The Persuasive Impact of Teachers as Position Experts on Education Policy: Florida and “Stop WOKE”

Authors

  • Izabela Majewska Universityof North Florida
  • Sean Feeder University of North Florida/ Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Keywords:

heuristics, position experts, education policy, critical race theory

Abstract

The teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently been the subject of great political attention, leading to the passage of laws, such as Florida’s “Stop WOKE” Act, designed to minimize its purported influence.  Given teachers’ unique position as experts, advocates, and potential litigants, this research seeks to gauge their effectiveness in persuading the public to oppose laws restricting educator liberties. In a survey experiment conducted prior to the passage of “Stop WOKE”, we asked 686 Floridians to evaluate the legislation. A brief message articulating its negative impact on educators significantly reduces support for the bill, but this effect vanishes alongside a supportive message and, more surprisingly, when educators are explicitly identified as the messengers. The opposition message was particularly effective in reducing Republican support for anti-CRT legislation, but they, like all partisans, were unmoved by educators advocating for themselves. We discuss potential implications for American education policy and educator messaging.

 

Author Biographies

Izabela Majewska, Universityof North Florida

Dr. Majewska, or professor M as she is called by her students, immigrated to the United States from Poland over twenty years ago on the exact day of her 11th birthday. She has been working in higher education for a decade in the field of political science. She is part of University of North Florida’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration teaching several courses in American Government and International Relations. She's always been fascinated with the workings of national entities and the international community. Living in as culturally diverse nation as America and being a Polish immigrant has in a large way influenced that interest. This prompted her to pick international studies as her area of concentration as an undergraduate student at Fordham University. She obtained her master’s in political science at Long Island University where she also completed the United Nations Certificate Program. Her doctoral degree is in Higher Teaching and Learning from Walden University. Before teaching she worked in the New York’s nonprofit sector. Her primary research interests are in adult education, international relations/ studies, public opinion and global competence. In adult education she focuses on student experiences in the classroom with various teaching theories. Within American politics she specifically focuses on the experience from the perspective of the mass public. In international relations and studies she concentrates on global competence. Methodologically, she has interests in survey and experimental design but has also been found to conduct in-depth interviews.

 

Sean Feeder, University of North Florida/ Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Dr. Freeder is a professor of political science at the University of North Florida working in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. He attended University of Washington for my Bachelor's in Political Science, and University of California Berkeley for my Master's and PhD in Political Science. His primary research interests are in American politics, specifically focusing on the political experience from the perspective of the mass public. Within this area, he studies voter behavior, public opinion, mass psychology, persuasion, and partisan identity. More specifically, he have research interests in attitudinal stability, electoral decision-making, economic voting, political correctness, polarization, group deliberation, democratic accountability, and partisan identity formation. Methodologically, he has interests in survey and experimental design, particularly in utilizing open-ended survey data.

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Published

2022-10-24

How to Cite

Majewska, I., & Feeder, S. . (2022). The Persuasive Impact of Teachers as Position Experts on Education Policy: Florida and “Stop WOKE”. Florida Journal of Educational Research, 59(4). Retrieved from https://journals.flvc.org/fjer/article/view/131308

Issue

Vol. 59 No. 4 (2022)

Section

FJER Research Article

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