Civic Education and Political Participation
William A. Galston
William A. Galston
Galston contends that the disengagement of today’s young adults with regard to public affairs is more significant than the traditional gap between parents and their children regarding the affair of the state. Today’s young people are less attached to civic affairs than previous generations at the same age. Furthermore, the volunteerism, tolerance and compassion prevalent with today’s young adults do not lead to a wider civic engagement. In fact, many see volunteering as an alternative to official politics. “They understand why it matters to feed a hungry person at a soup kitchen; they do not understand why it matters where a government sets eligibility levels for food stamps”. Older adults are to blame for this approach. It is up them transmit workable civic norms and contexts that respond to young people’s motivation to take on to concrete challenges and opportunities. He feels this trend can be reversed by effective school-based education.
Why does civic engagement matter?
Political effectiveness goes beyond mere political engagement.
The political discussions are presently skewed towards the concerns of the elder generations. Debates should include the interest of the young as well as the old; education financing policy should be as vigorously discussed as Social Security. Young people need to do more than vote, they need to initiate and engage the system toward their interests.
Moral Responsibility.
Everyone benefits from public institutions; therefore everyone must contribute to them.
Citizenship for self-development.
From engagement in civic affairs “a wider human sympathy, a sense of active responsibility for oneself, the skills needed to work with others toward goods that can only be obtained through collective action…”
Some Observations
-Participation and character development are linked only empirically, but there are no reasons to doubt them.
-The market has become the dominant metaphor for daily experience and as such the opportunities to develop non-market skills has narrowed.
-Because the principle of individual choice has emerged as a central value, citizenship has become optional.
The Current Failure of Civic Education
The traditional way of encouraging political engagement – civic education – is not deemed a core academic subject; testing to a four level rubric occurs only every 10 years or so, rather than every 2.
The level of formal schooling is much higher than in previous generations yet there has been no improvement in civic knowledge.
This is because:
1. Teachers are not required to have training specific to teaching civics
2. The curriculum required 3 civics related courses in the 1960s (civics, democracy and government) but now only requires 1 on government and it treats politics as a distant subject that rarely discusses citizen rights and responsibilities.
3. Teachers, Principals and School Boards fear criticism for broaching controversial or political subjects.
4. Civics is not part of the core subjects that require high-stakes testing (and the time/effort/priority to teach to the test).
1. Teachers are not required to have training specific to teaching civics
2. The curriculum required 3 civics related courses in the 1960s (civics, democracy and government) but now only requires 1 on government and it treats politics as a distant subject that rarely discusses citizen rights and responsibilities.
3. Teachers, Principals and School Boards fear criticism for broaching controversial or political subjects.
4. Civics is not part of the core subjects that require high-stakes testing (and the time/effort/priority to teach to the test).
Does civic Knowledge Matter?
Yes. Because:
1. The more knowledge we have of the workings of democracy, the more likely we are to support democratic values.
2. The more knowledge people have, the more likely they are to participate in civic and political affairs.
3. It furthers citizens understandings of their interests and how to advocate/defend them.
4. It is easier to integrate new knowledge if there is a core of knowledge with regard to civic affairs.
5. The more knowledge we have of public affairs, the lower the incidence of general mistrust.
6. Citizens come to know their own minds and where their views are situated in broader spectrum. This increases consistency of opinion.
7. Civic knowledge can inform opinion on specific issues such as immigration.
How to do it:
1. Focus on civic outcomes such as voting, following the news, volunteering and problem solving at the local level
2. Explicit advocacy of civic engagement
3. Discussion of real-life, relevant issues
4. Discussion of the founding principle of a Constitutional Democracy
5. Seek the engagement of students that are reluctant
6. Allow students to voice their opinion regarding school governance
7. Collaborate with the community
8. Provide training for teachers
9. Infuse a civic mission throughout the curriculum and put democracy into practice
Although Galston raises several important points about the need for increased civic engagement of youth, I find some of his arguments weak. On one hand he claims that youth are "patriotic, tolerant and compassionate" and believe in the "American Dream" (p. 30). Yet the discssion that follows would suggest that because of lack of engagement youth lack moral responsibility and risk important self-development opportunities. Also, I would caution applying his arguments to the Canadian context as Canada and her regions reveal unique challenges and opportunties in regards to citizenship, civic and democratic education.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I found interesting was Galston's pseudo-desire to have civics become a high-stakes standardized tested subject area. This seems to fly in the face of everything democratic education stands for, reducing it down to a number of facts that can be learned through rote memorization rather than a process oriented endeavour.
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ReplyDeleteCivic Education & Curriculum from a Canadian Perpective -
ReplyDeleteWhile Galston (2003) outlines the current failure of civic education within the United States, it is also important to consider how similar findings and/or challenges have been documented within Canada. In the past few decades, Canadian concerns over civic competency in students has prompted a renewed interest in civic education—intensified over issues related to our Canadian economy, the Canadian Charter of Right and Freedoms, First Nations disputes, and Canadian peacekeeping (e.g. Evans, 2003). This led to the introduction of a compulsory grade 10 civics course (implemented in 1999), which was intended to address a sort of citizenship crisis, influenced by several factors such as the previous agenda toward global economic competitiveness (versus interdependence). However, as Galston (2003) would likely suggest, the delivery of civic education via a compulsory grade 10 civics course is not adequate, and student opportunities for engagement and active participation of civic education should be infused throughout the school and curriculum—among all grades, subjects, and practices.
I am so wary about any argument that first of all, lumps an entire generation together as if they were some unified group, and second, brings up the old adage of 'the good old days' as in 'this generation is less ------(various inserts)---- than the previous generation'. Are there really accurate, reliable stats for this? How can this be measured?
ReplyDeleteBuilding on Pat's first post, I also feel somewhat skeptical of Galston's comments on young US citizens: "today's young people are patriotic, tolerant, and compassionate. They believe in America's principles and in the American dream. They adeptly navigate our nation's increasing diversity"(p. 30). Particularly after reading McIntosh's (in Noddings, 2003) view of education in the United States being stuck in a Phase 1 or 2 mindset (meaning womanless & all white or womanless and all white with "exceptional others") with respect to citizenship. In my opinion, volunteerism is only one civic right/obligation and in no way can fully grasp efforts toward human tolerance and compassion.
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