Teaching Democracy: What Schools Need to Do

Abstract

studied 10 educational programs whose objective-to develop democratic citizens-is largely ignored by school reform policy. Schools can fulfill this mission, they discovered, through specific strategies that promote civic commitments, capacities, and connections. BY JOSEPH KAHNE AND JOEL WESTHEIMER W HICH OF THE following headlines never appeared in a daily newspaper? a. Capital City Students Show No Gain in Reading, Math-Governor Threatens Takeover b. Middletown Schools to Be Taken Over by State for Failure to Develop Democratic Citizens If you answered b, you not only answered correctly, your response also reflected an important challenge facing our democracy today. While we say that we value a democratic society, the very institutions expected to prepare democratic citizens-our schools-have moved far from this central mission. There is now frequent talk of "state takeovers" of schools that fail to raise test scores in math or reading, but it is unimaginable that any school would face such an action because it failed to prepare its graduates for democratic citizenship. The headlines we read are about test scores, basic skills, and the role schools play in preparing students for jobs in the Information Age. The vast bulk of school resources are

The Civic Empowerment Gap: Defining the Problem and Locating Solutions

“…Closer to home, students could elect class officers who will collaborate with the teacher on planning field trips and other special activities; or, they could as a class deliberate about and vote on issues including due dates for major projects, the order in which to read class novels, or the consequences for minor disciplinary infractions. Numerous examples, analyses, and evaluations of such approaches are available in the research literature (e.g., Weis & Fine, 2000;DarlingHammond, French, & Garcia-Lopez, 2002;Westheimer & Kahne, 2002;Kahne & Westheimer, 2003;Noguera, Ginwright, & Cammarota, 2006;Apple & Beane, 2007;Schultz, 2008;Cammarota & Fine, 2008;Delgado & Staples, 2008;Hess, 2009) and from practitioners and civic education organizations. (See www.campaignforthecivicmissionofschools.org for information about and links to over 100 well-vetted curricula, programs, and organizations.…”

The Many Faces, Features and Outcomes of Youth Engagement

“…Youth explore through participation ideas about who they can be and who they want to be as a member of the broader community, while building capacities, commitments, and social connections (Kahn & Westheimer, 2003) they need to succeed in their chosen roles. Flanagan (2003) found that participation, especially in diverse groups, can build a sense of belonging and social trust, a belief that "most people are fair, helpful, and trustworthy" (p. 167).…”

“…Past research has shown those who are engaged in this way during adolescence are more likely to continue to actively engage throughout youth and adulthood (Colby & Damon, 1992;Haste, 2003Haste, , 2004Kahn & Westheimer, 2003;Pittman et al, 2007;Watts & Flanagan, 2007;Youniss & Hart, 2005;Youniss et al, 2002;Youniss & Yates, 1997). As people of all age, cultural and socioeconomic groups come to believe they can help shape organizations, communities and society, and actually have opportunities to do so, these institutions will come to more closely reflect the values and meet the needs of all their members (Sirianni and Friedland, 2001;Verba, Schlozman & Brady, 1995;Zeldin et al, 2007).…”

Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication

“…Although anxious to do good work, it is all too easy to adopt a charitable attitude that, while often well-intentioned, demonstrates that those doing the work feel superior because they have the answers to solve problems. Kahne and Westheimer (1996) describe this situation in terms of two competing models-charity and change-arguing that although both models may work, only the latter one enables people to work with others, to effect change and understand the underlying social issues and individual responsibilities. Linda Flower (1997) echoes this point.…”