Civics, Civic Education

Various groups, such as political scientists, philosophers, and historians have long debated what civics is and what the school's responsibility is in creating citizens. Even though John Dewey's extensive work on democracy and education has not resolved the issue, scholars and practitioners alike have used his ideas and those of others to shape the dialogue and definition of democracy. They have also debated how to develop citizens who know civic norms and can use civic knowledge to willingly participate in a thoughtful examination of and conversation about the most fundamental democratic values of the common good, selfgovernment, justice, equality, diversity, openness, free inquiry, and the individual rights (life, liberty, property, pursuit of happiness).

At the very least, civic education teaches the fundamental civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that should create responsible and productive members of society. Carried to an extreme, civics can be used to foster an attachment to the nation's principles and institutions as entities worthy of admiration, loyalty, and sacrifice. Obviously, the ways in which educators advance any version of these views privileges the political and ideological perspectives that are attached to that vision of civics, civic education, and citizenship. For example, former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige contended that the No Child Left Behind Act would improve student learning in civics and American history through the basic elements of reading, writing, math, and science.

Due to influence of the National Education Association and other organizations, the subject of civics was added to the secondary school curriculum in the late nineteenth century. With the influx of large number of immigrants who arrived in the United States, schools were expected to teach students how to become citizens and what their role was in relationship to their community and their nation. Today, there is a similar “hue and cry” over American youths' lack of civic knowledge. This seems to recur periodically, as nearly 100 years after civics became a part of the school's curriculum, education officials and policy leaders are once again outraged over the “civics illiteracy” of its young citizens, who are now more likely to be new immigrants, thus mirroring the conditions of the nineteenth century, which first led to the inclusion of civics in the school curriculum.

Seeking a renewed emphasis on the ideal of a national civic identity, educators and public policy leaders have once again found common ground in agreeing that without citizens who know what their role is, democracy is a “hollow shell.” Underscoring this belief is that the public schools must take the lead in teaching civic responsibility along with the call to teach [Page 137]civics in order to ensure the continued prosperity of the nation. This most recent appeal for civic education has led to a 2003 Congressional Conference on Civic Education, which developed several goals, including making civic education a central purpose of schools; establishing well-defined standards for the subject; and encouraging classroom programs that foster discussions of current events.