

Disagreeing Agreeably

At the start of this year, Madeira’s Head of School, Christina Kyong, shared a new community theme: Civil Discourse and Disagreeing Agreeably. She introduced this theme at Madeira’s recent fall Family Weekend.

“Growing up in the Washington, DC area and teaching in a variety of public and independent schools, I know how critical it is to teach our students about being civically engaged and what important elements to learn about the presidential election cycle."

"Our goal in naming this theme was to help our students build the skills and tools to have difficult conversations across contentious topics while also building the resilience to stay in these conversations and to deepen their learning," Mrs. Kyong said. "The way to do this is to help them practice these skills throughout their learning in all spaces over time. This is why we decided we needed to approach this learning in a repetitive and multi-layered approach."

Mrs. Kyong spent much of her first year listening to the concerns of community members. "I heard that many of our students were scared to have conversations with friends who may think differently from them. They feared being ‘canceled’ by their classmates for stating an opinion that may not resonate with them. That is something that our country has been grappling with as well."

Some questions on the minds of Madeira educators:

• How do we return to the core of civic responsibility and civil discourse?
• How do we help our students see the value of having these conversations?

We know, as adults, that it is important to listen and understand differing perspectives, not only because it helps us empathize and learn, but also because it deepens our own convictions and understanding of why we believe in what we believe.

Bring It to the Table

The Madeira community jumped right into learning and growing during fall Family Weekend. On Friday afternoon, the School welcomed Julie Winokur, a documentary filmmaker who has adapted the format from her film, Bring It to the Table, into a demonstrative teaching tool. Bring It to The Table is a documentary film, participatory online platform, and community engagement campaign that encourages Americans to stop bickering about politics, examine their own assumptions, and truly engage in civil discourse to help move our democracy forward.

During Friday’s All-School Meeting (ASM), students, teachers, and families witnessed the level-headed conversations that form the foundation of civil discourse. History teacher Mr. Larry Pratt, head of student government Olivia Tse ‘25, and Director of Educational Innovation Ms. Stacy Tippens each came up to the infamous table and discussed a political issue with Ms. Winokur (gun control, immigration, and artificial intelligence, respectively). After modeling this conversational structure and its primary points, Winokur turned the exercise out to the audience, encouraging each person to engage with a stranger and dive deep into potential discomfort as they delved into the topic of freedom of speech. The Auditorium buzzed with energy as students met one another’s families and friends approached political topics they’d never braved previously. 

The Bring It to the Table philosophy was embraced by the Madeira community and many left the ASM expressing positive sentiments about the Civil Discourse theme for the school year. 

View the ASM recording here. 

Working Across the Aisle

The bipartisan spirit of our new Civil Discourse speaker series continued into Saturday of Family Weekend. This next installment, titled “Working Across the Aisle - On and Off Capitol Hill,” brought together five DC professionals from either side of the political spectrum: 

• Monalisa Dugue, Chief of Staff, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: 

• Michelle Korsmo P’26’28, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Restaurant Association 

• Dan Kunsman P’28, Chief of Staff, Senator John Barrasso 

• Jason Torchinsky P’26, Partner, Holtzman Vogel 

• Nicole Varner, Chief of Staff, Rep Marc Veasey 

For over an hour, the panelists shared about their backgrounds and experiences working in the political sphere during these current divisive times, as well as addressing questions from students and families in the audience. 

View the panel here.

Community Norms

We look forward to learning from more speakers throughout the school year and growing as a community while we embrace our Civil Discourse community norms.

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