Policymakers see the nation’s 250th anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen civics education. Educators say they face challenges teaching the subject.
How teachers are using government lessons to harmonize America
Teachers at Alexandria City High School in Virginia are using civics education to restore faith in democracy among young people in politically divided America.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Basking in the glare of a classroom’s fluorescent lights, Kit Vonz thought about how people her age felt about the future of the country.
“I don’t know what to do,” Vonz, 18, recently told a small group of other fourth-graders hunched over desks in his government class at Alexandria City High School.
They were discussing research on Gen Z’s attitudes toward democracy.
Bontz’s classmate, David George Fitt, said he found it difficult to escape his “hopeless mindset.” Mr Fitt, a history buff, added that he was disappointed by the political “chaos” he saw on the news.
Trust in government among young Americans is at a record low, according to the latest Harvard Youth Poll. The survey, released in April, found that only 26% of 18- to 29-year-olds felt hopeful about the country’s future.
The results reflect declining trust in the nation’s democratic institutions among young Americans across party lines.
To overcome the recession, federal and state legislators are working to strengthen civics education. Experts believe that increasing young people’s understanding of the rights and responsibilities of government and citizens could help reduce political division and conflict.
They’re looking at 250 countries in this country.th This birthday marks the beginning of a potential decade-long civic renaissance. Kindergarten students will end their education this year on the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the Constitution.
“This is a real runway,” said Sean Healy, director of policy and advocacy at iCivics, a nonpartisan organization that provides civics resources to students and teachers.
But educators say the reality of the country’s deep divisions makes teaching students about government more difficult than ever.
Classroom in chaos
Sunday after church, community members stopped to praise Kimberly Huffman for educating local children about the Constitution. Now, when Ms. Huffman emerges from the pews after a service, her neighbors wonder if she is teaching “the correct Constitution.”
At a parent-teacher conference last fall, a mother was asked if she was teaching her child to be a Democrat, Huffman said. It was the first time she had been asked such a question in her 32 years as a lecturer on American government.
Her community in Wayne County, Ohio, has been a Republican stronghold for half a century. He voted for President Donald Trump in the past three presidential elections. Until the past few years, political resentment had not permeated Huffman’s classrooms.
Now, the calm class was starting to get tense.
Huffman’s curriculum for juniors and seniors at the county’s vocational high schools covers the four founding documents: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Ohio Constitution.
Huffman sticks to the word of the document. She is not affiliated with any political party and encourages students to check their voter registration. Still, they regularly question her handling of topics such as presidential power.
“I still face accusations of being biased, even if I feel like I’m tiptoeing around. I feel like I’m being very careful,” Huffman said.
tense climate
An iCivics survey released in January found that more than half of teachers reported fearing backlash for covering something the “wrong way”, making it harder to teach basic civics concepts.
David Bobb, president of the Bill of Rights Institute, a civics-focused education organization founded by liberal Charles Koch, cited the country’s hostile political climate as the cause. Over the past decade, deep political divisions have influenced how people view this country’s history.
Democratic lawmakers at the state and federal level are pushing to expand history curricula to include more about the slave trade, the treatment of Native Americans and other marginalized groups. Republican lawmakers say these efforts needlessly disrespect Americans. They are moving to ban speaking of “divisive or anti-American ideologies.”
Policymakers of both parties have also put forward a number of proposals to invest in civics education. But like any conversation about how to tell this country’s history, many of those ideas split along ideological lines.
Conservative politicians have criticized civic initiatives that encourage student community involvement, arguing that these tactics promote activism. Democrats, on the other hand, have accused the Trump administration of being biased in its policies.
Last year, the Department of Education emphasized its focus on “patriotism education” and awarded more than $150 million in history and civics grants. The agency also helped launch the America 250 Civic Education Coalition, which brings together primarily conservative organizations to create K-12 and higher education programs.
Bob believes the arbitrary way lawmakers talk about civics has a chilling effect.
“What this means is that adults and young people alike begin to have the same aversion to civics as they do to politics,” he says. “Teachers are trying to find an antidote in the face of this situation. But young people still have some fears.”
see eye to eye
Each semester, students sit in Jennifer Klein’s classroom and predict not just the weather, but American politics.
Some say it’s sunny and bright. Some say it will be cloudy and there is a chance of heavy rain.
In recent years, the answers in Pittsburgh schools have tended to be “darker,” Klein said. She has also seen a change in sentiment reflected in students’ increasing reluctance to express their opinions at the beginning of the school year.
This is a trend that Josh Dunn, a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has witnessed in his college classes.
“So many of our students are afraid of saying something that they can’t find a better word for and that will get them cancelled,” said Dunn, who is also executive director of the school’s American Civic Institute.
Educators like Klein and Dunn believe their classrooms play a fundamental role in helping the next generation learn how to communicate differences effectively and respectfully.
During a recent lesson on Federalist Papers No. 70, Ms. Klein saw her once shy students begin to have fun discussing each other. They were discussing Alexander Hamilton’s defense of a strong executive branch in a 1788 document.
To defend their position, students shouted examples from history and current events across the room. Some laughed as their classmates persuaded them.
“It kind of opens your mind when you realize that you don’t always have to be right and there are other points of view,” Klein says.
“An outrageous situation”‘
In a government classroom on the third floor of Alexandria City High School, Fitt and her classmates studied a white poster board featuring major projects completed throughout the yearlong course.
They researched federal agencies, interpreted judicial opinions based on their understanding of the Constitution, held mock legislative sessions, and met with city officials on public policy issues important to young people.
Fitt said the assignment helped her gain a better understanding of the country’s system and “reconcile” her anxieties.
Zeannis Granberry, 17, reflected on the mock parliament for a few minutes. In this project, she played a Hispanic Republican congressman from Texas. Granbury, a second-generation American whose grandparents immigrated from Jamaica, said she couldn’t understand how people of color could identify as Republicans before taking the job.
“When I first started researching him, I thought, ‘Well, there’s no way I can embody this person,'” Granberry said with a laugh.
So she called the representative’s office to find out more. He ended up exchanging emails with her.
“I’m glad I understood where he was coming from,” she said.
Granberry still disagrees with many of the legislators’ positions. But this project changed her perspective.
“A lot of people can have negative connotations about someone just because they’re on the red or blue side,” she says. “I don’t think the situation should be that bad.”
Carissa Wadick covers America’s 250th anniversary on USA TODAY. She can be reached at kwaddick@usatoday.com.
