WHAT IS CIVICS?
Civics is the study of the workings of governments and of the rights
and responsibilities of citizenship. Individuals involved in the specialized
study of government and the obligations of citizenship are called political
scientists. In this chapter, elementary school students will be referred
to as young political scientists because in dynamic social studies classroom,
they participate in citizenship education activities throughout the year,
applying their civic knowledge to the solution of real problems – just
like professional political scientists.
The unquestioned principal goal of public education over the
years has been to prepare students for effective citizenship. The National
Council for the Social Studies (2001) has defined an effective citizen
as one “who has the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to assume
the ‘office of citizen’ in our democratic republic” (p. 319). To ready
themselves to occupy this esteemed office, the NCSS (2001) advises that
students participate in well-planned and organized citizenship education
programs in which activities “expand civic knowledge, develop participation
skills, and support the belief that, in a democracy, the actions of a person
makes a difference. Throughout the curriculum and at every grade level,
students should have opportunities to apply their civic knowledge, skills
and values as they work to solve real problems in their school, the community,
our nation, and the world” (p.319).
WHY IS CIVICS IMPORTANT?
In 1782, few believed that a unified nation could be created
out of a collection of “free and independent states” spread out over a
vast expanse of land. Each had incredibly diverse economic interests, was
fearful of an overly strong federal government, and remained fiercely loyal
to established regional, ethnic, and religious ties. The newly independent
states often fought each other over land and money, and, to add fuel to
an already blazing fire, there was no national political organization with
the power to settle their disputes. By 1787, the situation escalated to
such a level that many people proposed that the new union of states could
not survive without a strong federal government. Therefore, in the hot
summer of 1787, 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states gathered in Philadelphia
for “the Grand Convention” which was charged with the daunting task of
creating a strong federal government while protecting the rights of the
states and individuals. The delegates, know as the framers, took 4 months
to draw up the plan: the United States Constitution, a document that spelled
out the government of a new nation. It was from this unsettled start that
the seeds of one of the grandest political experiments of all time sprouted
its roots – a republican nation with a representative democracy.
By the late 1700s, after the Constitution was ratified, many
of the early disputes among the states began to fade and a new feeling
of patriotism emerged. It was especially fitting that education was considered
an important factor that would guide the country and its people into the
future. Central to the framers’ conception of a successful democratic representative
government was an informed public citizenry capable of exercising their
rights and responsibilities in an informed and meaningful manner. And this
capability, according to Thomas Jefferson, grew from civic education. Civic
education would provide the knowledge and courage to “enable every man
to judge for himself what will secure or endanger his freedom.” If citizens
did not know the Bill of Rights, for example, how could they weight individual
freedoms against the needs and welfare of the common community?
From the beginning of our nation’s history, civic education has
been, and continues to be, central to public education and essential to
the survival of American democracy: “’Government of the people, by the
people. And for the people,’ in Lincoln’s phrase, means that the people
have the right to control their government. But this right is meaningless
unless they have the knowledge and skills to exercise that control and
possess the traits of character required to do so responsibly” (The Center
for civic Education, 1994. p. 2). Therefore, dynamic social studies is
based on a conviction that civic education is fundamental to the preservation
of our constitutional democracy and, therefore, the primary component of
all education in the United States.
WHAT SHOULD YOUN POLITICAL SCIENTISTS KNOW OR BE ABLE TO DO?
The goal of civic education is the development of informed, responsible
citizens committed to the principles of American constitutional democracy.
Their effective and responsible participation grows from the acquisition
of a body of knowledge and a set of participatory skills. Toward this goal,
the Center for Civic Education (1994) established a set of standards specifying
what students should know and be able to do in civics. The K-4 standards
are summarized in Table 3-1. The standards are not intended to be used
as a basis for a national curriculum in civics, but simply to offer a guide
to teachers so they know what they should teach their students and as a
framework for curriculum developers on which they might build high-quality
civics programs.
TABLE 3-1
K-4 Content Standards
I. What is Government and What Should It Do?
A. What is Government?
B. Where do people in government get the authority to make, apply,
and enforce rules and laws and manage disputes about them?
C. Why is government necessary?
D. What are some of the most important things governments do?
E. What are the purposes of rules and laws?
F. How can you evaluate rules and laws?
G. What are the differences between limited and unlimited governments?
H. Why is it important to limit the power of government?
II. What Are the Basic Values and Principles of American Democracy?
A. What are the most important values and principles of American democracy?
B. What are some important beliefs Americans have about themselves
and their government?
