NEW!!!
Teachers Guide
Student Handbook
Active Citizenship Today
Louis P. Eatman,
President
Todd Clark, Executive Director
Marshall Croddy, Director of Program and
Materials
Development
Charles Degelman, Editor Susan Philips, Consultant
Andrew Costly, Production
Manager
©2005,
Service-Learning NETWORK
Constitutional Rights Foundation
601 S. Kingsley Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 487-5590
Fax (213) 386-0459
crf@crf-usa.org
This issue of Service-Learning
NETWORK is made possible by a generous grant from The Ford
Foundation.
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Why
Civic Education?
Civic-education coalitions require
school- community
partnerships. How do teachers, educators, school and district
administrators explain the importance of civic education to local
business leaders, policy makers, community groups, parents, and lay
citizens? Here are a few tips put forth by the Civic Mission of Schools.
Why Schools Are Important Venues For
Civic Education
- It is crucial for the future health of our democracy
that all young people —including those who are usually marginalized—be
knowledgeable, engaged in their communities and in politics, and
committed to the public good.
- Encouraging the development of civic skills and
attitudes among young people has been an important goal of education
and was the primary impetus for originally establishing public schools.
- Schools are the only institutions with the capacity
and mandate to reach virtually every young person in the country. Of
all institutions, schools are the most systematically and directly
responsible for imparting citizen norms.
- Schools are best equipped to address the cognitive
aspects of good citizenship — civic and political knowledge and related
skills such as critical thinking and deliberation.
- Schools are communities in which young people learn
to interact, argue, and work together with others, an important
foundation for future citizenship.
- Many non-school institutions that used to provide
venues for young people to participate in civic and political affairs
(such as political parties, unions, nonprofit associations, and
activist religious denominations) have lost the capacity or will to
engage young people. Schools, as major community institutions, can help
reverse this trend and have an impact on other institutions (political,
economic, religious, and family), by providing quality education that
improves young people’s civic knowledge, skills, and intentions
to vote and volunteer.
- Forty state constitutions mention the importance of
civic literacy among citizens, and 13 of them state that a central
purpose of their educational system is to promote good citizenship,
democracy and free government.
Why
Schools Should Focus On Civic Education
- Schools can capitalize on several positive trends
related to youth civic engagement, including an increase in the number
of young people involved in community service and volunteering and in
the percentage of young people who are tolerant and committed to free
speech.
- Schools can help address disturbing trends related
to youth civic engagement, including a decrease in young people’s
interest in political discussion and public issues; their tendency to
be more cynical and alienated from formal politics, more materialistic,
and less trusting; and a decline in their voter participation rates.
- School-based civic education is in decline. Most
formal civic education today comprises only a single semester course on
government—compared to as many as three courses in democracy, civics,
and government that were common until the 1960s.
- Numerous factors work against even the best
intentions educators may have to promote civic engagement among young
people. These obstacles include fear of criticism and litigation if
educators address topics that may be considered controversial or
political in nature; pressures to meet the goals of high-stakes
testing, which now measures reading and mathematics skills (civic
education is rarely included); and budget cutbacks in extracurricular
programs that help children gain civic skills and attitudes.
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