Delaney Verjinski

This article outlines a new strategy for moral and civic education using philosophically grounded outreach programming with students in grades 9-12. Our programming is built around the pedagogical core of the National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) program, headquartered at the University of North Carolina’s Parr Center for Ethics. First, we sketch the animating values of that core program, as well as the democratic dispositions it cultivates among participants. We then review some of the key challenges involved with extending this programming to students from underserved schools and communities who are often left out. In our own work, this has focused on schools in the rural American South. We find that the unique challenges faced by schools we work with create similarly unique opportunities for a deliberative brand of educational programming to thrive. Ultimately, philosophy outreach as we’ve experienced with NHSEBBridge is a model for educators at the collegiate and high school levels to understand how expanding access to philosophy creates opportunities to build participants' skills in civil disagreement and moral reasoning.