THE ROLE OF CIVIC EDUCATION
editing by, HadiRianto
About
the Author
Margaret S.
Branson is Associate Director of the Center for Civic Education, based in
California. Prior to assuming this responsibility, she was Assistant
Superintendent for Instructional Services of the Kern County Schools in
California. Dr Branson has been Associate Professor of Education at Holy Names
College and Director of Secondary Education at Mills College, Oakland,
California.
Dr. Branson is
the author of numerous textbooks and professional articles. She was one of the
editorial directors and principal researchers and writers of the National
Standards for Civics and Government. She is serving on the Management Team for
the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in Civics, the
International Education Association National Expert Panel on U.S. Civic
Education, and the International Framework for Education for Democracy
Development Committee.
Introduction
Societies have
long had an interest in the ways in which their young are prepared for
citizenship and in how they learn to take part in civic life. Today that
interest might better be described as a concern-in fact as a growing concern,
particularly in democratic societies. There is evidence aplenty that no
country, including our own United States, has achieved the level of
understanding and acceptance of the rights and responsibilities among the
totality of its citizens that is required for the maintenance and improvement
of any constitutional democracy.
In the past
decade we have witnessed dramatic demands for freedom on the part of peoples
from Asia to Africa and from Central and Eastern Europe to Latin America. And
as we have seen one totalitarian or authoritarian regime after another toppled
and fledgling democratic governments replace them, we may have become too
optimistic about the future of democracy. We also may have become too
complacent, too sure of democracy's robustness or of its long term viability.
History, however, teaches us that few countries have sustained democratic
governments for prolonged periods, a lesson which we as Americans are sometimes
inclined to forget. Americans, of course, should take pride and confidence from
the fact that they live in the world's oldest constitutional democracy and that
the philosophical foundations underlying their political institutions serve as
a model for aspiring peoples around the world. The "shot heard 'round the
world" two centuries ago at the opening of the American Revolution
continues to resound today, and it should remind Americans that free
institutions are among humanity's highest achievements and worthy of their full
energies and earnest devotion to preserve.
Americans also
should realize that civic education is essential to sustain our constitutional
democracy. The habits of the mind, as well as "habits of the heart,"
the dispositions that inform the democratic ethos, are not inherited. As Alexis
de Toqueville pointed out, each new generation is a new people that must
acquire the knowledge, learn the skills, and develop the dispositions or traits
of private and public character that undergird a constitutional democracy.
Those dispositions must be fostered and nurtured by word and study and by the
power of example. Democracy is not a "machine that would go of
itself," but must be consciously reproduced, one generation after another.
Civic education,
therefore, is-or should be-a prime concern. There is no more important task
than the development of an informed, effective, and responsible citizenry.
Democracies are sustained by citizens who have the requisite knowledge, skills,
and dispositions. Absent a reasoned commitment on the part of its citizens to
the fundamental values and principles of democracy, a free and open society
cannot succeed. It is imperative, therefore, that educators, policymakers, and
members of civil society make the case and ask for the support of civic
education from all segments of society and from the widest range of
institutions and governments.
It is relatively
easy for a society to produce technically competent people. But the kind of
society Americans want to live in and the kind of government they want to have
requires effort and commitment on the part of its citizens. Americans want a
society and a government
·
In which human rights are respected
·
In which the individual's dignity and
worth are acknowledged
·
In which the rule of law is observed
·
In which people willingly fulfill their
responsibilities, and
·
In which the common good is the concern
of all.
Making that kind
of society, that kind of government a reality is the most important challenge
Americans face and the most important work they could undertake.
A.
What
is civic education?
Civic Education
in a democracy is education in self government. Democratic self government
means that citizens are actively involved in their own governance; they do not
just passively accept the dictums of others or acquiesce to the demands of others.
As Aristotle put it in his Politics (c 340 BC), "If liberty and equality,
as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be
attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost." In
other words, the ideals of democracy are most completely realized when every
member of the political community shares in its governance. Members of the
political community are its citizens, hence citizenship in a democracy is
membership in the body politic. Membership implies participation, but not
participation for participation's sake. Citizen participation in a democratic
society must be based on informed, critical reflection, and on the
understanding and acceptance of the rights and responsibilities that go with
that membership.
Civic education
in a democratic society most assuredly needs to be concerned with promoting
understanding of the ideals of democracy and a reasoned commitment to the
values and principles of democracy. That does not mean, however, that democracy
should be presented as utopia. Democracy is not utopian, and citizens need to
understand that lest they become cynical, apathetic, or simply withdraw from
political life when their unrealistic expectations are not met. To be effective
civic education must be realistic; it must address the central truths about
political life. The American Political Science Association (APSA) recently
formed a Task Force on Civic Education. Its statement of purpose calls for more
realistic teaching about the nature of political life and a better
understanding of "the complex elements of 'the art of the possible'."
The APSA report faults existing civic education because all too often it
seems
unable to counter the belief that, in politics, one either wins or loses, and
to win means getting everything at once, now! The sense that politics can
always bring another day, another chance to be heard, to persuade and perhaps
to gain part of what one wants, is lost. Political education today seems unable
to teach the lessons of our political history: Persistent civic engagement-the
slow, patient building of first coalitions and then majorities-can generate
social change. (Carter and Elshtain, 1997.)
A message of
importance, therefore, is that politics need not, indeed must not, be a
zero-sum game. The idea that "winner takes all" has no place in a
democracy, because if losers lose all they will opt out of the democratic game.
Sharing is essential in a democratic society-the sharing of power, of
resources, and of responsibilities. In a democratic society the possibility of
effecting social change is ever present, if citizens have the knowledge, the
skills and the will to bring it about. That knowledge, those skills and the
will or necessary traits of private and public character are the products of a good civic education.
B.
What
are essential components of a good civic education?
What are the
essential components of civic education appropriate for a democratic society?
That question was addressed recently in the course of the development of the National
Standards for Civics and Government. (Center for Civic Education, 1994.) More
than 3,000 individuals and groups participated in the development and/or review
process. Those voluntary standards which have been well received and critically
acclaimed, not only in the country of their origin but in many other nations as
well, identify three essential components: civic knowledge, civic skills, and
civic dispositions.
Civic Knowledge
Civic knowledge
is concerned with the content or what citizens ought to know; the subject
matter, if you will. In both the National Standards and the Civics Framework
for the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which
currently is underway in schools across the United States, the knowledge
component is embodied in the form of five significant and enduring questions.
These are questions that have continued to engage not only political
philosophers and politicians; they are questions that do-or should-engage every
thoughtful citizen. The five questions are:
1. What
are civic life, politics, and government?
2. What
are the foundations of the American political system?
3. How
does the government established by the Constitution embody the purposes,
values, and principles of American democracy?
4. What
is the relationship of the United States to other nations and to world affairs?
5. What
are the roles of citizens in American democracy?
The choice of
question format as a means of organizing the knowledge component was
deliberate. Democracy is a dialogue, a discussion, a deliberative process in
which citizens engage. The use of questions is intended to indicate that the
process is never-ending, is an on-going marketplace of ideas, a search for new
and better ways to realize democracy's ideals.
It is important
that everyone has an opportunity to consider the essential questions about
government and civil society that continue to challenge thoughtful people.
