EDLF Education and Research Speaker Series: Dr. Michael Strambler

Talk Title: Evidence Over Allegiance: Strengthening Education Science in a Polarized Age

Description: Education science is caught in a political tug of war. Researchers bring their own ideological commitments to the questions they ask and the findings they emphasize, while outside actors treat the field as a proxy for broader cultural fights. Social and emotional learning (SEL) shows both of these pressures as critics often cast it as ideological indoctrination, and advocates have sometimes claimed more than the evidence supports. The cost falls on students, who deserve programs chosen for what works rather than which political side they please. In this talk, I describe how polarization distorts education research and propose concrete ways to guard against it, including cultivating intellectual humility and adversarial collaboration. I draw on examples from my own research, including a meta-analysis of SEL's potential adverse effects and an edtech platform that helps K-12 and college students engage constructively across disagreement.

Dr. Michael Strambler is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of Child Wellbeing and Education Research at the Yale School of Medicine. His research focuses on early childhood care and learning, psychosocial wellbeing, and the sociopolitics of health and education.

EHD doctoral students are invited to join Dr. Strambler for a small group discussion after the presentation from 12:30-1:15. Doctoral students who wish to have lunch must RSVP by November 23 here.