How do we teach honesty in a dishonest world?

A civic society depends on people’s ability to reason together, which requires them to seek and tell the truth. However, Sarah Stitzlein argues that schools spend too little time deliberately teaching students the value of honesty. Far from being simply a personal virtue, honesty enables citizens to think and act together for the benefit of all. The rise in populism has led some people to define truth as what feels true to their own experience and the beliefs of their in-group, often dismissing the knowledge of experts. Schools can help students learn to discern truth by engaging in inquiry in which they consider their own beliefs and those of others, as well as information from experts.