Addressing the first organizing question "What are civic life, politics,
and government?" helps citizens make informed judgments about the nature
of civic life, politics, and government, and why politics and government are
necessary; the purposes of government; the essential characteristics of limited
and unlimited government; the nature and purposes of constitutions, and alternative
ways of organizing constitutional governments. Consideration of this question
should promote greater understanding of the nature and importance of civil
society or the complex network of freely formed, voluntary political, social,
and economic associations which is an essential component of a constitutional
democracy. A vital civil society not only prevents the abuse or excessive
concentration of power by government; the organizations of civil society serve
as public laboratories in which citizens learn democracy by doing it.
The second
organizing question "What are the foundations of the American political
system?" entails an understanding of the historical, philosophical, and
economic foundations of the American political system; the distinctive characteristics
of American society and political culture; and the values and principles basic
to American constitutional democracy, such as individual rights and
responsibilities, concern for the public good, the rule of law, justice,
equality, diversity, truth, patriotism, federalism, and the separation of
powers. This question promotes examination of the values and principles
expressed in such fundamental documents as the Declaration of Independence, the
U.S. Constitution, The Federalist Papers, and landmark Supreme Court decisions.
Study of the nation's core documents now is mandated by several states
including California, Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, and Kentucky. The United
States Commission on Immigration Reform in its 1997 Report to Congress (U.S.
Commission on Immigration, 1997), strongly recommended attention to the
nation's founding documents saying:
Civic
instruction in public schools should be rooted in the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution-particularly the Preamble, the Bill of Rights, and
the Fourteenth Amendment. Emphasizing the ideals in these documents is in no
way a distortion of U.S. history. Instruction in the history of the United
States, as a unique engine of human liberty notwithstanding its faults, is an
indispensable foundation for solid civics training for all Americans.
Knowledge of the
ideals, values, and principles set forth in the nation's core documents serves
an additional and useful purpose. Those ideals, values, and principles are
criteria which citizens can use to judge the means and ends of government, as
well as the means and ends of the myriad groups that are part of civil society.
The third
organizing question "How does the government established by the
Constitution embody the purposes, values, and principles of American
democracy?" helps citizens understand and evaluate the limited government
they have ordained and established and the complex dispersal and sharing of
powers it entails. Citizens who understand the justification for this system of
limited, dispersed, and shared power and its design are better able to hold
their governments-local, state, and national-accountable and to ensure that the
rights of individuals are protected. They also will develop a considered
appreciation of the place of law in the American political system, as well as
of the unparalleled opportunities for choice and citizen participation that the
system makes possible.
The fourth
organizing question "What is the relationship of the United States to
other nations and to world affairs?" is important because the United
States does not exist in isolation; it is a part of an increasingly
interconnected world. To make judgments about the role of the United States in
the world today and about what course American foreign policy should take, citizens
need to understand the major elements of international relations and how world
affairs affect their own lives, and the security and well being of their
communities, state, and nation. Citizens also need to develop a better
understanding of the roles of major international governmental and non
governmental organizations, because of the increasingly significant role that
they are playing in the political, social, and economic realms.
The final
organizing question "What are the roles of citizens in American
democracy?" is of particular importance. Citizenship in a constitutional
democracy means that each citizen is a full and equal member of a self
governing community and is endowed with fundamental rights and entrusted with
responsibilities. Citizens should understand that through their involvement in
political life and in civil society, they can help to improve the quality of
life in their neighborhoods, communities, and nation. If they want their voices
to be heard, they must become active participants in the political process.
Although elections, campaigns, and voting are central to democratic
institutions, citizens should learn that beyond electoral politics many
participatory opportunities are open to them. Finally, they should come to
understand that the attainment of individual goals and public goals tend to go
hand in hand with participation in political life and civil society. They are
more likely to achieve personal goals for themselves and their families, as
well as the goals they desire for their communities, state, and nation, if they
are informed, effective, and responsible citizens.
Civic Skills:
Intellectual and Participatory
The second
essential component of civic education in a democratic society is civic skills.
If citizens are to exercise their rights and discharge their responsibilities
as members of self-governing communities, they not only need to acquire a body
of knowledge such as that embodied in the five organizing questions just
described; they also need to acquire relevant intellectual and participatory
skills.
Intellectual
skills in civics and government are inseparable from content. To be able to
think critically about a political issue, for example, one must have an
understanding of the issue, its history, its contemporary relevance, as well as
command of a set of intellectual tools or considerations useful in dealing with
such an issue.
The intellectual
skills essential for informed, effective, and responsible citizenship sometimes
are called critical thinking skills. The National Standards for Civics and
Government and the Civics Framework for the 1998 National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) categorize these skills as identifying and
describing; explaining and analyzing; and evaluating, taking, and defending
positions on public issues. A good civic education enables one to identify or
give the meaning or significance of things that are tangible such as the flag,
national monuments, or civic and political events. It also enables one to give
the meaning or significance of intangibles, such as ideas or concepts including
patriotism, majority and minority rights, civil society, and constitutionalism.
The ability to
identify emotional language and symbols is of particular importance for
citizens. They need to be able to discern the true purposes for which emotive
language and symbols are being employed.
Another
intellectual skill which good civic education fosters is that of describing.
The ability to describe functions and processes such as legislative checks and
balances or judicial review is indicative of understanding. Discerning and
describing trends, such as participation in civic life, immigration, or
employment helps the citizen fit current events into a longer term pattern.
Good civic
education seeks to develop competence in explaining and analyzing. If citizens
can explain how something should work, for example the American federal system,
the legal system, or the system of checks and balances, they will be more able
to detect and help correct malfunctions. Citizens also need to be able to
analyze such things as the components and consequences of ideas, social,
political, or economic processes, and institutions. The ability to analyze
enables one to distinguish between fact and opinion or between means and ends.
It also helps the citizen to clarify responsibilities such as those between
personal and public responsibilities or those between elected or appointed
officials and citizens.
In a
self-governing society citizens are decision-makers. They need, therefore, to
develop and continue to improve their skills of evaluating, taking, and
defending positions. These skills are essential if citizens are to assess
issues on the public agenda, to make judgments about issues and to discuss
their assessment with others in public or private.
In addition to
the acquisition of knowledge and intellectual skills, education for citizenship
in a democratic society must focus on skills that are required for informed,
effective, and responsible participation in the political process and in civil
society. Those skills can be categorized as interacting, monitoring, and
influencing. Interacting pertains to the skills citizens need to communicate
and to work cooperatively with others. To interact is to be responsive to one's
fellow citizens. To interact is to question, to answer, and to deliberate with
civility, as well as to build coalitions and to manage conflict in a fair,
peaceful manner. Monitoring politics and government refers to the skills
citizens need to track the handling of issues by the political process and by
government. Monitoring also means the exercising of oversight or
"watchdog" functions on the part of citizens. Finally, the
participatory skill of influencing refers to the capacity to affect the
processes of politics and governance, both the formal and the informal
processes of governance in the community.
It is essential
that the development of participatory skills begins in the earliest grades and
that it continues throughout the course of schooling. The youngest pupils can
learn to interact in small groups or committees, to pool information, exchange
opinions or formulate plans of action commensurate with their maturity. They
can learn to listen attentively, to question effectively, and to manage
conflicts through mediation, compromise, or consensus-building. Older students
can and should be expected to develop the skills of monitoring and influencing
public policy. They should learn to research public issues using electronic
resources, libraries, the telephone, personal contacts, and the media.
