Teachers are reeling after the presidential election results, anticipating the implications of a second Trump presidency.

Educators on X express dismay and fear for the future of their field; they also exchange ideas about how to teach students in today’s polarized environment. 

Sample Educator Conversations:

  • Educators in T2T’s online community feel defeated, anxious and depressed in the wake of the election.
    • To teachers in T2T’s X community, the election results are “heartbreaking,” and “defeating,” and signal that “half the country hates teachers.” 
    • They express “anxiety and dread” about Trump’s promise to dismantle the Department of Education and wonder “where will the states get money to sustain schools and programs needed?”
    • Teachers express that this comes as another blow when they are already feeling low: “the weight of everything hit me in the face, and I have absolutely nothing left”; “I have been holding it together for a while…I am not okay.”
  • Educators share ways they approach an election ad a teaching opportunity even in a polarized political landscape.
    • Teachers report ”holding space for student’ concerns and fear,” “Remind them and you that we do hard things.” 
    • The challenges of poltiically polarized community, with “half my students will come in terrfified of their famileis benign deported,” while the other half will celebrate because their parent votes for tha toucome.
    • Teachers consider how to teach civics after the election: “This is a great day to practice civil discourse, CER writing, identifying bias and POV posing and answering questions”; “My students will be voting in the next election, so we chose to talk about what a swing state is.” Others feel less open to embracing the opportunity, wondering if they need to disseminate “cliches about democracy.”