Teachers, Facebook and Civic Engagement

Since the 2016 election, a new era of activism has begun. And in some ways, educators are leading the charge. While teachers in particular have been vocal activists for equity and justice for decades, a newer crop of educators have added their voices via social media. 

In the summer of 2017, a team of five researchers at the University of Florida, including myself, conducted a nationwide survey of Women’s March and Indivisible Facebook group members. We wondered what role these groups play in members’ lives: what people learn and do as a result of joining. Reviewing more than 1,300 responses from group members in every U.S. state, we discovered that, after retirees (350 of our responses), the single largest occupation claimed by participants was an education-related field: self-identified teachers, educators, professors, librarians or school-based personnel. With over 20 percent of our respondents (260 individuals) claiming an education-based occupation, we wanted to highlight the participation of educators in online activist groups, discover what they are learning about civic engagement and democracy through their participation, and identify the actions they are taking as a result. 

What Educators Learned

When we began our study, we assumed that the groups were educative spaces where members actively shared news articles, protest events or different ways of thinking about enduring problems. That assumption proved to be true: Respondents told us they did learn, but what they learned varied based on their life experience. Some had been lifelong activists while others were entirely new to it. Still, three main themes stood out. 

There Is Power in Numbers 

After participating in online activist groups, formerly demoralized educators became more hopeful about democracy. Seeing how powerful collective organizing could be, these educators—spread across the country—realized that ordinary people can make a difference when they work together. One explained to us, “I have learned that it takes a village in order to make a real change.” Others wrote, “There is power in numbers” and “When many people take action, you can count on unanticipated results.” These realizations came from many who felt politically isolated, who, before finding a group to join online, felt as though they were the only ones in their areas with progressive values. Online activist spaces allowed them to see they were not actually alone.

How Government Really Works 

Participating in online activist groups also helped the educators we surveyed learn how government really works. One teacher told us, “I have learned a lot about how representatives’ offices run and the different means of contacting them.” Another explained that, while they “should have learned in a civics class” what they were learning in online space, joining an activist group helped them to learn “how the democratic process works.” Many explained that they knew governmental processes in theory, but the day-to-day operations of government became clearer once they began participating in the groups.

Democracy Must Be Active 

The educators we surveyed also shared that joining these groups highlighted the need for an active democracy. One educator wrote, “It’s made me realize that democracy is more work than I thought it was. I always follow issues and vote, but that’s not enough. You need to be active about letting your representatives know what you want, holding them accountable for their actions, and letting them know you’re holding them accountable. You have to work to make your political party—or some political party—what you want it to be.” This sense of ownership and desire for active engagement in democracy was a common thread throughout the survey results, and respondents’ acknowledgement of its importance encouraged them to act. As one librarian explained, “Citizenship is a verb to me now.”

Actions Educators Took

To these educators, active engagement meant more than just joining an online group. It meant they had to take what they learned into the real world and do something. In our survey, we asked about a number of forms of civic and political engagement individuals participated in before and after joining an online activist group. While some measures of civic engagement, such as voting or registering people to vote, decreased after joining (likely due to the timing of the survey) other measures increased. Group members were more likely to become active members in civic organizations, contact elected officials, raise money for politicians, and take part in demonstrations and boycotts.