Attendance at public meetings ranging from student councils to school boards,
city councils, zoning commissions, and legislative hearings ought to be a
required part of every high school student's experience. Observation of the
courts and exposure to the workings of the judicial system also ought to be a
required part of their civic education. Observation in and of itself is not
sufficient, however. Students not only need to be prepared for such
experiences, they need well planned, structured opportunities to reflect on
their experiences under the guidance of knowledgeable and skillful mentors.
If citizens are
to influence the course of political life and the public policies adopted, they
need to expand their repertoire of participatory skills. Voting certainly is an
important means of exerting influence; but it is not the only means. Citizens
also need to learn to use such means as petitioning, speaking, or testifying
before public bodies, joining ad-hoc advocacy groups, and forming coalitions.
Like the skills of interacting and monitoring, the skill of influencing can and
should be systematically developed.
Civic Dispositions:
Essential Traits of Private and Public Character
The third
essential component of civic education, civic dispositions, refers to the
traits of private and public character essential to the maintenance and
improvement of constitutional democracy.
Civic
dispositions, like civic skills, develop slowly over time and as a result of
what one learns and experiences in the home, school, community, and
organizations of civil society. Those experiences should engender understanding
that democracy requires the responsible self governance of each individual; one
cannot exist without the other. Traits of private character such as moral
responsibility, self discipline, and respect for the worth and human dignity of
every individual are imperative. Traits of public character are no less
consequential. Such traits as public spiritedness, civility, respect for the
rule of law, critical mindedness, and willingness to listen, negotiate, and
compromise are indispensable to democracy's success.
Civic
dispositions that contribute to the political efficacy of the individual, the
healthy functioning of the political system, a sense of dignity and worth, and
the common good were identified in the National Standards for Civics and
Government. In the interest of brevity, those dispositions or traits of private
and public character might be described as:
·
Becoming an independent member of
society. This disposition encompasses adhering voluntarily to self-imposed
standards of behavior rather than requiring the imposition of external
controls, accepting responsibility for the consequences of one's actions and
fulfilling the moral and legal obligations of membership in a democratic
society.
·
Assuming the personal, political, and
economic responsibilities of a citizen. These responsibilities include taking
care of one's self, supporting one's family and caring for, nurturing, and
educating one's children. They also include being informed about public issues,
voting, paying taxes, serving on juries, performing public service, and serving
in leadership positions commensurate with one's talents.
·
Respecting individual worth and human
dignity. Respecting others means listening to their opinions, behaving in a
civil manner, considering the rights and interests of fellow citizens, and
adhering to the principle of majority rule but recognizing the right of the
minority to dissent.
·
Participating in civic affairs in a
thoughtful and effective manner. This disposition entails becoming informed
prior to voting or participating in public debate, engaging in civil and
reflective discourse, and assuming leadership when appropriate. It also entails
evaluating whether and when one's obligations as a citizen require that
personal desires and interests be subordinated to the public good and
evaluating whether and when one's obligations or constitutional principles
obligate one to reject certain civic expectations.
·
Promoting the healthy functioning of
constitutional democracy. This disposition encompasses being informed and
attentive to public affairs, learning about and deliberating on constitutional
values and principles, monitoring the adherence of political leaders and public
agencies to those values and principles and taking appropriate action if
adherence is lacking. This disposition also inclines the citizen to work
through peaceful, legal means to change laws that are thought to be unwise or
unjust.
The importance
of civic dispositions, or the "habits of the heart," as Alexis de
Toqueville called them, can scarcely be overemphasized. The traits of public
and private character that undergird democracy are, in the long run, probably
of more consequence than the knowledge or skills a citizen may command. Judge
Learned Hand, in a speech made in New York in 1944, captured the centrality of
civic dispositions in his now famous words:
Liberty
lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no
law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much
to help it. While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to
save it.
C.
Where
and how does civic education take place?
Many
institutions help develop citizens' knowledge and skills and shape their civic
character and commitments. Family, religious institutions, the media, and
community groups exert important influences. Schools, however, bear a special
and historic responsibility for the development of civic competency and civic
responsibility. Schools fulfill that responsibility through both formal and
informal education beginning in the earliest years and continuing through the
entire educational process.
Formal Instruction
Formal
instruction in civics and government should provide a basic and realistic
understanding of civic life, politics, and government. It should familiarize
students with the constitutions of the United States and the state in which
they live, because these and other core documents are criteria which can be
used to judge the means and ends of government.
Formal
instruction should enable citizens to understand the workings of their own and
other political systems, as well as the relationship of the politics and
government of their own country to world affairs. Good civic education promotes
an understanding of how and why one's own security, quality of life, and
economic position is connected to that of neighboring countries, as well as to
major regional, international, and transnational organizations.
Formal
instruction should emphasize the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a
constitutional democracy. The Declaration of Independence, which many consider
to be an extended preamble to the United States Constitution, holds that
governments are instituted to secure the rights of citizens. Those rights have
been categorized in various ways but a useful and generally accepted
categorization divides them in this manner:
·
Personal rights such as freedom of
thought, conscience, expression, and association and freedom of residence,
movement, and travel.
·
Political rights such as freedom of
speech, press, assembly, and petition, as well as the right to vote and run for
public office.
·
Economic rights such as the right to
acquire, use and transfer property, to choose one's work or change employment,
to join a labor union or a professional organization, to establish and operate
a business, to obtain a copyright or patent, and to enter lawful contracts.
Instruction
about rights should make it clear that few rights can be considered absolute.
Rights may reinforce or conflict with one another or with other values and
interests and therefore require reasonable limitations. The rights of liberty
and equality, for example, or the rights of the individual and the common good
often conflict with one another. It is very important, therefore, that citizens
develop a framework for clarifying ideas about rights and the relationships
among rights and other values and interests. This framework then can provide a
basis for making reasoned decisions about the proper scope and limits of
rights.
Formal
instruction in civics and government should be no less attentive to the
responsibilities of citizens in a constitutional democracy. An understanding of
the importance of individual rights must be accompanied by an examination of
personal and civic responsibilities. For American democracy to flourish,
citizens not only must be aware of their rights, they must also exercise them
responsibly and they must fulfill those personal and civic responsibilities
necessary to a self-governing, free, and just society. Those responsibilities
include:
Personal
responsibilities such as taking care of one's self, supporting one's family,
and caring for, nurturing, and educating one's children, accepting responsibility
for the consequences of one's actions, adhering to moral principles,
considering the rights and interests of others, and behaving in a civil manner.
Civic
responsibilities such as obeying the law, being informed and attentive to
public issues, assuming leadership when appropriate, paying taxes, voting,
serving as a juror or in the armed forces, monitoring the adherence of
political leaders and governmental agencies to constitutional principles and
taking appropriate action if that adherence is lacking, and performing public
service.
Instruction
about responsibilities should make it clear that rights and responsibilities go
hand in hand. Responsibilities are the other half of the democratic equation. A
sense of personal responsibility and civic obligation are in fact the social
foundations on which individual rights and freedoms ultimately rest.
The Informal Curriculum
In addition to
the formal curriculum, good civic education is attentive to the informal
curriculum. The informal curriculum encompasses the governance of the school
community and the relationships among those within it, as well as the
"extra" or co-curricular activities that a school provides.
