These endeavors just show that there are individuals out there who do care about passing knowledge on of our country and how it’s governed to the next generation. I’m 72 and we had such educational classes when I was in school. It instilled a real pride in me about what it means to be an American. Glad to hear of these things taking place.
I hope the songs cover responsibilities of citizenship as well as rights. I taught elementary and middle school for 22 years and found students were quick to claim their rights, but had no concept that there were also corresponding responsibilities.
I do not have children. One consequence of that was not realizing that such a void existed in school curriculum these days.
It hit home for me recently. While watching Alexandra Pelosi’s documentary “Insurrectionist Next Door” one of the young men that had been convicted remarked that he was caught up in the fervor of the moment. Those in the crowd around him were saying things like “Yeah. 1776. This is our war against tyranny”. He “thought” it meant something important. About some war or something but he had not really looked into it too much. What?!!!
How can we expect any young citizen to respect and honor our form of government when they don’t even know anything about it? Not important so easy to take for granted or easily discard as unimportant.
Good new indeed. What an awesome way to capture the attention of students and, hopefully, get some of the information to stick. Probably most of us could use a good review of the basics of our government.
I had a civics requirement when I graduated high school -- but that was 1970. The final exam included a long form 1040 that had to be completed correctly including the math.
I, too, graduated in 1970. I,too, learned how to do my own taxes. I've been doing them myself my entire life and am so grateful to my teacher (I still remember his name) for teaching me how to do it!
Jill Biden is teaching now I believe and Laura Bush was a librarian and MAY have taught, not sure, but both are highly invested in education. I'm so glad to hear this. It's like trying to "wake up the dead" but lets keep it going. That type of program can also spark in interest in the countries history and wanting to learn more about how we are supposed to govern. Gotta keep pushing. Thanks for sharing this Adam, it IS good news.
Thanks Adam for this good news! It's awesome what can be done when we work together!! When I was in school, my Dad always asked "what are they teaching you in that school?". Well, apparently it's a lot less now than then!
I've often believed that our shift to STEM pulled valuable resources from Social Studies. In additional to the initiatives outlined in your article, I also believe that we need to ensure that QUALIFIED teachers are delivering the correct curriculum. I can only speak to my own experiences, but in our area, public school teachers are able to shift from one subject area to another simply by adding an endorsement to their license. Starting as an english, or math or science teacher and then suddenly deciding one wants to teach social studies should not be enough. A foundational education in history, civics and government should be required. I know of cases where a teacher making such a change could not tell students whether Alexander Hamilton was a President. In other case, a teacher led student to believe that the buffalo was driven to near extinction because of the railroads - not the western expansion facilitated by the railroad but literally by trains hitting the buffalo and killing them. If these are the things our kids are being led to believe in the coursework, then we are doomed to lose our history and a core understanding of how important a civics education is to the foundation of our democracy.
Thanks for sharing the plans for civics videos Adam. It reminds me of the Red Skelton video explaining word by word the Pledge of Allegiance. I replay it from time to time for myself and others as a refresher.
Civics education would be improved if the Pledge were revised to be to the U.S. Constitution. That is a lot more substantive than the flag, and without which the flag would mean very little.
Just saw this NYT story... "A New Place to Learn Civics: The Workplace" ... the sub-title blurb reads: "Fearing that rising distrust could spell doom for businesses, some companies are offering employees lessons in democracy."
The link below is for an unlocked version of the article:
When my daughter was in high school (was a non-secular school) I successfully petitioned for her to have independent study for the government class (my B.A. degree is in Poli Sci). As part of her term paper, she interviewed our state assemblyman and our congressman. A complaint of the congressman was that so many didn't understand the functions of each government level, he would receive letters about stop signs, etc (he would forward them to the proper level). Hopefully this education push includes the idea that everything isn't a federal issue. As an aside, my daughter wasn't happy with me back then - I had required a lot more work than the teacher.
I hope this is not some watered-down schlock intended to entertain rather than teach. Civics education should be tested at some point to see what is retained.
Having taken a brief stab at teaching a course at a community college, I appreciate the challenge faced by teachers at all levels in keeping students sufficiently "entertained" to pay attention to what is being taught. Out of millions of teachers, certainly not all can be "above average" at teaching material that is factually correct and ideologically unbiased, while also retaining students' attention.
There are already a wealth of digitally based "course supplements" that are accessible to students in many subjects. The one discussed here sounds as if it would be a useful addition to the subject of "civics." But I agree that the results should be objectively measured, particularly by (gasp) objectively testing students, even on such "sensitive" questions as "who was the first President of the United States?, or "what country borders the United States on the north?" The percentage of people who don't know is incredible.
"The Seal of Civic Readiness is a formal recognition that a student has attained a high level of proficiency in terms of civic knowledge, civic skills, civic mindset, and civic experiences." Students who complete the requirements get "The Seal of Civic Readiness distinction on a high school transcript and diploma."
These endeavors just show that there are individuals out there who do care about passing knowledge on of our country and how it’s governed to the next generation. I’m 72 and we had such educational classes when I was in school. It instilled a real pride in me about what it means to be an American. Glad to hear of these things taking place.
I hope the songs cover responsibilities of citizenship as well as rights. I taught elementary and middle school for 22 years and found students were quick to claim their rights, but had no concept that there were also corresponding responsibilities.
