by Matt Robinson
On January 10 in Washington D.C. an event, “For Democracy’s Future: Education Reclaims Our Civic Mission,” kicked-off a national conversation on the importance of informed and engaged citizens. It was streamed on the White House website.
This is what it was not: a group of academics preaching to one another about how important civics is to our society.
This is what it was: a diverse group sharing research, historical perspectives and personal experiences of how engaging youth in solving community problems impacts the problems and develops the stewards we need to sustain our democracy.
Now, if you look at the list of the organizations that sponsored and participated in the event, you could think that it was an ivory tower-type event—30,000 feet off the ground with lots of lofty ideas about what schools should do. However, it was clear by the end of the event that although schools need to do more to reconnect with their original civic mission, civic education is not entirely up to schools.
Repeatedly the point was made that civic education requires students to actively apply concepts and principles. The Secretary of the Department of Education Arne Duncan spoke of the success he witnessed as a superintendent when his district added action to civic learning expectations. Action suggests partnerships with community organizations; the type of partnership we see in high quality service-learning experiences.
The event marked the release of the U.S. Department of Education’s own report, “Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy: A Road Map and Call to Action.”
The event also coincided with the publication of “A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future,” a report from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement. A Crucible Moment was prepared at the request of the U.S. Department of Education under the leadership of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Global Perspective Institute, Inc. (GPI).
I am looking forward to reading the reports (they were just released yesterday, and I had some other things to finish, but I’m going to get to them next) and comparing them to the Guardian of Democracy report released this fall. All this attention to civic learning is a positive thing!
Matt Robinson is a Featured Blogger and an education consultant with KIDS Consortium.
