Civic Education in the Academy

Civic Education in the Academy

The author presents the need for a renewed commitment to civic education in higher education in the United States. While many have identified and touted the need for civics in the public schools, the author focuses on what can be done in higher education to promote the cause of democracy in a nonpartisan manner. The need to be more proactive in the dissemination of civic education, not only for children but adults as well, was quite evident during the 2020 presidential election and beyond. With a great deal of political polarization at the present time, it is essential that higher education play a key role in the maintenance of democracy in the United States. Democratic institutions need to be preserved and education is still the optimum way to promote diversity, civility, and empathy for fellow citizens. Not much has changed in this regard since the ideology of the common school movement of the nineteenth century. The challenge, however, is to promote civics in a society that has recently experienced an attempt to overthrow the results of a democratic election as well as the repudiation of science during an ongoing global pandemic

___

  • 270towin.com. (2021). 2020 Presidential Election. Retrieved from https://www.270towin.com/2020_Election/.
  • 270towin.com. (2021). 2016 Presidential Election. Retrieved from https://www.270towin.com/2016_Election/.
  • Aitalieva, N. & Park, S. (2019). Political Trust, Ideology, and Public Support in the United States for Government Spending on Health Care. International Journal of Public Administration, 42(9), 776-785.
  • American Association of University Professors. (1938). The University of Minnesota and Professor Schaper: A Chapter on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, 24(3), 222-229.
  • Archambault, R., ed. (1964). John Dewey on Education: Selected Writings. New York: The Modern Library.
  • BBC. (November 23, 2020). ‘Stop the Steal’: The Deep Roots of Trump’s ‘Voter Fraud’ Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-55009950.
  • Bowden, M. & Teague, M. (2022). The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and The People Who Stopped It. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
  • Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. (December 11, 2020). It’s Official: The Election Was Secure. Retrieved from https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/its-official-election-was-secure.
  • Carnegie Corporation of New York. (2011). Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools. Retrieved from https://production-carnegie.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/ab/dd/abdda62e-6e84-47a4-a043-348d2f2085ae/ccny_grantee_2011_guardian.pdf.
  • Center for American Progress. (December 19, 2019). Strengthening Democracy with a Modern Civics Education. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2019/12/14/478750/strengthening-democracy-modern-civics-education/.
  • CNN. (November 14, 2020). Stop the Steal’s Massive Disinformation Campaign Connected to Roger Stone. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/13/business/stop-the-steal-disinformation-campaign-invs/index.html.
  • Correa, E. & Hall, D. (2021). Identity Politics and the Politics of Learning: Challenges to Teaching in a Culture of Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Multiple Truths. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4), 30-47.
  • Craig, B. & Loehwing, M. (2021). From Diversity to Dignity: Overcoming Polarization in the Age of Division. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4), 11-19.
  • Cremin, L., ed. (1957). The Republic and the School: Horace Mann on the Education of Free Men. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
  • Dewey, J. (2018). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. Gorham, ME: Myers Education Press.
  • DuBois, W.E.B. (1973). The Education of Black People: Ten Critiques, 1906-1960. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
  • Duncan, K. (2020). What Better Tool Do I Have?: A Critical Race Approach to Teaching Civics. The High School Journal, 103(3), 176-189.
  • Fife, B. (2021). Citizenship in the American Democracy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
  • Fife, B. (2016). Renewing the American Commitment to the Common School Philosophy: School Choice in the Early Twenty-First Century. Global Education Review, 3(2), 4-22.
  • Fife, B. (2013). Old School Still Matters: Lessons from History to Reform Public Education in America. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
  • Franquiz, M. & Salinas, C. (2013). Knowing English is Not Enough! Cultivating Academic Literacies Among High School Newcomers. High School Journal, 9(3), 339- 357.
  • Gallup Poll. (October 9, 2020). Americans and the Role of Government. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/321767/americans-role-government.aspx
  • Giroux, H. (2021). Education, Politics, and the Crisis of Democracy in the Age of Pandemics. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4), 5-10.