The importance
of the governance of the school community and the quality of the relationships
among those within it can scarcely be overemphasized. Classroom and schools
should be managed by adults who govern in accord with democratic values and
principles, and who display traits of character, private and public, that are
worthy of emulation. Students also should be held accountable for behaving in
accord with fair and reasonable standards and for respecting the rights and
dignity of others, including their peers.
Research has
consistently demonstrated the positive effects of co-curricular activities.
Students who participate in them are more motivated to learn, more self
confident, and exhibit greater leadership capabilities. Further, a major new
survey, the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (1997), has found
that "connectedness with school" is a significant protective factor
in the lives of young people. "School engagement is a critical protective
factor against a variety of risky behaviors, influenced in good measure by
perceived caring from teachers and high expectations for student
performance."
Fortunately
opportunities for co-curricular activities related to civic education have been
expanding in the United States, and they need to be even more encouraged. Some
activities have become regional or national events such as mock elections, mock
trials, and History Day. Two nation-wide programs developed by the Center for
Civic Education have now involved more than 26 million students. We the
People... The Citizen and the Constitution engages students in mock legislative
hearings on constitutional issues, and Project Citizen teaches middle school
students how to identify, research, and devise solutions for local problems, as
well as how to make realistic plans for gaining their acceptance as public
policies. Both We the People... and Project Citizen not only bring students
into direct contact with government at all levels and with organizations in
civil society, these programs have had other positive civic consequences as
well.
During the
Spring of 1993, Professor Richard A. Brody of Stanford University conducted a
study of 1,351 high school students from across the United States. The study
was designed to determine the degree to which civics curricula in general and
the We the People... program in particular affect students' political
attitudes. The study focused on the concept of "political tolerance."
"Political tolerance" refers to citizens' respect for the political
rights and civil liberties of all people in the society, including those whose
ideas they may find distasteful or abhorrent. It is a concept which encompasses
many of the beliefs, values, and attitudes that are essential in a
constitutional democracy.
Among the most
important findings of the Brody study were these:
·
Overall, students in high school civics,
government, and American history classes display more "political
tolerance" than the average American.
·
Students in classes using all or part of
the We the People... curriculum are more tolerant than students following other
curricula.
·
Tolerance can be learned from experiences
that expose one to the norms of American society and from experiences that
require the individual to both explain and defend his or her point of view and
listen carefully to the viewpoints of others.
·
The highest levels of tolerance were
demonstrated by students who participated in the simulated congressional
hearing competitions which are an optional portion of the We the People...
program.
Community
service is another area of the curriculum in which increasing numbers of
students are participating. Community service is in keeping with long
established American traditions. It was more than a century and a half ago that
Alexis de Toqueville was moved to write that "Americans of all ages, all
stations in life, and all types of disposition in life, are forever forming
associations. There are not only commercial and industrial associations... but
others of a thousand different types-religious, moral, serious, futile, very
general, and very limited, immensely large and very minute." (de Tocqueville,
1969.) He marveled at Americans penchant for voluntary service to their
communities and to causes in which they believed. The experience of getting
involved in local voluntary associations, de Toqueville said, generated a sense
of individual responsibility for the public good and inclined them to become
"orderly, temperate, moderate, and self-controlled citizens."
Present day
scholars tend to agree with de Toqueville's observations about the importance
of voluntarism and of a vibrant civil society. Seymour Martin Lipset contends
that
These
associations of what has come to be known as civil society create networks of
communication among people with common positions and interests helping to
sustain the moral order, political parties, and participation. American... are
still the most participatory, the most disposed to belong to and be active in
voluntary associations of any people in the world. (Lipset, 1996.)
Estimates of the
number of adult Americans who perform voluntary services vary. A study
conducted by the Center for Survey Research at the University of Virginia
(Guterbock, 1997) found that about 44 percent of all adults had volunteered
time in the preceding year. An earlier World Values Survey puts the number of
Americans who are active in and do unpaid work for voluntary associations at
"fully three fifths" of the adult population. Only about one quarter
of the adults in Britain, Italy, or Japan do unpaid voluntary work, while less
than a third do so in France or Germany.
The record of
American youth for community service is of particular interest and is, in
general, encouraging. In a recent study involving more than 8,000 students in
grades six through twelve, about half of those interviewed reported
participation in some type of service activity. Among those who participated
regularly, 12 percent gave more that 30 hours and 19 percent more than 10
hours. Almost all (91 percent) of the students who participated in the 1995-96
school year indicated that they expected to continue to serve. (U.S. Department
of Education, 1997.)
Among the more
significant findings of that study of student participation in community
service activities are these:
·
While many students were involved, not
all kinds of students were involved equally. Those who were more likely to
participate were students who received high grades, females, students for whom
English was the primary language they spoke at home, and 11th and 12th graders.
By contrast, students who received lower grades, males, and 6th through 10th
graders were less likely to participate.
·
The greater the number of types of
activities students were involved in (i.e., student government, other school
activities, non-school activities, or work for pay), the more likely they were
to participate in community service. Students who attended private schools,
especially church-related schools, were also more likely to have done community
service.
·
Students were more likely to participate
if an adult in the household participated in community service and if the
highest degree held by a parent was a college degree or higher.
·
The great majority of students (86
percent) were in schools that in some way encouraged community service, and
these policies were related to student participation in community service.
·
Many students also reported that their
schools incorporated their community service into the curriculum.
Community
service can be an important part of civic education, provided it is properly
conceived as being more than just doing good deeds. Community service should be
integrated into both the formal and informal curriculum of the school.
Community service is not a substitute for formal instruction in civics and
government, but it can enhance that instruction. Schools, therefore, need to do
more than make students aware of opportunities to serve their schools and
communities. Students need to be adequately prepared for experiential learning.
They need to understand the institution or agency with which they'll be engaged
and its larger social and political context. Students need to be supervised and
provided with regular opportunities to reflect on their experiences. In the
course of reflection students should be asked to consider questions such as: Is
this something government should do? Is this something better attended by
private individuals or groups in the civil society sector? How might the school
or community problems you have seen be ameliorated? In what ways might you
personally contribute to the amelioration of those problems? What knowledge
have you personally gained as a result of your experiences? What additional
knowledge do you need to acquire in order to be better informed? What
intellectual or critical thinking skills have you developed through this
service learning activity? How have your skills of interacting, and of monitoring
and influencing public policy been improved? How has your understanding of the
roles of the citizen in a democratic society changed?
D.
What
evidence is there of the need to improve civic education?
The idea that
American schools have a distinctively civic mission has been recognized since
the earliest days of the Republic. Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and others
realized that the establishment of well-constructed political institutions was
not in itself a sufficiently strong foundation to maintain constitutional
democracy. They knew that ultimately a free society must depend on its
citizens-on their knowledge, skills, and civic virtues. They believed that the
civic mission of the schools is to foster the qualities of mind and heart
required for successful government within a constitutional democracy.
Americans still
believe that schools have a civic mission and that education for good
citizenship should be the schools' top priority. The 28th Annual Phi Delta
Kappa/Gallup Poll conducted in 1996 asked respondents what they considered to
be the most important purpose of the nation's schools, apart from providing a
basic education. "To prepare students to be responsible citizens" was
considered "very important" by more people than any other goal.
