Long Island teachers, professors tackle the election outcome 

The ninth-graders in Jennifer Wolfe's class at Oceanside High School were itching to talk about the presidential election. They peppered Wolfe with questions, she said: Why wasn't it as close as predicted? Why does the country use the Electoral College?

“Not everyone in the classroom supported [Donald] Trump and not everyone supported [Kamala] Harris, so in order to hear everyone, it’s important that everyone does it respectfully," Wolfe said of the discussion Wednesday in her AP Geography class.

Wolfe said she let the kids drive the conversation and kept her political opinions to herself.

“It’s not my job to teach the kids what to think, it’s my job to help the kids figure out what the data means. Can it be trusted? And how does that inform their opinion?” she said. 

Long Island teachers, from public schools to the colleges, said the challenges of discussing the outcome of this divisive and emotionally charged election are nearly as outsized as the need to discuss it. The historical aspects alone make for worthwhile conversation, they said. Trump, the only convicted felon to be elected president, will be only the second president ever to serve nonconsecutive terms; Harris would have been the first-ever female president. 

Educators  said they're critically engaging students with the issues, fostering respectful dialogue and helping them make sense of this moment in time.

 “You’re supposed to be analyzing what’s being said,” said Gloria Sesso, president of the Long Island Council for the Social Studies, regarding the job of teachers. “You’re supposed to be looking at different points of view, and not indoctrinating or telling people what to think. But how to think is a very important thing.”

A good teacher, she said, helps students separate facts from opinions, analyze evidence and draw conclusions. 

In Sarelle Segal’s AP politics class at Walt Whitman High School in Huntington Station, students were curious about the inner workings of the election.

The class broke down Electoral College maps and spoke about how policymaking would be affected with a unified government versus a divided one, Segal said. The GOP also won control of the Senate and also could take the House.

“We could use results of the election to give an example of how policies will go through more easily or have more difficulty,” she added.

Segal said a student asked about term limits, which allowed her to discuss the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which restricts presidents to two terms in office.

“I want students to develop their own beliefs and don’t want to introduce any bias,” Segal said.

A muted 'vibe' on campus

Shortly before leaving to teach his Introduction to American Politics course Wednesday at Hofstra University, Professor Richard Himelfarb said he expected classroom discussion would touch on factors at play in Trump's victory. And Trump's political comeback. And the public's reaction.

"Everything is very challenging," said Himelfarb, a political science professor for 32 years.

One major lesson: Trump can no longer be considered an aberration, Himelfarb said.

"After Jan. 6 he was in disgrace. Then he wins," he said, referring to the violent protest in 2021 after the election. "He is the most politically consequential figure of a generation."

After the class, Himelfarb said he was struck by his students' response to the outcome.

"These students are 18, 19, 20. They've lived their entire life with Donald Trump. He is a normalized part of the environment," he said.

Their reactions differed markedly from those in 2016, when Trump first won the White House, he said.

"In 2016, there was a meltdown. People on campus were upset. People were afraid. Students were crying," he said. "This time, nobody seemed to be affected in a deep way. ... The vibe on campus was muted." 

Taking on the underlying dynamics

Peter Salins, a Stony Brook University political science professor, said a good number of his students go into politics or public service or a career, such as health care, where they have to deal with government.

Salins said he wants students to grapple with the "underlying dynamics" behind this election, such as why so many people feel discontented with the status quo. 

"My whole approach to public policy is to engage in intelligent discussion," he said. "I'm trying to teach that process. How to accurately diagnose a public problem and use evidence-based information to create successful policies."

Andrea Libresco, a Hofstra professor of social studies education, said students in her honors seminar on the 2024 election were evenly split between Harris and Trump. 

She expects class discussion on some charged topics, as some students have criticized Trump for comments that they saw as racist, sexist and echoing fascism. 

"That's important to note, but it's not the whole story," Libresco said. "Not everybody who voted for Trump are racists. Not everyone who voted for him are misogynists. ... There's also people focused on the economy and inflation, and why they paid $27 to buy four items at the supermarket."

This election, she said, is an opportunity for students to look beyond their own opinions to understand others, she said.

"We are all Americans. We need to practice listening with genuine curiosity," she said. "That's vital to civil discourse."