Identity Politics and the Politics of Learning Challenges to Teaching in a Culture of Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Multiple Truths

Abstract

How can faculty assist and equip students to become more “critical consumers” of the information they receive in a culture and climate of alternative facts and multiple truths? With increasing differences in political views informing “truth perspectives,” the shift in what is quickly becoming normalized as a form of appropriate discourse has fostered a culture of entitlement that lends support to voicing critique without critical inquiry. In this article, we examine the multiple and intersecting systems of power and privilege. The recognition of contradictory subjective locations occupied by all the participants in the classroom, including the instructor, are discussed. As practitioners seeking more effective forms of dialogue and engagement, we challenge conventional hegemonic discourses of difference and stereotypical representations within learning by questioning identity politics within the politics of learning and by examining the clashes between discourse and policy in the university classroom.