Study finds strong connection between political ideology and news outlet preference among social studies teachers
Two associate professors in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice found that teachers’ ideological bias may be moderated by how they define media credibility.
Mardi Schmeichel and Jim Garrett, along with Christopher H. Clark, assistant professor at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, say their study debunks any notion that social studies teachers are “above the fray” in how they present and discuss the credibility of news sources in their classrooms.
“Viewing credibility as a dynamic—or process-driven—characteristic seems to reduce the influence of ideology in teachers’ judgments,” said Garrett. “This suggests that by reframing the definition of credibility we could broaden exposure to a variety of news sources and perspectives on current events in the classroom.”
The study was published yesterday in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.