Exactly!
I do not have children. One consequence of that was not realizing that such a void existed in school curriculum these days.
It hit home for me recently. While watching Alexandra Pelosi’s documentary “Insurrectionist Next Door” one of the young men that had been convicted remarked that he was caught up in the fervor of the moment. Those in the crowd around him were saying things like “Yeah. 1776. This is our war against tyranny”. He “thought” it meant something important. About some war or something but he had not really looked into it too much. What?!!!
How can we expect any young citizen to respect and honor our form of government when they don’t even know anything about it? Not important so easy to take for granted or easily discard as unimportant.
Good new indeed. What an awesome way to capture the attention of students and, hopefully, get some of the information to stick. Probably most of us could use a good review of the basics of our government.
Wow! Thanks for leading us to an oasis in the middle of a vast desert.
I had a civics requirement when I graduated high school -- but that was 1970. The final exam included a long form 1040 that had to be completed correctly including the math.
I, too, graduated in 1970. I,too, learned how to do my own taxes. I've been doing them myself my entire life and am so grateful to my teacher (I still remember his name) for teaching me how to do it!
Jill Biden is teaching now I believe and Laura Bush was a librarian and MAY have taught, not sure, but both are highly invested in education. I'm so glad to hear this. It's like trying to "wake up the dead" but lets keep it going. That type of program can also spark in interest in the countries history and wanting to learn more about how we are supposed to govern. Gotta keep pushing. Thanks for sharing this Adam, it IS good news.
Thanks Adam for this good news! It's awesome what can be done when we work together!! When I was in school, my Dad always asked "what are they teaching you in that school?". Well, apparently it's a lot less now than then!
I've often believed that our shift to STEM pulled valuable resources from Social Studies. In additional to the initiatives outlined in your article, I also believe that we need to ensure that QUALIFIED teachers are delivering the correct curriculum. I can only speak to my own experiences, but in our area, public school teachers are able to shift from one subject area to another simply by adding an endorsement to their license. Starting as an english, or math or science teacher and then suddenly deciding one wants to teach social studies should not be enough. A foundational education in history, civics and government should be required. I know of cases where a teacher making such a change could not tell students whether Alexander Hamilton was a President. In other case, a teacher led student to believe that the buffalo was driven to near extinction because of the railroads - not the western expansion facilitated by the railroad but literally by trains hitting the buffalo and killing them. If these are the things our kids are being led to believe in the coursework, then we are doomed to lose our history and a core understanding of how important a civics education is to the foundation of our democracy.
Adam, I remember Civics class well. I felt the instruction worthwhile, although undivided attention was a lot to ask of a 14-year-old boy. 😊
Thanks for sharing the plans for civics videos Adam. It reminds me of the Red Skelton video explaining word by word the Pledge of Allegiance. I replay it from time to time for myself and others as a refresher.
Civics education would be improved if the Pledge were revised to be to the U.S. Constitution. That is a lot more substantive than the flag, and without which the flag would mean very little.
Just saw this NYT story... "A New Place to Learn Civics: The Workplace" ... the sub-title blurb reads: "Fearing that rising distrust could spell doom for businesses, some companies are offering employees lessons in democracy."
The link below is for an unlocked version of the article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/29/world/europe/businesses-civics-education.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6Uw.aDak.1Ge3W9XxiFLA&smid=url-share
Enjoy!
When my daughter was in high school (was a non-secular school) I successfully petitioned for her to have independent study for the government class (my B.A. degree is in Poli Sci). As part of her term paper, she interviewed our state assemblyman and our congressman. A complaint of the congressman was that so many didn't understand the functions of each government level, he would receive letters about stop signs, etc (he would forward them to the proper level). Hopefully this education push includes the idea that everything isn't a federal issue. As an aside, my daughter wasn't happy with me back then - I had required a lot more work than the teacher.
I hope this is not some watered-down schlock intended to entertain rather than teach. Civics education should be tested at some point to see what is retained.
Having taken a brief stab at teaching a course at a community college, I appreciate the challenge faced by teachers at all levels in keeping students sufficiently "entertained" to pay attention to what is being taught. Out of millions of teachers, certainly not all can be "above average" at teaching material that is factually correct and ideologically unbiased, while also retaining students' attention.
There are already a wealth of digitally based "course supplements" that are accessible to students in many subjects. The one discussed here sounds as if it would be a useful addition to the subject of "civics." But I agree that the results should be objectively measured, particularly by (gasp) objectively testing students, even on such "sensitive" questions as "who was the first President of the United States?, or "what country borders the United States on the north?" The percentage of people who don't know is incredible.
As I shared in the first article on Civics, New York also has a decent Civics curriculum.
https://www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/seal-civic-readiness
"The Seal of Civic Readiness is a formal recognition that a student has attained a high level of proficiency in terms of civic knowledge, civic skills, civic mindset, and civic experiences." Students who complete the requirements get "The Seal of Civic Readiness distinction on a high school transcript and diploma."
Pilot schools: https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/pilot-schools-for-the-seal-of-civic-readiness.pdf
https://www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/civic-readiness-initiative
"Civic readiness is continuously developed throughout students’ prekindergarten - 12th grade education "
https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/elementary-school-civic-readiness-definition.pdf
https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/intermediate-school-civic-readiness-definition.pdf
Hope springs eternal 💓