Doctoral Candidate Brochure: Molly K. Schneider
Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
Molly K. Schneider
For the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Curriculum and Instruction
Exploring Critical Inquiry and Emotions in Contentious Issues Dialogue: Youth Participatory Action Research with High School Government Students
March 6, 2026
11:30 a.m.
Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 222 871 539 382 55
Passcode: Uk2uN6rU
Exploring Critical Inquiry and Emotions in Contentious Issues Dialogue: Youth Participatory Action Research with High School Government Students
The purpose of this study was to examine how high school government students experience and navigate dialogue around contentious Issues through Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), with particular attention to critical inquiry and the emotional dimensions of classroom discussion. Situated within democratic citizenship education, the study responds to increasing political polarization, declining social trust, and the limitations of traditional deliberative pedagogies. The research explores how students interpret disagreement, manage emotional risk, and develop the confidence to participate meaningfully in civic dialogue.
Using a qualitative YPAR design, students served as co-researchers who collaboratively designed, implemented, and reflected on structured dialogue experiences within a high school government course. Findings identify varied participation patterns among Confident Collaborators, Cautious Observers, and Transformative Inquirers, and reveal that students’ engagement in contentious dialogue was shaped by relational trust, preparation, shared ownership of inquiry, and structured opportunities for reflection. Across cases, students developed what this study conceptualizes as dialogic confidence, a collective, relational practice for engaging across difference while sustaining democratic norms.
This study advances an emergent model of dialogic confidence within a democratic ecosystem of the civics classroom. In this ecosystem, relational trust, emotional safety, structured dialogue conditions, critical inquiry, and shared agency function as interdependent elements that cultivate civic growth. Democratic participation is shown to develop not as an isolated skill but as a dynamic interaction among relationships, emotions, power-sharing, and reflective practice. The findings provide practical and theoretical implications for educators seeking to sustain meaningful, justice-oriented democratic dialogue, especially in contexts where exposure to difference must be intentionally constructed rather than assumed.
About the Candidate
Molly K. Schneider
M.A., American History and Government
Ashland University, 2019
M.A., Education
John Carroll University, 2008
B.A., History
John Carroll University, 2006
Molly is an experienced social studies educator, instructional leader, and civic education scholar. She currently serves as a lead instructional coach and high school social studies teacher, mentoring educators, designing professional development, and advancing research-informed instructional practices. With nearly two decades in the classroom, she has also served as a department chair, a Resident Educator mentor, and a building-level program coordinator, supporting teacher growth and school improvement initiatives.
Her commitment to civic learning extends beyond her school community through nationwide work with the Bill of Rights Institute, the National Constitution Center, and Sphere Education Initiatives, as well as presentations at NCSS, CUFA, and OCSS focusing on inquiry, civil discourse, and youth-led civic engagement.
In addition to her professional roles in education, Molly was elected to the Aurora City Schools Board of Education, where she contributes to policymaking, budgeting, and community engagement in support of students and families. A James Madison Memorial Fellow and recipient of multiple professional honors, she has built a career at the intersection of constitutional education, teacher leadership, and democratic practice. Her scholarship and professional work center on strengthening classroom dialogue, cultivating critical inquiry, and preparing young people for thoughtful participation in a pluralistic democracy.
Doctoral Dissertation Committee
Co-Directors
Elizabeth Kenyon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies
College of Education, Health and Human Services
Matthew S. Hollstein, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies
College of Education, Health and Human Services
Member
B. Scott Durham, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies
College of Education, Health and Human Services
Outside Member
Amy Walker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies
College of Education, Health and Human Services
Graduate Faculty Representative
Tara Hudson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration
College of Education, Health and Human Services