Nationally 86 percent of those with no children in school and those with
children in public schools were in agreement; the percentage in agreement shot
up to 88 percent for nonpublic school parents. When Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup
conducted a follow-up poll of just teachers the results were the same. (Landon,
1996.) Eighty four percent of America's teachers said "to prepare students
for responsible citizenship was "very important," while another 15
percent called it "quite important."
A survey which
compared results from the United States with those of eleven other countries in
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also is
revealing. (U.S. Department of Education, 1997.) When Americans were asked
which qualities or aptitudes schools consider "essential" or
"very important," 86 percent said "being a good citizen."
Unfortunately, when Americans were asked if they had confidence that schools
have a major effect on the development of good citizenship only 59 percent said
that they did. How justified is that lack of confidence? A brief review of
recent research affords some disconcerting evidence.
·
The nation's oldest and most
comprehensive assessment of the attitudes of freshmen at 464 institutions is
conducted annually by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University
of California at Los Angeles. The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall
1997, (Sax & Astin et.al. 1997), its most recent report, found that
"this year's college freshmen exhibit higher levels of disengagement-both academically
and politically-than any previous entering class of students."
·
The 1997 freshmen demonstrate the lowest
levels of political interest in the history of the survey. A record low 26.7
percent of today's freshmen believe that "keeping up to date with political
affairs" is a very important or essential life goal (compared to 29.4
percent last year and a high of 57.8 percent in 1966). Similarly, an all-time
low 13.7 percent of freshmen say they frequently discuss politics (compared to
16.2 percent last year, and a high of 29.9 percent in 1968). The percent of
students who desire to "influence the political structure" has also
dipped to 16.7 percent, from 17.7 percent last year and a high of 20.6 percent
in 1993. While the percent of students working on a local, state, or national
political campaign increased from 6.6 percent to 8.2 percent between 1996 and
1997, this figure remains at only half of the record high 16.4 percent reached
in 1969. Finally, the percent of freshmen who frequently vote in student elections
continues on a dramatic decline from 76.9 percent in 1968 to 21.3 percent in
1997 (compared to 23.0 percent last year).
·
Students' disinterest in politics is
paralleled by their increasing disinterest in activism. In the five years since
students' interest in activism peaked on the 1992 survey, many indicators of
activism have declined. The percent of students who say that "becoming
involved in programs to clean up the environment" is a very important or
essential life goal declined steadily from 33.6 percent in 1992 to 19.4 percent
in 1997. Commitment to "helping to promote racial understanding" fell
to its lowest point in a decade (31.8 percent, compared to 34.7 percent last
year and a high of 42.0 in 1992). The percent who consider it very important or
essential to "participate in a community action program" also
declined to its lowest point in a decade (22.8 percent, compared to 23.7
percent last year and a high of 30.4 percent in 1975). Finally, the percent of
students who are personally committed to "influencing social values"
fell to its lowest point in nearly a decade (37.6 percent, compared to 39.0
percent last year and a high of 43.3 percent in 1992).
·
In a survey conducted in late 1997,
(National Constitution Center, 1997), more than 90 percent of Americans agreed
that "the U.S. Constitution is important to me" and that "I'm
proud of the U.S. Constitution." The National Constitution Center was
created by Congress in 1988 to increase Americans awareness of the document.
The Center measures public awareness by conducting surveys. Those surveys have
shown that "people have an appalling lack of knowledge for a document that
impacts their daily lives." According to Mayor Edward G. Rendell of
Philadelphia, current chairman of the Center, more than three quarters (83
percent) admit that they know only "some" or "very little"
about the specifics of the Constitution. For example, only 6 percent can name
all four rights guaranteed by the First Amendment; 62 percent cannot name all
three branches of the Federal government; 35 percent believe the Constitution
mandates English as the official language; and more than half of Americans
don't know the number of senators.
When asked to
identify the causes of American ignorance of the document which they profess to
revere and which they acknowledge matters a great deal in their daily lives,
Rendell faulted the schools failure to teach civics and government. He said he
believed Americans lack of knowledge stems partly from an education system that
tends to treat the Constitution in the context of history, rather than as a
living document that shapes current events. (Morin, 1997.) U.S. Secretary of
Education, Richard W. Riley was equally dismayed by the results of the National
Constitution Center's study. In a press release issued September 15, 1997,
Riley said
This
poll suggests to me that most Americans seem to regard the Constitution like a
family heirloom that is kept protectively in an upstairs sock drawer but never
taken out and examined. I believe this lack of knowledge about how the
Constitution functions leads to many of the discontents in our nation and
current levels of distrust toward our national government.
Riley went on to
say that:
The
U.S. Department of Education is one of the leading contributors to current
efforts to overcome this lack of awareness about how our democracy functions.
The Department... support(s) the work of the Center for Civic Education, the
"We the People" organization and the many efforts by our nation's
civics teachers to educate our young people about our democracy. It is clear to
me, however, that we have to do much more to keep the spirit of the
Constitution alive for all Americans.
·
The National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) is a survey mandated by the U.S. Congress to collect and report
information about student achievement in various academic subjects. NAEP
sometimes is called "The Nation's Report Card," because for more than
25 years it has provided Americans with information about how much and how well
students are learning in mathematics, science, reading, history, geography, and
other subjects. Currently NAEP is assessing civics. Results of the 1998 survey
will not be available until late 1999 or early in the year 2000. The 1990
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Report Card in Civics,
however, revealed that students have only a superficial knowledge of civics and
lack depth of understanding. For example, only 38 percent of 8th graders knew
that Congress makes laws; and nearly half of high school seniors did not
recognize typical examples of the federal system of checks and balances.
Although half of the high school seniors tested displayed a detailed knowledge
of major government structures and their functions, only six percent
demonstrated a more developed understanding of a wide range of political
institutions and processes.
The same NAEP Report Card also showed that although
some students made gains in civics proficiency across the twelve year period
separating the 1976 and 1988 assessments, most did not. At age 17, the
performance of students attending schools in each of the types of communities
studied-advantaged and disadvantaged, urban and other-declined significantly.
There were significant gaps in the performance of most students. Particularly
disturbing were the disparities among subpopulations. Eighth and twelfth grade
males were more likely than their female peers to reach the highest levels of
civic proficiency as defined by NAEP. The percentages of Black and Hispanic
students who reached the uppermost levels of proficiency were far smaller than
the percentage of White students who did.
·
Over the past decade, dozens of studies,
commissions, and national reports have called attention to the failure to
ensure that America's classrooms are staffed with qualified teachers. The
National Commission on Teaching & America's Future (1996) in a particularly
hard-hitting report noted that:
Although
no state will allow a person to fix plumbing, guard swimming pools, style hair,
write wills, design a building, or practice medicine without completing
training and passing an examination, more than 40 states allow school districts
to hire teachers on emergency licenses who have not met these basic
requirements. Some pay more attention to the qualifications of veterinarians
treating the nation's cats and dogs than to those of teachers educating the
nation's children and youth.
Teacher expertise, as research has consistently and
repeatedly shown, is one of the most telling factors in raising student
achievement. One extensive study found that nearly 40 percent of the
differences in student test scores were attributable to differences in teacher
expertise, as measured by college degrees, years of teaching experience, and
scores on teacher licensing examinations. Further, teacher expertise was of
more significance than that of any other factor, including parent education,
family income, or other socioeconomic characteristics.