  • Groen, M. (2008). The Whig Party and the Rise of Common Schools, 1837-1854. American Educational History Journal, 35(2), 251-60.
  • Hochschild, J. & Einstein, K. (2015). Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics. Political Science Quarterly, 130(4), 585-624.
  • Holmes, Jr. O.W. (1897). The Path of the Law. Harvard Law Review, 10(8), 457-478.
  • King, L. (2020). Black History is Not American History: Toward a Framework of Black Historical Consciousness. Social Education, 84(6), 335-341.
  • Johnston, J. (2009). Deweyan Inquiry: From Education Theory to Practice. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
  • Korbey, H. (2019). Building Better Citizens: A New Civics Education for All. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Mabrey III, P.; Boston-Hill, K.; Stelljies, D; & Boersma, J. (2021). Debate for Civic Learning: A Model for Renewing Higher Education’s Civic Mission. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4), 100-110.
  • Mann, H. (1891). The Life and Works of Horace Mann. 5 Volumes. Boston, MA: Lee and Shepard.
  • Matsen, W. (1988). Professor William S. Schaper, War Hysteria and the Price of Academic Freedom. Minnesota History, 51(4), 130-137.
  • Merriam, C. (1947). Civic Education in the United States. The Journal of General Education, 1(4), 262-266.
  • Merriam, C. (1934). Civic Education in the United States. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
  • Merriam, C. (1931). The Making of Citizens: A Comparative Study of Methods of Civic Training. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Minnesota Historical Society. (2022). William Schaper. Retrieved from http://acampusdivided.umn.edu/index.php/person/william-shaper/.
  • Mora, J. (2021). Practicing Resistance and the Struggle Over Power as Democratic Citizenship. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4), 20-29.
  • NBC News. (October 19, 2016). Trump Won’t Say He’ll Accept Election Results: ‘I Will Keep You in Suspense’. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-won-t-say-he-ll-accept-election-results-i-n669801.
  • Niemi, R. and Junn, J. (1998). Civic Education: What Makes Students Learn. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  • NPR. (December 23, 2020). Trump Pardons Roger Stone, Paul Manofort and Charles Kushner. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2020/12/23/949820820/trump-pardons-roger-stone-paul-manofort-and-charles-kushner.
  • O’Connor, S.D. Hamilton, L. (September 18, 2008). A Democracy without Civics? The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2008/0918/p09s01-coop.html.
  • Pew Research Center. (May 17, 2021). Public Trust in Government: 1958-2021. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/05/17/public-trust-in-government-1958-2021/.
  • Pring, R. (2016). Preparing for Citizenship: Bring Back John Dewey. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 15(1), 6-14.
  • Reuters. (May 24, 2021). 53% of Republicans View Trump as True U.S. President. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/53-republicans-view-trump-true-us-president-reutersipsos-2021-05-24/.
  • Roosevelt, T. (January 26, 1883). The Duties of American Citizenship. Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, Yale University. Retrieved from https://glc.yale.edu/duties-american-citizenship.
  • Schaper, W. (1905). What Do Students Know About American Government, Before Taking College Courses in Political Science? A Report to the Section on Instruction in Political Science. Proceedings of the American Political Science Association, 2, 207-228.
  • Setzler, M. & Yanus, A. (2021). Gender and Support for Democracy in the United States and Canada. Political Science Quarterly, 136(3), 521-546.
  • Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2021). Civic Education. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civic-education/.
  • Stitzlein, S. (2014). Habits of Democracy: A Deweyian Approach to Citizenship Education in America Today. Education and Culture, 30(2), 61-86.
  • The Hill. (June 9, 2021). 3 in 10 Republicans Believe Trump Will Be Reinstated as President. Retrieved from https://thehill.com/homenews/news/557486-one-third-of-republicans-believe-trump-will-be-reinstated-as-president-poll.
  • The Mercury News. (November 13, 2020). ‘Stop the Steal’ Campaign Has Long Ties to Roger Stone. Retrieved from https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/13/stop-the-steal-campaign-has-long-ties-to-roger-stone/.
  • University of Pennsylvania, Anneberg Public Policy Center. (2021). Annenberg Civics Knowledge Survey. Retrieved from https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/political-communication/civics-knowledge-survey/.
  • Winthrop, R. (June 4, 2020). The Need for Civic Education in 21st Century Schools. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/bigideas/the-need-for-civic-education-in-21st-century-schools/.
  • Woodson, C. (1933). The Mis-education of the Negro. Washington, DC: Associated Publishers.
Education Reform Journal-Cover
  • ISSN: 2602-3997
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 2015
  • Yayıncı: Mustafa ÖZMUSUL
Sayıdaki Diğer Makaleler

Civic Education in the Academy

Brian FİFE