What Place Does Patriotism Have in Schools?

On August 17, Courageous Conversations About Our Schools and Braver Angels hosted a national conversation about patriotism, public education, civic responsibility, honest history, and the challenge of discussing difficult issues across differences.

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Event Overview

Why This Conversation Matters

Patriotism is one of those terms that seems pretty simple until you start talking about it.

Today, there is a national conversation unfolding about whether schools should help shape students' sense of patriotism. In February 2025, members of Congress introduced the Promoting American Patriotism in Our Schools Act, legislation that would require federally funded schools to display the American flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and provide instruction about the flag's history and significance.

Supporters argue that schools should help cultivate civic responsibility, national unity, and love of country. At the same time, the word patriotism can mean very different things to different people, ranging from civic responsibility and democratic commitment to concerns about nationalism and unquestioning loyalty.

Others are raising additional concerns, asking whether efforts to teach patriotism risk becoming a form of indoctrination or crowding out honest discussions about the full story of our nation.

“Love of country must spring from willing hearts and free minds.”
Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas, 1943

These disagreements are not just happening in Washington. They are playing out in local communities, including schools, school boards, and dinner tables. How should teachers discuss political protest, civic dissent, controversial historical events, or moments of national division? As acts of patriotism, threats to democracy, or something more complicated?

Too often, these conversations leave us more divided than when we started. So for this event, we slowed things down. We brought together a small group of Americans with different perspectives and backgrounds, not to win an argument, but to understand one another a little better.

Panelists and Hosts

The conversation brought together a dynamic cross section of speakers with different generations, communities, professional backgrounds, and lived experiences.

Panelists

Clarissa Coleman

Student, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Contributed a youth civic leadership perspective shaped by student advocacy and public engagement.

Mike Walsh

School Board Trustee, Oroville, California

Contributed experience in public education governance, leadership development, and student-centered problem solving.

Richard Kahlenberg

Director of the American Identity Project, Washington, D.C.

Contributed a public policy perspective on American identity, civic belonging, and democratic ideals.

Michael Balena

Barber, Folsom, California

Contributed a working-class perspective shaped by everyday conversations with people across different backgrounds.

Emma Humphreys

Civics Educator, St. Simons Island, Georgia

Contributed expertise in civic education and how students learn democratic habits and practices.

Paul Carrese

Director of the Center for American Civics at Arizona State University

Contributed scholarship on civic education, constitutional principles, and reflective patriotism.

Ellen Tucker

Writer, Teaching American History, Monterey, California

Contributed experience supporting secondary history and government teachers.

Sue Lani Madsen

Rancher, Eastern Washington

Contributed a rural perspective rooted in ranching, agriculture, family, and community life.

Commentary

Maury Giles

CEO, Braver Angels

Contributed opening reflections on courageous citizenship and disagreement across difference.

Co-Hosts

Ken Futernick

Podcast host, Courageous Conversations About Our Schools

Contributed the education framing and central questions for the discussion.

Mary Thomas-Vallens

Director, Braver Angels

Contributed facilitation and helped guide the conversation in the spirit of Braver Angels dialogue.

How the Conversation Was Framed

The event was designed as a conversation, not a debate. Panelists were invited to speak honestly, listen carefully, and explore disagreement without reducing one another to political labels.

Conversation Overview

Participants explored what patriotism means, how it differs from nationalism, whether schools should help students develop civic belonging, and how educators can approach difficult topics without turning civic education into indoctrination.

The Braver Way

  • Speak openly and honestly, without fear.
  • Treat people who disagree with dignity and respect.
  • Stay curious about views different from your own.
  • Avoid exaggerating or stereotyping the other side.
  • Look for common ground where it exists.
  • Remember that everyone has blind spots.
  • Enter disagreement as a chance for both sides to learn.
Adapted from The Braver Angels Way

By the Numbers & What We Heard

202

Registrations for the national conversation
36

States represented by registrants

Notable Themes

  • Participants wanted space for civil dialogue across political and cultural differences.
  • Patriotism means different things to different Americans, from national family to shared ideals to service and civic responsibility.
  • Panelists returned often to the difference between patriotism and nationalism.
  • The conversation emphasized honest history, civic trust, disagreement, and the danger of avoiding difficult questions.
  • Participants wrestled with how schools can teach civic knowledge without telling students what to think.
  • A shared theme emerged: love of country can include criticism, argument, reflection, and the desire to make the country better.

Voices from the Conversation

Reflections on patriotism, schools, civic responsibility, disagreement, and democratic life.