A recent review of research on one of the least
recognized causes of poor quality teaching (Ingersoll, 1998) is sobering. The
problem is out-of-field teaching, or teachers being assigned to teach subjects
that do not match their training or education. It is more widespread and more
serious than has been recognized. It happens in well over half of the secondary
schools in the nation in any given year, both rural and urban, affluent and low
income. Low income public schools, however, have a higher level of out-of-field
teaching than do schools in more affluent communities. Studies also show that
recently hired teachers are more often assigned to teach subjects for which
they are not trained than are experienced teachers. Lower-achieving classes are
more often taught by teachers without a major or minor in the field than are
higher-achieving classes. Junior high and middle school classes also are more
likely than senior high classes to be taught by less than qualified teachers.
More than half of all secondary school history
students in the country now are being taught by teachers with neither a major
nor a minor in history. No data currently are available on the subject matter
qualifications of teachers of civics and government, but one could surmise that
the numbers of teachers with majors or minors in political science or allied
fields would be even less.
In an effort to ensure that teachers are qualified
for the subjects they will teach, some states have begun to test applicants for
teaching positions. The National Center for Education Statistics reported in
1997 that about one half of the nation's school districts now require passage
of state tests of basic skills while 39 percent require passage of state tests
of subject knowledge. While those efforts are a step in the right direction,
they fall short of the goal of assuring that all children are taught by
teachers who not only have in-depth knowledge of the subject they teach but who
also have the skills and the enthusiasm to teach it well.
E.
What
is the relationship between civic education and character education?
Interest in and
concern about character education and education for citizenship are not new in
America. The two have always gone hand in hand. Indeed, the basic reason for
establishing and expanding public schooling was to foster those traits of
public and private character necessary for our great experiment in
self-government to succeed.
In the early
days of our republic, schools were expected to induce pupils to act virtuously.
Acting virtuously meant more specifically that one should act with due
restraint over his or her impulses, due regard for the rights and opinions of
others, and reasonable concern for the probable and the long-term consequences
of one's actions.
Virtue in
individuals then was seen as an important public matter. "Public virtue
cannot exist in a nation without private..." said John Adams. Jefferson
agreed with him saying "Public virtue is the only foundation of Republics.
There must be a positive passion for the public good, the public interest...
established in the minds of the people, or there can be no Republican government,
no any real Liberty." It is interesting to note that Adams' warning is
echoed in the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS, 1996) Position
Statement "Fostering Civic Virtue: Character Education in the Social
Studies." That bold and well-written position statement concludes with
these words:
Social
studies teachers have a responsibility and a duty to refocus their classrooms
on the teaching of character and civic virtue. They should not be timid or
hesitant about working toward these goals. The fate of the American experiment
in self-government depends in no small part on the store of civic virtue that
resides in the American people. The social studies profession of this nation
has vital role to play in keeping this well-spring of civic virtue flowing.
Character,
however, does not come pre-packaged. Character formation is a lengthy and
complex process. And, as James Q. Wilson (Wilson, 1995), a life-long student of
character, reminds us; "We do not know how character is formed in any
scientifically rigorous sense." But there is an abundance of anecdotal
data and research on which to draw. Those observations and that research tell
us that the study of traditional school subjects such as government, civics,
history and literature, when properly taught, provide the necessary conceptual
framework for character education. Further, those traditional school subjects
provide a context for considering the traits of public and private character
which are important to the maintenance and improvement of a democratic way of
life.
Research also
tells us that the ethos or culture of the school and of the classroom exert
powerful influences on what students learn about authority, responsibility,
justice, civility and respect. Finally, we know that one dynamic by which
individuals acquire desired traits of private and public character is through
exposure to attractive models of behavior. Probably no one has explained that
dynamic better than Robert Coles in The Moral Intelligence of Children, (Coles,
1997). Coles tells us that:
Character
is ultimately who we are expressed in action, in how we live, in what we do -
and so the children around us know, they absorb and take stock of what they
observe, namely us-we adults living and doing things in a certain spirit,
getting on with one another in our various ways. Our children add up, imitate,
file away what they've observed and so very often later fall in line with the
particular moral counsel we unwittingly or quite unself-consciously have
offered them....
Because the
United States is the world's oldest constitutional democracy, it sometimes is
easy to forget that our American government is an experiment. It is an
experiment that requires, as the authors of the Federalist Papers put it, a
higher degree of virtue in its citizens than any other form of government.
Traits of private character such as moral responsibility, self-discipline, and
respect for individual worth and human dignity are essential to its well-being.
American constitutional democracy cannot accomplish its purposes, however,
unless its citizens also are inclined to participate thoughtfully in public
affairs. Traits of public character such as public-spiritedness, civility,
respect for law, critical-mindedness, and a willingness to negotiate and
compromise are indispensable to the continued success of the great American
experiment in self government.
How can civic
education strengthen and complement the development of character? Primary
responsibility for the cultivation of ethical behavior and the development of
private character, including moral character, lies with families, religious
institutions, work settings, and the other parts of civil society. Schools,
however, can and should play a major role in the overall development of the
character of students. Effective civic education programs should provide
students with many opportunities for the development of desirable traits of
public and private character. Learning activities such as the following tend to
promote character traits needed to participate effectively. For example,
·
Civility, courage, self-discipline,
persistence, concern for the common good, respect for others, and other traits
relevant to citizenship can be promoted through cooperative learning activities
and in class meetings, student councils, simulated public hearings, mock
trials, mock elections, and student courts.
·
Self-discipline, respect for others,
civility, punctuality, personal responsibility, and other character traits can
be fostered in school and community service learning projects, such as tutoring
younger students, caring for the school environment, and participating in voter
registration drives.
·
Recognition of shared values and a sense
of community can be encouraged through celebration of national and state
holidays, and celebration of the achievements of classmates and local citizens.
·
Attentiveness to public affairs can be
encouraged by regular discussions of significant current events.
·
Reflection on ethical considerations can
occur when students are asked to evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues
that involve ethical considerations, that is, issues concerning good and bad,
rights and wrong.
·
Civicmindedness can be increased if
schools work with civic organizations,bring community leaders into the
classroom to discuss issues with students, and provide opportunities for
students to observe and/or participate in civic organizations.
F.
Policy
Recommendations
School
Level
·
Sustained and systematic attention
should be given to civic education in the K-12 curriculum. Although the National
Education Goals, as well as the goals, curricular requirements, and policies of
every state, express the need for and extol the value of civic education, this
vital part of the student's overall education is seldom given sustained and
systematic attention in the K-12 curriculum. Inattention to civic education
stems in part from the false assumption that the knowledge and skills citizens
need emerge as by-products of the study of other disciplines or as an outcome
of the process of schooling itself.
While it is true
that history, economics, literature, and other subjects do enhance students'
understanding of government and politics, they cannot replace sustained,
systematic attention to civic education. Civics should be seen as a central
concern from kindergarten through twelfth grade, whether it is taught as a part
of other curricula or in separate units or courses.
We recommend
that states and school districts give serious consideration to the allocation
of sufficient time for civics and government. A proposed allocation is offered
below for purposes of stimulating discussion.
