Ryan Sprott, an educator and author, shares his insights on teaching contentious topics through inquiry-based learning. He discusses the transformative experiences of students at the Texas-Mexico border, where they interacted with Border Patrol agents and immigrant advocates. Sprott emphasizes the importance of fostering critical thinking and respectful dialogue about complex issues. He also advocates for collaborative assessments and community engagement to empower students, creating a deeper understanding of social challenges in a divided nation.
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insights INSIGHT
Efficiency Model Limits Inquiry
Students across political spectrums are drawn to contentious topics and can handle complex issues.
Efficiency-driven education stifles exploration and pushes premature conclusions on controversial subjects.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Deep Inquiry Despite Schedule Limits
Ryan Sprott taught inquiry courses as extracurriculars, squeezed between regular classes.
Despite limited time, students found these deep inquiry experiences more valuable than mainstream coursework.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Students Reflect on Lasting Impact
Former students recalled deep impacts from Borderland Project experiences years later.
Their reflections showed lasting personal growth and inspired career paths related to immigration and justice.
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In 'Lord of the Flies', William Golding tells the story of a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. The novel follows their attempts to govern themselves and the gradual descent into chaos and savagery. The story is an allegory that explores themes of human nature, morality, leadership, and the fragility of civilization. Key characters include Ralph, who represents order and democracy; Jack, who symbolizes power and violence; and Piggy, the voice of reason. The novel highlights the tension between the desire for civilization and the primal savagery that lies beneath the surface of human society.
Our conversation today is with educator, author, and Director of National Faculty at PBLWorks, Ryan Sprott, about one of the most contentious topics in education today, that is Teaching Contentious Topics in a Divided Nation: A Memoir and Primer for Pedagogical Transformation, which is also the title of his self-published book. In this conversation we be talk about his experience teaching an inquiry approach to teaching contentious topics. In part time project-based inquiry, his students in Texas, of all places, engaged with some of the most difficult open-ended, wicked questions around, as Ryan refers to them, “A question to open hearts and minds”–
What is the purpose of a border and what has shaped your answer to this question?
How can we improve energy policy and what has shaped your answer to this question?
And what is the purpose of school and what has shaped your answer to this question?
Students visited the Texas border with Mexico, worked with immigrant aid organizations and hosted dialogue with Border Patrol agents. They visited Texas oil fields to speak with oilmen on the ground, engaged in interviews, documented their experiences in field journals, created collaborative community art projects, and so much more. You’ll hear student testimonials about how they came away transformed forever by the experience.
Human Restoration Project 
