Civics Education and Community Engagement

Becoming an Accomplished Citizen

The Crisis in Civics Education

At the birth of the United States, Thomas Jefferson gave us a warning, "an educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as free people." Richard Neumann (2017) professor and chair at the Division of Education at San Diego State University, published American Democracy in Distress: The Failure of Social Education. In this essay, he investigated the relationship between social education programs in public schools in the United States and the health of its democracy. He concluded, "social education programs in the United States do not adequately prepare young people for political participation and this deficiency has contributed significantly to distress in American democracy."

Shapiro and Brown (2018) from the Center for American Progress noted in a review of the state of civics education, "When civics education is taught effectively, it can equip students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to become informed and engaged citizens." They researched the state of high school civics education evaluating different measures in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They found:

• Only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of U.S. government or civics studies. Thirty states require half a year, and eleven states have no civics requirements.

• State civics curricula are heavy on knowledge but light on building skills and agency for civic engagement.

• While nearly half the states allow credit for community service, only Maryland and the District of Columbia require it.

• Nationwide, students score very low on the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. Government exam.

• States with the highest rates of youth civic engagement tend to prioritize civic courses.

One of the fundamental goals of our nation's founding immigrants in proposing a public education system was to prepare each of us to become active participants in our system of self-government. This requires more than voting for your favorite or popular candidate. We need to develop critical thinking and listening skills as well as communication skills to be able to debate ideas and proposals with others to inform our convictions. We can then exhibit civic virtues and behave with respect for others with different points of view. We can learn to compromise and become a “We” culture by working together. We need to become better-educated voters and not repeat the Santos debacle.

According to the National Association of Teachers, "being American was something to be learned and carried out," suggesting this is something of past educational practices. In the NEA Newsletter (March 16, 2017), Amanda Litvinov noted "Only 25 percent of U.S. students reach the 'proficient' standard on the National Assessment of Student Achievement Civics Assessment. And this is only testing for knowledge." They also noted, "Until the 1960s, it was common for American high school students to have three separate courses in civics and government." This has not been happening for more than 50 years. They go on to say "Even states that require civics education rarely take best practices into account. Since 2015, several states have required students to pass the U.S. citizenship test before graduating from high school. Putting so much emphasis on rote memorization may actually diminish the likelihood that students will develop meaningful civics skills.”

The test high school students take is the same test that is given to those who become naturalized citizens. Knowledge is soon forgotten if the practices of being a citizen are not acted on and reinforced. Are most naturalized citizens being educated and trained to become accomplished citizens who can join the “We” of our nation and contribute in their unique way? We wonder as the observable data seem to strongly suggest that many of us are failing as citizens. There is a need to develop the best educational and experiential practices to face the challenges of learning to live and flourish together as united citizens. Watering down our civility damages our culture and creates many unexpected negative consequences. For example, on average, only about half of the people eligible to vote do so.

The U.S. government is virtually shut down by polarization and gridlock. Deliberation and compromise are non-existent. We now have a government by executive orders. We cannot solve our border and immigration problems. Our physical infrastructure of roads and public buildings are decaying. Our national debt is out of control and we continue borrowing against our future’s best interest (delayed discounting). The root system of our culture and values that shape, sustain, and promote life, as we have proposed in previous essays, include a strong education and community. However, both of these are decaying, and with them, our civic education.

The crisis in civic education is that teaching civics and practicing civility is no longer a priority. It has not been a priority for many years. The most significant unintended consequences of the failure to educate our students in the art and practice of civics are demonstrated in two recent performances by two federal judicial nominees for the U.S. District Court. The first demonstration of how ill-prepared these two judges are to serve as Federal District Court Judges was a nominee of President Trump. He was asked during the hearing by John Kennedy (R-La), a member of the judiciary committee, questions about his experience and legal definitions, and "he failed that quiz." Soon thereafter he withdrew his nomination from consideration. More recently a judge nominated by President Biden was asked again by Senator Kennedy about the scope of Articles II and V, and about a legal theory regarding statutory interpretation. She failed to answer those questions. Kennedy later added that he would not support her nomination, stating - “Look, if you want to be an auto mechanic, you got to know what a spark plug is.” Unfortunately, it seems that we are watering down the education of our future judges. This contributes to our lack of trust in our government and the judicial system.