C. Why is it important for Americans to share certain values, principles,
and beliefs?
D. What are the benefits of diversity in the United States?
E. How should conflicts about diversity be prevented and managed?
F. How can people work together to promote the values and principles
of American democracy?
III. How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody
the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy?
A. What is the United States Constitution and why is it important?
B. What does the national government do and how does it protect individual
rights and promote the common good?
C. What are the major responsibilities of state governments?
D. What are the major responsibilities of local governments?
E. Who represents you in the legislative and executive branches of
your local, state, and national governments?
IV. What Is The Relationship of the United States to Other Nations
and to World Affairs?
A. How is the world divided into nations?
B. How do nations interact with one another?
V. What Are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?
A. What does it mean to be a citizen of the United States?
B. How does a person become a citizen?
C. What are important rights in the United States?
D. What are important responsibilities of Americans?
E. What dispositions or traits of character are important to the preservation
and improvement of American democracy?
F. How can Americans participate in their government?
G. What is the importance of political leadership and public service?
H. How should Americans select leaders?
YOUNG POLITICAL SCIENTISTS
FORMAL METHODS OF CIVIC INSTRUCTIONS
As children become involved in meaningful democratic classroom life
and are given significant opportunities for participating in classroom
governance, they will develop a greater insight and appreciation for civic
life in the community, nation, and world. The Center for Civic Education,
in its influential National Standards for Civics and Government (1994),
maintains that such knowledge is communicated to students through formal
instruction that provides students with “a basic understanding of civic
life, politics, and government. It should help them understand the workings
of their own and other political systems as well as the relationship of
American politics and government to world affairs. Formal instruction provides
a basis for understanding the rights and responsibilities as citizens in
American constitutional democracy and a framework for competent and responsible
participation” (p.1).
Effective citizenship education, then, has a content base, but
not superficial coverage of facts – for example, “The federal system of
government divides power among the executive, legislative, and judiciary
branches” – without regard for what the facts mean. Students often find
such instruction trivial and uninteresting because their teachers fail
to establish the relevance of civic knowledge to their lives. Therefore,
as young political scientists, students must not only know the facts of
civics, but also how to ask questions and answer them. Young political
scientists must know what political scientists do. Some of the common civics
experiences commonly found in elementary school classroom follow.
The Constitution of the United States
Normally a part of the fifth-grade social studies program, the children
learn that the Constitution is the cornerstone of our government – the
basic and supreme law of the United States. In 4,543 words, the Constitution
outlines the structure of the United States government and the rights of
all American citizens. The Constitution is known as a “living document”
because it is flexible enough to be changed (amended) when necessary. The
Constitution is divided into three parts:
• Preamble – This explains the purpose of the document.
• Articles – These describe the structure of the government (legislative,
executive, and judicial branches) as well as the process for amending the
document. There are seven articles.
• Amendments – The changes made to the Constitution. The first 10 are
called the Bill of Rights; there are a total of 27 amendments approved
since 1791.
Elections and Voting
One of the best ways to educate young people about what it means to
be a citizen in a democratic society is to get them involved in voting
and other responsibilities of citizenship. Voting offers an excellent opportunity
to learn civic responsibility and shared decision making in a meaningful
and motivating context. By participating in the entire voting line of action
(determining voting issues, suggesting possible choices, casting and tallying
votes, and confirming the outcome of the vote) children directly experience
how a democracy works.
Initial voting experiences should involve issues of interest for the
entire class. It is not secret that unless people are interested in a voting
issue, they will not be motivated to participate in the voting process
and will likely come away from the experience with a feeling that voting
is not important to them. Therefore, initial votes should be taken on issues
such as favorite storybook character, a class mascot, foods, which animal
makes the best pet, who will win the Super Bowl and so on.
Children should be encouraged to thoroughly discuss the issue
before they take a vote, making arguments in support of the position they
are willing to defend and trying to persuade their classmates to vote in
their favor. It should be emphasized that opposing points of view should
be presented with self-control and easiness. The children must realize
that it is normal for people to hold different opinions about things and
that these differences should not break down friendly relationships.
The vote itself should be carried out carefully. Try to remember
that children do not understand the voting process as an adult does, so
some of the procedures we are comfortable with may be confusing to them.
Take, for example, the practice of having the children raise their hands
and then counting the results. Oftentimes young children will raise their
hands as soon as teacher says, “Raise you hands if . . .” Whether they
want to vote that way or not. Others will lower their hands before their
votes are counted, and some may raise their hands more than once (even
though they’re directed not to). Instead of raising hands, it might be
best to: