Page 7 - EdViewptsSpring2017

need to create spaces where students these strategies have many positive
want to develop these skills, not re- outcomes, they also help students ...expecting the majority
move any sense of urgency for doing to develop the capacity to engage in of children and teenagers
so. When we don’t, we end up where political dialogue and challenge those
we are today: a country full of people in positions of authority. craving instant gratifica-
who talk past one another, who view We have also begun to grapple with tion to dive headfirst into
the system that is supposed to repre- some of the broader implications of a subject they feel de-
sent them as rigged against them, and this conceptual shift and experiment
who fail to see their own power and with what that looks like inside our tached from for a reward
capacity to bring about change beyond classrooms. For example, working to years down the road is
voting in presidential elections once move beyond the teaching of civics as
every four years. a study of the three branches of gov- naïve and does real harm
So where do we go from here? In the ernment resulted in the introduction to helping students see
words of Citizen University CEO Eric of a year-long project to our 7th grade civics as meaningful to
Liu, we “make civics sexy again. As Civics curriculum in which students their current lives.
sexy as it was during the American were asked to “Take a Stand” on an
Revolution. As sexy as it was during issue of importance to them. Working
the Civil Rights Movement.” And we toward a variety of end goals, students
can do that, Liu goes on to explain, are making connections between their are expected to obey or be punished.
by making civics “explicitly about the rights as citizens and their work on this If we want to develop students’ skills
teaching of power.” Doing so moves project in ways that have increased for participating in democratic society,
us beyond framing civics simply as engagement and facilitated deeper we need to give them opportunities to
participation in the formal American understanding. practice doing just that and learn from
political process and opens up av- In some of our high school English the real consequences of their actions.
enues for us to teach about civics in and Social Studies classes, we are In one promising example of this, we
a way that resonates with the lived pushing students to more intensely are currently working with a group of
experiences of our students. grapple with how narratives are students to co-develop a new Social
Studies elective course for next year.
In Cresskill, we have employed a num- constructed, asking them to consider
ber of specific instructional strategies who constructs them, their purpose While schools alone cannot solve the
that we believe are helping to bring in doing so the way they did, and the problems made apparent in 2016, we
this vision of civic education to life. To consequences of these decisions. as educators have an important role
help students develop their question- Exploring the underlying structure to play in that work and the power to
ing techniques, we use the Question of narrative has allowed students to shape how our country responds to
Formulation Technique, developed by more deeply consider the power that these issues. We should not waste it.
The Right Question Institute, across politicians, historians, the media, and Reframing civic education so it is a
subjects and grade levels. Likewise, our wider culture have to shape how study of power that provides students
we have encouraged teachers to use we view the world around us. with meaningful opportunities to ana-
Socratic Seminars and other discus- Finally, we have sought to facilitate lyze, discuss, and experience power
sion protocols in their classrooms truly democratic experiences in is a good first step in making our
to create structured opportunities school. Schools are in countless ways students not just college and career
for students to grapple with conflict, authoritarian spaces where students ready, but citizen ready as well.
controversy, and disagreement. While

References
1. Link to Eric Liu Ted Talk: Why Ordinary People Need to Understand Power https://www.ted.com/talks/eric_liu_why_
ordinary_people_need_to_understand_power
2. Link to The Right Question Institute: http://rightquestion.org/

About the Author
Sean Conlon is the K-12 Social Studies Supervisor of the Cresskill School District in Cresskill, New
Jersey. He holds a Master of Science in Middle School General and Special Education from Bank Street
College and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Ramapo College. This is his eleventh year
as an educator.

Educational Viewpoints -5- Spring 2017