The Why, How, and What of Civic Education

EDU A230 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen famously argued that the project of democracy could be conceived of as a universal value. Just a quarter of a century after his remarks, the normative preeminence of democracy appears to be far less evident. Across the globe we witness both numerous instances of democratic backsliding and growing dissatisfaction with democracy among the public. The International Civics and Citizenship Study (ICCS), a large-scale international assessment of 15 year-olds, finds that the share of students agreeing with the statement “Democracy may have some problems but it is still the best form of government” ranges from 47 to 90 percent across participating countries. What explains how young people develop attitudes such as these, and why do they vary? What roles do schools play in promoting civic and citizenship learning? And why should we care about civic education in the first place? In this module, we will engage with normative texts and empirical research from several fields (including education, psychology, political science, and economics) to critically examine the fundamental questions behind civic education. Class time will be devoted to situate the assigned readings and clarify their methods and arguments through brief instructor-led presentations, and to construct meaning and develop personal insights that can be transferred to students’ future endeavors through a variety of discussion-based activities. Ultimately, this course is designed to help students interested in practice, policymaking, research or educational entrepreneurship identify answers to the why, how, and what of civic education and apply those insights to real-world tasks.