Discovering how to be a contributing member of society is an important aspect of learning, one that schools can provide. Civic education allows students to understand how political systems work and how to contribute to the well-being of the community. To paraphrase what Sandra Day O'Connor said at an ASCD conference years ago, knowledge of our system of government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens isn't passed down through the gene pool. It must be taught.
Teachers can teach systems of government and citizens' rights and responsibilities in a number of ways. Introducing students to various political and economic systems; providing leadership opportunities like student government; engaging students in debates; requiring service learning or internships; and simulating civic processes, such as a mock congress, are just a few.
Choosing (Within Reason) What to Learn
Another way to help students learn about civics is to employ a democratic approach to the curriculum, meaning creating a way for students to have some say in what is taught and how. In the video accompanying this column, middle school health educator Shayna North of Health Sciences Middle School in San Diego uses a democratic approach as she introduces her students to topics included in the health standards for her state.
It's important to note that democratic approaches to the curriculum don't mean that anything goes in terms of content; rather, students have some say in the order of the lessons, how much time to spend on each lesson, and how they might demonstrate mastery of the content. Democratic approaches to curriculum also don't mean the teacher has little say in the experience, only that student voices are honored and learners have an opportunity to express ideas about what they want to learn and when.
When students have a say in what they will learn and how they'll demonstrate their understanding—even voting on which topics to study—they're more likely to engage in learning tasks and activities than when less democratic approaches are used. Again, there must be constraints to any vote; we still need to ensure that students develop an understanding of the content of the class.
In the video, notice how Ms. North introduces the range of topics that are fair game for students to focus on. She then invites students to talk at their tables, sharing which of these topics they most want to study, including what they already know and what they still want to learn. This activity accomplishes several things: It gives students an experience of civic engagement through dialogue. In addition, it gives Ms. North a glimpse into her students' knowledge, helping her identify misconceptions or gaps in their knowledge and also content that would be redundant to teach. (As the course progresses, she'll also use pre-assessments at the beginning of each unit to ensure her lessons remain purposeful and targeted.)
Persuading Others, Proposing Options, and Voting
Following their table discussions, students share with the class their recommendations for what topics they most want to study. Ms. North encourages them to provide rationales for their recommendations and explain their thinking as they attempt to persuade others. Again, this is good civic practice. Students learn about the power of their words to convince others. Aristotle is said to have asserted that it's the best orators who will lead the people. A major goal for civics-minded educators is to ensure the development of orators, whether such orators lead communities, their families, or a business. Imagine the impact these types of experiences could have if every teacher, across the school day, used them to facilitate students' learning.
Ms. North's students then discuss which three topics would flow best into a unit, how many weeks they think it would take to learn about each topic, and ways in which they might demonstrate mastery of the content of each topic. When students understand what success looks like and how it will be measured, they're more likely to attain that success. And when they're offered choices, students become more motivated to complete tasks, often going beyond what teachers expect.
Students also develop stronger agency when their opinions are valued and used. Agency—the ability, willingness, and tendency to take purposeful initiative—is the opposite of helplessness, and a key attribute of a successful citizen.
For a student to propose viable options for demonstrating understanding, of course, he or she needs to be aware of the various ways in which a person can demonstrate knowledge of content. So, teachers need to give students practice with multiple measures of assessment; if students have only experienced multiple-choice tests in a given class, they're likely to recommend that approach to assessment because they think it's the only way knowledge can be demonstrated. Keeping informed about available options is also a key characteristic of citizenship.
During the last part of Ms. North's lesson, students vote for their top three choices of what to learn in class, drawing on what they've heard from their peers. Again, this develops civic understanding, but rather than being a mock vote, it's a vote with real consequences for them. As in other voting situations, students can lobby one another, attempt to persuade voters, and even negotiate for votes.
Students having such experiences are likely to realize that democracies survive even when votes are split and to understand the implicit agreement in society—that we live with the majority rule unless that rule violates rights or runs counter to foundational documents of the organization (whether it's a set of class rules or the U.S. Constitution). They get a sense of what it means to live in a society that governs itself. They learn civic responsibility and the consequences of that liberty.
Thus, beyond learning the health content in Ms. North's classroom, the students shown here are experiencing civics in action. As active participants in the society Ms. North has created, they each have a voice that can influence the class's experiences. Such democratic approaches to the curriculum provide students opportunities to express their ideas, shape policy, and engage more deeply in learning.