“What’s new is the level of contempt and fear and isolation that turns us not just into neighbors and citizens, but into enemies.”
Maury Giles
“The antidote is not niceness or mushy centrism. It’s really about being courageous.”
Maury Giles
“Teaching kids, parents, school boards, and elected officials how to disagree better - that’s patriotic work.”
Maury Giles
“Loving this country is about having enough love to tell the truth about it and then building together across differences.”
Maury Giles
“I see patriotism as an expression of national family.”
Sue Lani Madsen
“The stories that we tell each other about our family really shape who we are.”
Sue Lani Madsen
“They need to know that the perfect has never existed, and they are part of going toward that more perfect union.”
Sue Lani Madsen
“You can’t say that you’re a true American if you don’t have a mindset to serve the country.”
Clarissa Coleman
“Uneducated students become civically unengaged adults.”
Clarissa Coleman
“We’ve got to go beyond getting kids to say the right words.”
Mike Walsh
“Schools can be laboratories where young people learn how to solve problems together.”
Mike Walsh
“I entered college cynical about patriotism, and I came to a different view.”
Richard Kahlenberg
“American patriotism goes to the love of the ideals - liberty and political equality.”
Richard Kahlenberg
“A common American identity can bridge people who come from all corners of the globe.”
Richard Kahlenberg
“My views changed because I got to know people one-on-one.”
Michael Balena
“Standing behind your country and your fellow man is a huge thing.”
Michael Balena
“It’s the beauty, it’s the horror, it’s the complexity - but also a deep sense of attachment and ownership.”
Emma Humphries
“Civic learning is not confined to a government class; it begins early and belongs across a child’s education.”
Emma Humphries
“Schools cannot do this work alone. Adults have to model the civic trust we want young people to develop.”
Emma Humphries
“America is about ideas and principles.”
Paul Carrese
“Free people will disagree about just about everything.”
Paul Carrese
“There’s an extraordinary capacity of Americans to love America, but the love includes argument, reflection, consideration, and disagreement.”
Paul Carrese
“To love my country means to believe in our potential to get better, to get closer to the ideal our founders envisioned.”
Ellen Tucker
“You don’t teach patriotism directly. Love is something you hope naturally arises from what you learn about your country.”
Ellen Tucker
“What’s new is the level of contempt and fear and isolation that turns us not just into neighbors and citizens, but into enemies.”
Maury Giles
“The antidote is not niceness or mushy centrism. It’s really about being courageous.”
Maury Giles
“Teaching kids, parents, school boards, and elected officials how to disagree better - that’s patriotic work.”
Maury Giles
“Loving this country is about having enough love to tell the truth about it and then building together across differences.”
Maury Giles
“I see patriotism as an expression of national family.”
Sue Lani Madsen
“The stories that we tell each other about our family really shape who we are.”
Sue Lani Madsen
“They need to know that the perfect has never existed, and they are part of going toward that more perfect union.”
Sue Lani Madsen
“You can’t say that you’re a true American if you don’t have a mindset to serve the country.”
Clarissa Coleman
“Uneducated students become civically unengaged adults.”
Clarissa Coleman
“We’ve got to go beyond getting kids to say the right words.”
Mike Walsh
“Schools can be laboratories where young people learn how to solve problems together.”
Mike Walsh
“I entered college cynical about patriotism, and I came to a different view.”
Richard Kahlenberg
“American patriotism goes to the love of the ideals - liberty and political equality.”
Richard Kahlenberg
“A common American identity can bridge people who come from all corners of the globe.”
Richard Kahlenberg
“My views changed because I got to know people one-on-one.”
Michael Balena
“Standing behind your country and your fellow man is a huge thing.”
Michael Balena
“It’s the beauty, it’s the horror, it’s the complexity - but also a deep sense of attachment and ownership.”
Emma Humphries
“Civic learning is not confined to a government class; it begins early and belongs across a child’s education.”
Emma Humphries
“Schools cannot do this work alone. Adults have to model the civic trust we want young people to develop.”
Emma Humphries
“America is about ideas and principles.”
Paul Carrese
“Free people will disagree about just about everything.”
Paul Carrese
“There’s an extraordinary capacity of Americans to love America, but the love includes argument, reflection, consideration, and disagreement.”
Paul Carrese
“To love my country means to believe in our potential to get better, to get closer to the ideal our founders envisioned.”
Ellen Tucker
“You don’t teach patriotism directly. Love is something you hope naturally arises from what you learn about your country.”
Ellen Tucker

Hover over the quotes to pause the slideshow.

What Viewers Took Away

Viewer responses pointed to both appreciation for the conversation and ideas for future events, including more audience participation, more time for questions, and more concrete ways to take action locally.

Feedback Themes

  • Common ground: Many viewers noticed significant agreement among panelists, especially around constructive patriotism, critical thinking, and the desire to improve the country.
  • Civic education: Attendees emphasized the importance of open-ended, experiential civic learning that helps students think for themselves.
  • Defining patriotism:Viewers appreciated the distinction between patriotism and nationalism, and the recognition that the word carries different meanings for different people.
  • Community action:Several responses called for adults to model healthy debate, engage local school boards, and continue the dialogue in their own communities.
“We have so much more in common than what divides us. Let’s be brave and go forward!”
Viewer feedback
“Much admiration for the panel of speakers, and the organizers of the event for the diversity on the panel and the excellent questions.”
Viewer feedback
“We agreed on several ideas: that patriotism is constructive, that educating students to think for themselves is important, and that civic education is critical.”
Viewer feedback
“How one could take action based on the discussions.”
Suggestion for future events