A Call to Action

A Wall Street Journal Op/Ed (March 1, 2021) signed by six former education secretaries emphasized that "America Needs History and Civics Education to Promote Unity." They noted, "Regrettably, civics, which teaches skills of participation and the knowledge that sustains it, and history, which provides a frame of reference for the present, have been sorely neglected over the past half-century in U.S. schools. This cannot continue to be the case."

There is support for recent efforts to have new standards that prioritize the depth of civics knowledge over the number of facts acquired by rote memorization. Aggarwal-Schifellite, in "Redrawing the Civics Education Roadmap" (Harvard Gazette, March 1, 2021), describes a new proposed direction for civics education. The proposal? A Roadmap for Educating for American Democracy is a product of educators and researchers at various institutions that "laid out this strategy and other recommendations for a large-scale recommitment to a field that has seen investment decline during the last 50 years."

Paul Carrese, founding director at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, and principal investigator of the Redrawing Civic Education Project noted in the same issue of the Harvard Gazette, "The country is very divided [and] we know from repeated high-quality surveys and studies that there's widespread loss of confidence in our very form of government, in the American civic order. America, we think, is in this bad place in part because the American education system - not only in schools, but in higher education - has neglected the teachings of civics and American history." The recommendations also stressed, "the importance of interpersonal civic engagement and disagreement while also emphasizing civic virtues of respect, honesty, and 'moving forward together,' which has become more urgent in an age of growing misinformation online."

Sembor, in the Public Administration Quarterly (1993, 17-2), wrote, "local government administrators, a largely untapped resource, acting as instructional leaders in their communities, can make a significant contribution to the development of local citizenship education." He proposed that the community is a critical level of analysis because its institutions, like local government, provide citizens with the opportunity to act directly for the public good in their own neighborhood."John Dewy, in his book The Public and its Problems (1927), noted, "Democracy must begin at home and its home is the neighborhood community. The local level is where we are taught and learn to be responsible citizens and work together."

Community Engagement

Becoming active and engaging with the community is essential for comprehensive civics education to become a model in practice. This should be required as part of the academic civics curriculum. This community engagement would provide the student with personalized civics lessons connecting the community with common good actions. Participating in society in this way reinforces the “We” behavior of the individual and the community. The student becomes an adult citizen who remains committed, active and engaged with community practices for the common good. There are many community agencies and institutions where one can develop more prosocial community practices that enhance well-being and make the community a better place to live. These include service organizations, religious groups, athletic settings, mentorship, advocacy groups, etc. The possibilities are endless. The rewards are usually immediate.

The facts are that in order to evolve our culture for the common good we have to start weaving (working together) with our communities, and that includes our neighborhoods, work environment, friends at large, schools, churches, etc. It is the local and the greater physical and social environments in which we live, work, and interactions that influence our physical and mental health and our well-being in a reciprocal manner. It is all about engaging in prosocial behavior, that is, engaging in behavior that is positive, helpful, and intended to promote healing, social acceptance, and friendship. It makes us feel good. It is in fact acting for the benefit of the culture in general. Engaging in prosocial behavior that benefits society is rewarding. There are many positive aspects to being part of a group or community. It provides unique opportunities for people to learn from each other and give support and encouragement to others. This behavior becomes self-rewarding when we join forces with each other. Building and having a sense of community embraces the spirit and character of all participants as they become a part of a group/community. It is empowering and contagious: It becomes a place for support and healing. By working together and engaging in prosocial behavior, including effective conflict resolution, we build positive rewards and reinforcement and enhance the resilience and well-being of our communities.

Resources

Recent events have awakened us to the fact that our democracy is quite fragile. However, this is also a time for significant opportunities to make a difference individually and collectively. These events have demonstrated the need to make it a priority to invest and engage in learning and teaching civics and citizenship and to engage in our civic duties. It is time for everyone to become informed citizens and to behave like one. Here are four websites, among others, that provide online resources to enable one to become an involved and committed citizen:

• Center for Civic Education - www.civiced.org

• The Fulcrum - https://thefulcrum.us

• Center for American Progress - www.americanprogress.org

• Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley - https://ggsc.berkeley.edu

Pass it on and see you next week.

Francisco I. Perez, PhD

Henry S. Pennypacker PhD

Faris R. Kronfli, PhD

Our book, ‘Engineering the Upswing - A Blueprint for Reframing Our Culture,’ can be found at Amazon or at the Cambridge Center at behavior.org.