Civic Education Survey
Summary of Definitions Memo
To: HB1151
Civic Education Study Committee
From: Dale Kuehne,
Tony Prizio, and Ken Relihan
Date:
Re: Civic
Education Definitions
In order to help provide
a starting point for our discussion on definitional issues surrounding civic
education and engagement, we submit to you the following definitional
summary. As you can see there are many
different approaches to addressing the problem of the disengagement of young
Americans from politics and civic life.
Rather than recommending just one approach for our adoption, we believe
that the full committee ought to be aware of the variety of approaches, so that
we can consider together which approach(s) we should adopt. If you are interested, we are happy to
provide you with a bibliography that details additional literature and
supporting information for each approach.
One resource that has been valuable in preparing this summary (and which
we reference extensively) can be found at the website of NACE (National
Alliance of Civic Education) at http://www.cived.net/tioce.html
We believe that there
are seven basic approaches to civic education today:
1)
The History-Curricular
Approach:
"Some stress the importance of knowing and respecting our nation's social
and political history, founding documents such as the Declaration of
Independence, the Federalist papers, and the Constitution and the visions of
freedom that our country was founded upon." They assert that the history
curriculum is (THE) primary vehicle for true civic education. They argue that
the reason for the current disengagement of young people is a curricular
deficiency in history, and that the remedy is in revision of the history
curriculum and requirements.
2)
The American
Government / Civics -Curricular Approach: Proponents
of this group assert that the primary reason for the disengagement of young
people is their lack of knowledge of American Government. They propose that
every student take at least a one semester civics course that focuses on
teaching students the structure of American government, the law-making process,
campaigns, elections, public policy and current events. Such a curriculum will
help students understand government and politics and thereby remove the
obstacle to involvement created by ignorance of these matters.
3)
The Critical-Thinking
Pedagogical Approach: "Some prize a willingness
and ability to think critically, to deliberate with others, and when necessary
to challenge authority and to make society more just." Those in this group
understand the decline in voting and civic engagement to be the fault not of
the curriculum, but the foundational pedagogical approach to modern education.
Having students sit in classrooms, listening to lectures and reading books only
as instructed creates passivity that is antithetical to democracy. Hence, what
is needed is not a new curriculum, per se, but a whole new approach to
education in which students take an active part in learning. This entails
giving them meaningful involvement in the creation of curriculum, classroom
like, and school organization and governance. Such an approach teaches
democracy by practice.
4)
The Community Service
Approach: "Some see "responsible citizens"
as people who provide direct, voluntary care for others in need." Those in
this group argue that the way to re-engage young people as citizens is to
encourage / require them to participate in community service in an
extra-curricular manner during evenings and weekends. Part of the reason
students are disengaged is due to the segregated nature of modern life. It is
very easy for young people today to be utterly disconnected from the broader
world of social need, and ignorant of the agencies and
institutions that seek to address these needs and problems. Community service
gets students involved in public life, exposes them to people and agencies
responding to need, and shows them how to live in as an engaged, responsible
citizen.
5)
The Service-Learning Approach: This approach bears many similarities to
community service, except that rather than viewing community service in an
extra-curricular context, it is seen as an extension
of the curriculum and a component of traditional coursework. Teachers involve
students in deliberately designed community service learning experiences that
complement and connect directly with classroom learning and are incorporated
into the grading process. Such experiences help students understand the world
better, create frames of reference that will enable their classroom learning to
be effectual, and create the opportunity for students to learn the meaning of
citizenship.
6)
The Public Achievement
Approach:
This approach also bears similarities to the previous two approaches. What is
unique about this approach, pioneered by Harry Boyte
at the Humphrey Institute of the
1)
The Voter Training and
Mentoring Approach: Some see that we need to make
voting the focus of our efforts, with education and training directed at the
actual process of voting, and the issues surrounding elections. They argue that
the real impediment to voting is a lack of understanding of how the process
works, a lack of mentoring by family and society, and a lack of education
surrounding election issues. The way to resolve this is by registering students
to vote in the classroom, designing classroom curriculum to help educate
students about electoral issues (using newspapers, TV news, or the internet
news in the classroom is a primary approach), and involving students of all
ages in very realistic mock elections. The hope is that by the time students
turn 18, they feel educated enough to participate in campaigns and elections.
Clearly this summary is
not exhaustive. But, we submit it in
hopes that it will create a constructive dialogue as we consider how we can
work to re-engage