Topic: Truth Under Attack: Talking Past Each Other in a Polarized Society

Presenters: Lynn De Jonghe

Lynn De Jonghe frequently participates in our Tuesday conversations.  On June 18 she’ll ask how we should respond to those who profoundly disagree with us without dissembling and without further inflaming the spirit of growing hatred in our struggling democracy. Discussions in liberal and academic communities may assume that most intelligent people possess a shared understanding of truth and goodness. However, Amy Chua has argued that this thinking fails to address the increasingly tribal spirit of society polarizing the politics of this country. In fact J.D. Vance has declared, “The professors are the enemy.”

De Jonghe argues that many fierce policy disagreements and clashing truth claims have their roots in different understandings of the meanings of goodness and truth. After examining the historical roots of these disagreements, she shows how these differences can be manipulated and even weaponized by individuals for their own political ambitions. She then turns to address those whose righteous anger may be genuine. She concludes that grappling with such different perspectives may require strategies that go beyond philosophical argument to more direct forms of informal communication.

Lynn De Jonghe’s career in progressive education has spanned more than forty years.  She served as the founding Head of East Bay Sierra School, which later merged with another school to form Prospect Sierra School, to become one of the preeminent schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to her work in independent schools, Lynn spent fifteen years in public education administering federal funds to innovative programs, advocating for project learning as an alternative to textbooks, and pushing for integration in Massachusetts schools. She received her BA degree in History from Harvard University and an MS in Library Science from Simmons College before completing her PhD in Education at Cornell University.  Her doctoral work on children’s problem solving led her to push for challenging educational programs that encourage all students to pursue learning in depth and to use problem solving skills, collaborative learning, and exploration of values in an integrated curriculum. She has served as a trustee of numerous non-profit educational organizations. Her book, Starting with Whitehead: Raising Children to Thrive in Treacherous Times was published by Rowman Littlefield August 2022.

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