Idaho is reworking civics standards. But who should decide what’s most important? | Opinion
Polarization. Lack of trust in our institutions and each other. Disinformation. Culture wars. Apathy.
It’s hard not to be concerned about the state of our civic life, which could be defined as how we think and act together about things that affect all of us. The situation prevents us from addressing the many challenges of our time, let alone working toward a more perfect union. One of the powerful ways that we can address this is through more, and better, civics education. But what kind of civics? To what end? And how can it best be educated for?
Since the 1950s, “civics education” has formally focused on little more than knowledge of the principles of American democracy and the mechanics of American government. Idaho’s addition of the “citizenship test” requirement for graduation several years ago contributed little to addressing the real need.
But what is that need? Civics education, if it is to have any real meaning, should do nothing less than cultivate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for active and constructive engagement in the civic life of our community and society.
A committee at the Idaho Department of Education has been tasked with creating a set of standards for civics that is distinct from the rest of social studies. This is the result of a legislative resolution passed last year, driven by Idaho having receiving a grade of “D” by a national think tank concerning itself with civics.
The scoring, however, was based primarily on the clarity and consistency of civics standards, and the state committee’s response to our “D” grade will do nothing to help us answer the questions of what we want from civics and how best to get there.
So how can we best address those questions? To answer this, I’ll begin with a quote from 1940: “It is not likely that schools will make great progress in civic education without the understanding and support of at least that portion of the public which is deeply concerned for the future of American democracy.”
More than any other subject, civics is based on ideas about the nature of a good society. No committee or specialist in education is in the position to define that on behalf of the stakeholders. It is therefore essential that we start broad and work inwards. Specifically, we should start by defining the civic life we ultimately want; this will provide our “why” of civics. And the defining can only be done by the broader community, or at least a representative cross-section of it.
Once that shared image of a desired civic life is created, we are ready to define the knowledge, skills and dispositions that our future graduates will need in order to reach for that vision. And based upon those, we can design the civics experience itself, including content and activities both inside and outside of the classroom, from K through 12. That design should build upon the good practices already being done while removing obstacles to civic learning.
This process — inclusive and open, yet also disciplined and focused — would take time and commitment, but would be well worth the effort, helping make our schools national leaders in civics education for the 21st century. The fact that civics is a battleground in the false “culture wars” strengthens the case even more for a process that is inclusive, participatory and transparent.
What I’ve described above has a name: Learning to Create Together. It was developed in Boise and recently presented to Boise Schools by a local group called Boisevolve, which invites help and is willing to working with any district who wants to pursue it.
I’ll close with a question posed a century ago, one that remains relevant today as we think about how to design civics: “How shall boys and girls who for years have had most of the details of their lives arranged by adults be expected straightaway to adapt themselves to the life of responsible adult citizenship?”
Matthew Shapiro is a 30-year Boise resident, a former Idaho-certified teacher, and founder of Boisevolve.