Requirements
by Grade
|
Grade
|
Specific
Treatment
|
Treatment
in Other Subjects
|
|
K
- 2
|
30
hours per school year at each grade, e.g., focus on rules, authority,
justice, responsibility
|
Primary
and elementary - a minimum of 30 hours per school year, e.g., as part of
instruction in reading, language arts, math, science, physical education,
etc.
|
|
3
- 4
|
40
hours per school year at each grade, e.g., community and state studies
focusing on local and state government
|
|
|
5
|
40
hours per school year, e.g., integrated into a course in US History/Civics
and Government/Geography
|
Teams
of middle-grade teachers develop integrated curriculum units infusing content
standards for civics and government, e.g., a language arts/literature unit
focusing on the theme of power and authority; a science unit on environmental
pollution focusing on the public policy aspects of the issue
|
|
6
- 7
|
Four
two-week units at each grade (approx. 30 hours per school year), e.g., focus
on comparative government as part of a World Civilization/Area Studies
program
|
|
|
8
|
One
semester course (approx. 60 hours), e.g., US Constitutional Government
|
|
|
9
- 10
|
Six
two-week units at each grade (approx. 40 hours per school year), e.g., focus
on comparative political philosophies and political systems in a World
History/Global Studies course
|
Teachers
planning high school courses in other subjects could use the content
standards for civics and government to develop thematic organizers, e.g., a
technology education class exploring how safety procedures and work place
rules protect everyone.
|
|
11
|
60
hours per school year as an integral part of specific social science course
work, e.g., 20th-Century US History and Government
|
|
|
12
|
Full-year
course (120 hours), e.g., Applied Civics/Participation in Government
|
|
|
NOTE:
For grades K-4, 30 minutes per day was used as an average instructional
period. For grades 5-12, 40 minutes per day was used as an average instructional
period.
|
||
·
Schools should thoroughly examine
the "informal curriculum," or the governance of their school
community and the relationships among those within it. The importance of the
governance of the school community and the quality of the relationships among
those within it can scarcely be overemphasized. Classrooms and schools should
be managed by adults who govern in accord with democratic values and principles
and who display traits of character, private and public, worthy of emulation.
·
Student participation in the governance
of their classrooms and schools should be an integral part of civic education
beginning in the earliest grades and extending throughout the span of their
formal schooling. Classrooms and schools should be considered laboratories in
which students can employ participatory skills commensurate with their
maturity. They should learn to interact effectively, as well as learn how to
monitor and influence school and public policies. Governance, as used here,
means more than seeking or serving in a class or school office. It means having
a voice in such matters as school rules and disciplinary procedures. Governance
means that each student is a citizen possessed of the rights and charged with the
responsibilities that accrue to citizens in a constitutional democracy.
·
Civic education should help students
develop a reasoned commitment to those fundamental values and principles
necessary for the preservation and improvement of American constitutional
democracy. Civic education, however, must distinguish between education and
indoctrination. Civic education enables citizens to make wise choices in full
awareness of alternatives and provides the kind of experiences and
understanding that foster the development of a reasoned commitment to those
values and principles that enable a free society to exist.
·
Every student should become familiar
with the nation's fundamental documents through age-appropriate instruction.
These documents would include but are not limited to the Declaration of
Independence, the U.S. Constitution, The Federalist Papers, landmark decisions
of the U.S. Supreme Court, the constitution of the state in which they reside,
and other significant writings and speeches.
·
Students at all grade levels can profit
from the study of exemplary citizens, both the famous and not-so-famous, those
from the past and from the present. The use of a wide variety of age-appropriate
historical narratives,biographies, autobiographies, and current accounts in the
media should be encouraged. Students, particularly in an age of anti-heroes,
should have many opportunities to learn about people who have defended human
rights and political freedoms, fulfilled civic responsibilities, or had the
courage to make ethical and moral decisions when they were in the minority.
·
Co-curricular activities that support
and extend civic education should be encouraged. Activities such as mock
elections, mock trials, and simulated legislative hearings promote greater
interest and understanding of government and civil society. The worth of such
activities is attested to by abundant research. Teachers who devote time to the
sponsorship of co-curricular activities allied to civic education should be
recognized and appropriately rewarded for their endeavors.
·
The opportunity for school and community
service should be made available to all young people as a part of their civic
education. Students should be prepared for age-appropriate service, adequately
supervised during their service, and expected to reflect on their experiences
under the guidance of qualified teachers or mentors.
·
Community service should bring students
into direct contact with government at every level and with sectors of civil
society appropriate to their study of civics and government. Students should go
out into the community to observe, to interview, and to contribute their time
and talents in the interest of the common good. Members of the
community-government officials, civic leaders, and other knowledgeable persons-should
be invited into schools to share their insights and expertise with students.
·
States and school districts should be
more attentive to the professional development needs of beginning and less
experienced teachers. Requirements for renewal of credentials or licenses
should ensure that K-12 civics and government teachers deepen their
understanding of the discipline, hone their instructional skills, and broaden
their knowledge of and interaction with the civic community.
·
State and school districts should recognize,
reward, and retain teachers who are outstanding civic educators so that they
are not lost to the nation's classrooms. More than 200 studies have found that
teachers who have greater training in both their subject matter and in how to
teach it well are more effective with students. All too often, however, master
teachers move into school administration or other professions where financial
or other rewards are greater. Efforts need to be made, therefore, to see that
recognition and rewards are sufficient to persuade the best teachers to remain
in the classroom.
National,
State, and Local Level
·
Because the maintenance and improvement
of our constitutional democracy is dependent upon the knowledge, skills, and
traits of public and private character of all our citizens, we recommend a
national initiative to revitalize civic education. A nationwide initiative in
civic education could focus on the importance of civic education for every
child in America which provides a grounding in the rights and responsibilities
of members of a constitutional democracy. Such an initiative would increase
civic literacy, foster civility among citizens,promote understanding and
appreciation of democratic institutions and processes, and enhance a sense of
political efficacy.
The groundwork
for the renewal of civic education has already been laid by more than two
decades of commission reports, books, and articles by educators, scholars, and
journalists. In 1987 the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution occasioned an
outpouring of interest in the substance of civic education. In 1991, CIVITAS: A
Framework for Civic Education was published; and in 1994, the National
Standards for Civics and Government were completed. These Standards, developed
in response to the Educate America Act, continue to receive national and
international acclaim. They delineate what students should know and be able to
do when they complete grades 4, 8, and 12. The most recent call for action is
the final report of the National Commission on Civic Renewal released in June,
1998. That report, A Nation of Spectators: How Civic Disengagement Weakens
America and What We Can Do About It, calls upon the American people to
"once again rise to the challenge of self government" and "to
advance the cause of school-based civic education."
The time is ripe
for a nationwide initiative that could promote increased citizen interest,
understanding, and participation in local, state, and national government, as
well as in the civic associations, processes, and purposes of civil society.
The principal
aims of this initiative would be to:
1. deepen
understanding of the historical, philosophical, political, social, and economic
foundations of American constitutional democracy.
2. promote
understanding of how a constitutional government operates and an appreciation
of the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
3. promote
informed and responsible participation in civic life.
4. foster
the civic dispositions or traits of public and private character conducive to
the preservation and enhancement of American constitutional democracy.
5. foster
a reasoned commitment to the fundamental values and principles as expressed in
core documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S.
Constitution, that bind us together as a nation and provide a common ground for
working together.
6. promote
understanding of the essential role that the institutions and values of civil
society have historically played and continue today to play as foundations of
American constitutional democracy. Such understanding includes the idea that
the autonomous character of civil society protects society from the abuse of
power by government and is therefore a chief support for constitutional
government
Revitalized
civic education can provide significant benefits for all Americans. A
nation-wide initiative can:
1. increase
understanding of the importance and relevance of politics and government and of
civil society to the daily lives of all Americans, e.g., their safety and
security, education, employment, health, recreation, and overall quality of
life.
