The Importance of Teaching Civics at a Time of Elections

Introduction | Best Practices | Resources

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
– John F. Kennedy

The Social Studies Curriculum of the Archdiocese is based on the C⁴ Standards which incorporate College and Career Readiness, Civic Engagement and Catholic Identity. During these unsettling times there is a real need to spend some time focusing on the latter two during our Social Studies instruction.

The C³ Framework is driven by the following shared principles about high quality social studies education:

The social studies prepare the nation’s young people for success in college and career; as well as informed, engaged participation in civic life.
Inquiry is at the heart of social studies instruction.
The social studies involve interdisciplinary instruction and benefit from interaction with and integration of the arts and humanities.
The social studies is composed of deep and enduring understandings, concepts, and skills from the disciplines. Social studies emphasize skills and practices that prepare students for informed and engaged participation in civic life.
Social studies education has direct and explicit connections to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies.

As Catholic Educators, it is essential that we incorporate Faith links Social Justice Principles into our instruction and thus raise the C³ Standards to C^4.

With the 2020 election cycle under way, teachers should have a focus on civic engagement balanced with Catholic Identity. Research suggests that to ensure quality experiences teachers should promote positive interactions that focus on learning and respectful exchange of ideas. This includes a focus on using supporting evidence in discussions while also establishing strategies for evaluating news media for bias. Teachers should always be neutral moderators of discussion and uphold Catholic values. Personal preferences should never enter into discussion with students.

Effectively implementing thoughtful and productive political discussion in the classroom should begin with students having a clear understanding of the structure of the government and electoral process as defined by the Constitution. Taking time to review current events, issues and ideas in school is an important component of promoting positive civic engagement as it increases awareness of other perspectives and helps to promote acceptance of different viewpoints and experiences.

Best Practices

Following are some “best practices”¹ recommended for teachers to use:

Give students explicit instructions on how to talk to one another, and set clear expectations for the kinds of language they use, respectful listening strategies, and their use of evidence to support ideas.
Don’t be afraid to formalize discussion to require research and preparation, specify who gets to speak when and for how long, and assign roles, viewpoints, or topics in advance.
Allow and encourage students to change their minds and complicate their thinking, but don’t force them to try to win everyone over. Recognize where and how reasonable disagreement can exist, and give students time to build on each other’s ideas, rather than assuming every issue has just two or three possible viewpoints.
Be clear in advance about hard limits for discussion, or what is and is not open for debate.
Set and enforce boundaries that protect vulnerable students and align with your school’s mission and values.
Make it clear when discussing ideas that may be fringe or extremist, and fall back on evidence and reasoning, rather than emotion, to counteract harmful statements or ideas.

¹Kelly Siegel- Stechler, Election 2020: Engaging Students in Civic Discourse, Johns Hopkins University, Spring, 2020Top of Form

Resources

Maggie’s Civics Corner (for younger grades)
https://rendellcenter.org/programs/maggies-civics-corner/

Civics Read-Alouds
https://rendellcenter.org/programs/read-aloud-lessons/

How the Electoral College Works

ANALYZING MEDIA: Political Ads
https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/00-2/lp2091.shtml

Lesson Plans
https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson348.shtml

Resources for All Levels

(Includes resources from National Constitution Center)