2. promote
the development of civic character by fostering recognition of public and
private responsibilities and encouraging adherence to the values and principles
of American constitutional democracy.
3. elevate
the sense of civic efficacy, the impact citizens can have on policies at all
levels of government and on the character and purposes of the associations and
endeavors of civil society.
4. build
upon the natural idealism, energy, and hopes of American youth to revitalize
civic life.
·
The importance of civic education should
be communicated to the general public through televised public forums, print
media, and public service television announcements. Parents, civic leaders, and
the media are important influences and have significant contributions to make
to civic education, and their support should be enlisted.
·
A renewed emphasis on the common core of
civic culture that unites individuals from many ethnic, linguistic, religious,
and social groups is needed. We join with the U.S. Commission on Immigration
Reform and other groups in making this recommendation.
·
Americans should be kept informed on a
regular basis of the nation's civic health through publication and wide
dissemination of a index such as the one proposed by the National Commission on
Civic Renewal (1998). That index could include, but not be limited to, such
items as political participation, political and social trust, membership in
voluntary associations, community service, achievement levels in civics and
government, and other pertinent information.
·
State legislatures, boards of education,
schools, and parent groups should reexamine the formal curricula and assessment
practices to determine the adequacy and effectiveness of their education
programs and they should take appropriate action to strengthen the formal
curriculum and their assessment practices.
·
Every state should require all students
to demonstrate mastery of basic civic knowledge and concepts as a condition of
high school graduation. We join with the Commission on Civic Renewal and other
groups in support of this recommendation.
·
To improve and professionalize teaching
that the National Commission on Teaching & America's Future say it is
"time to get serious about standards for both students and teachers."
We concur with that National Commission that there must be agreement on what
teachers should know and be able to do in order to help their students meet
higher academic standards. Teacher licensing should be based on demonstrated
competence, including adequate academic preparation with a major or minor in a
field appropriate for civic education, tests of subject matter knowledge, and
command of skills and classroom strategies that research has shown to be
effective in civic education.
·
To reverse the cycle of low expectations
and low achievement, states and school districts need to set standards which
meet certain criteria. Standards shouldbe clearly focused on academic
achievement.
1. be
rigorous and substantive.
2. reflect
the best current scholarship in the disciplines from which the substance of
civics and government is drawn-political science, political philosophy,
history, economics, law, and jurisprudence.
3. state
clearly what students should know and be able to do, and be expressed in
language understandable to young people, their parents, and the general public.
4. be
clear, specific benchmarks against which an individual's performance and
progress can be judged.
·
Attention needs to be given to the
assessment of civic education which presently is inadequate in terms of both
content and frequency.
1. Despite
the fact that National Education Goals 3 and 6 prominently feature citizenship,
the annual reports of the National Education Goals Panel have yet to report on
achievement in civic and government or on progress toward "responsible
citizenship."
2. The
National Assessment Governing Board is to be applauded for undertaking the
Civics Framework for the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP). However, the Board allowed ten years to elapse between the present and
the last assessment of civics. It is recommended that in the future civics be
assessed with the same frequency as mathematics, science, reading, or any other
core subject.
o
Many states and districts mandate
testing programs in mathematics, reading, and language arts for elementary
grades. Seldom is civic education included in these mandates. Consequently,
teachers spend considerable more time working with students on math and reading
and neglect civic education. We recommend that all of the eight disciplines
identified in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act-English, mathematics,
science, foreign languages, civic and government, economics, arts, history, and
geography-be given attention.
o
When assessments in civic education do
occur, they are primarily in secondary schools and generally take the form of
multiple choice tests. Such tests require students to select the correct
answers from a number of possibilities and are useful for determining students'
knowledge and understanding of basic facts and concepts. However, they fail to
assess students' acquisition of a variety of civic skills such as evaluating,
taking, and defending positions on political and civic issues, speak and
writing on these issues, and monitoring and influencing public policy.
G.
Conclusion
Just months
after taking office in 1989, President George Bush took a historic step. Bush
asked the nation's governors to gather to consider ways and means of improving
education. His call for a "summit" meeting was historic, because it
was only the third time in history that a president had convened the governors
for a substantive meeting. (Jennings, 1998).
In the United
States education has traditionally been the responsibility of each state. The
nation's governors, ever mindful of states' rights, have resented and resisted
federal intrusions into what they have considered their domain. At this
"summit" meeting, however, the governors conceded that education had
to be improved and that the states by themselves could not effect the
improvements that commission after commission and study after study had said
was essential. Nor were the governors deaf to the clamor for educational reform
coming from parents, employers, and the media.
The chief
executives of the 50 states, including Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas
and chairman of the National Governors Association education committee,
believed that an appropriate starting point was to get agreement on what it was
that the nation's schools ought to achieve. In their judgment the focus of
America's schools should be sharpened and a declaration of purposes or a
statement of national goals set forth. The governors, however, wanted the
national goals to be more than verbiage or pious hopes. Progress toward the
goals was to be measured against high standards and by testing at national and
state levels. The standards were to specify what all students should know and
be able to do when they completed grades 4, 8, and 12. The plan was greeted
with applause from many segments of society-parents, educators, employers, and
legislators. Diane Ravitch, a long time proponent of reform, was jubilant. She
was later to say that she believed "what may well be an historic
development had taken place. "Unlike most other modern societies, this
nation has never established specific standards as goals for student
achievement; those nations that do have standards view them as invaluable means
of ensuring both equity and excellence." (Ravitch, 1993).
In the hope of
ensuring both equity and excellence, the National Governors Association and the
United States Congress moved forward, paying particular attention to civic
education. The text of the goals statement adopted by the National Governors
Association in March, 1990 declared:
If
the United States is to maintain a strong and responsible democracy and a
prosperous and growing economy into the next century, it must be prepared to
address and respond to major challenges at home and in the world. A
well-educated population is the key to our future. Americans must be prepared to:....Participate
knowledgeably in our democracy and our democratic institutions;...Function
effectively in increasingly diverse communities and states and in a rapidly
shrinking world....Today a new standard of an educated citizenry is required,
one suitable for the next century....[All students] must understand and accept
the responsibilities and obligations of citizenship.
In March, 1994
Congress passed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (Public Law 103-227). Two
of the eight national goals the law established deal specifically with civic
education.
The
National Education Goals
Goal
3: Student Achievement and Citizenship
By the year
2000, all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated
competency over challenging subject matter including English, mathematics,
science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history,
and geography, and every school in America will ensure that all students learn
to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further
learning, and productive employment in our Nation's modern economy.
All students
will be involved in activities that promote and demonstrate...good citizenship,
community service, and personal responsibility.
Goal
6: Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning
By the year
2000, every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and
skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and
responsibilities of citizenship (emphasis added).
As this report
and those of other concerned groups of Americans make clear, we as a people
have not yet achieved the goals of equity and excellence in education that we
have set for ourselves. We know and have recognized from our founding that
education for citizenship is essential, if we are to maintain and improve our
constitutional democracy; on that point there is general, if not universal,
agreement. We also know that a new standard of an educated citizenry is needed,
if we are to meet the challenges of the next century.
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