Independence Day

It seems appropriate on Independence Day to remind ourselves that a healthy democracy relies upon a healthy system of publicly supported schools. Perhaps America needs more than to be reminded, it needs to be reawakened to the fact that without public education they very notion of "the public" will perish. Or, as Jefferson put it so eloquently, "If Americans desire to be free and ignorant, they want something that has never been and never will be."

In all the sound and fury around school reform these days the notion that public education serves a public purpose — that is, preparing citizens — has been lost. We hear the commitment to citizenship mouthed in bromides that our schools are to prepare children for college, work, and citizenship; but in the very next breath the focus turns to training in job skills, boosting test scores, or taking college courses in high school. Nary a word about the habits of heart and mind that would make democratic citizenship possible.

That is why we greeted with hope the creation of a new task force, The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, co-chaired by Sandra Day O'Connor and Roy Romer and on which Forum Convener Carl Glickman is serving. In an opinion piece announcing this group, Romer and O'Connor point out , "A healthy democracy depends upon the participation of citizens, and that participation is learned behavior; it doesn't just happen." Indeed.

There is plenty of evidence that the civic mission of public education could use retooling. Survey results from the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum's report, "Americans' Awareness of First Amendment Freedoms," show that more of us know the family member of TV's "The Simpsons" than know all five First Amendment freedoms. (Ready for this? More than one in five Americans can name all five Simpsons while one in a thousand can name all five First Amendment freedoms.) There is also concern about how well citizens can respond to international affairs given our lack of geographic literacy. According to National Geographic's 2006 Geographic Literacy Study, 60% of us could not find Iraq on a map. (More bad news — only 66% could find Louisiana, site of one of our biggest public policy failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.)

Of course one has to be careful how we use survey data — most polls have some sort of agenda and can be quickly turned by pundits into clever one-liners. A more thoughtful look at our general understanding of the Constitution can be found in Public Agenda's report, "Knowing It by Heart: Americans Consider the Constitution and Its Meaning." As the authors put it: ". . . Americans, as if by second nature, are actually quite comfortable with the values and principles embodied in the Constitution. Beneath a surface ignorance of what each Amendment says typically lies an internalized understanding of the rights and principles it guaranteed." As one of the participants in a focus group said: "It doesn't matter whether you can recite it (the Constitution) or not. If you don't live it then reciting it doesn't do you any good."

This citizen's summation of the issue is precisely the point, and most likely to be missed by commissions and legislators. Developing a democratic character is not solely about memorizing amendments or reciting preambles or even, gasp, passing standardized tests of civic knowledge. Rather, the soul of a citizen is nurtured by developing, through practice, civic habits. While we should be worried about how the recent emphasis on math, science, and reading test scores are pushing out other parts of the school curriculum including civics (see our previous post on this here), it is not just what is taught that is at issue. It is, more importantly, the entire experience of school with which we should be concerned and whether or not that experience develops in future citizens the proclivity to democratic citizenship.

The civic mission of public education, the preparation of citizens who can take their place in a democracy, is the primary mission of our schools. It will not be achieved by simply adding more courses or tests on civics. Citizenship is simply not synonymous with course work or test scores. Rather, it requires that we learn by doing what it means to be an informed and contributing member of a community.

The commissions and task forces and panels that have been and will be formed to look at citizenship and schooling will have to work hard not to fall into the trap of recommending one more test or course as their final report. In fact, in the Romer/O'Connor editorial we have hints of it in their call for "civic learning . . . to be on par with other academic subjects." (Does this mean another test, more student seat time, or even "scientifically proven" methods of civic instruction?).

On this July 4th, let's hope they declare their independence from business as usual and get serious about educating for democracy. To help get them started, here's a wish list of ideas drawn from our experience in schools:

Start with how adults are treated when it comes to schools. Children model adult behavior on real adults, and when the adults around them (teachers and parents) are powerless to make genuine decisions about the school, young people learn powerlessness and distain for democracy. We need to make sure that there is appropriate democratic control of schools exercised by those closest to the learners, that is, their teachers and parents.

Rethink how everything, not just civics, is taught. Do students see what they learn as a tool for understanding the world and, if need be, changing it? Or do they just learn "academic" knowledge to be memorized for the next test? Take reading for example. Is the focus on thoughtful literacy so students can use reading as a tool to explore the world or is it solely on decoding so children can pass a test?

Civic engagement is best taught, as are most things, through actual experience. How much time, funding, and opportunity are given to engaging children in the life of their community? Or for that matter, how much opportunity do young people have to influence the rules, regulations, and norms in their own school? If we want young people to learn civic behavior they have to practice it, otherwise they only learn cynicism as they simply recite what they know not to be true. See our previous post on this for more detail.

On this day of celebration of democracy, I'd like to close with a story from my school. In the recent Berea College Alumni magazine a graduate of Federal Hocking High School in Stewart, Ohio, where I am principal, was featured. Carrie McCormack is now the coordinator for the Lakeview Food Pantry West site in Chicago. When asked from where her commitment to community service came, she pinned it down to a specific experience in eighth grade. There she earned her first A+ in a project to promote reading that involved reading to children in her low-income housing complex. "This really was a pivotal point in my life because it helped me recognize my personal power and responsibility as an individual, that even as a child, or a female, or as someone in need myself, I could still promote and start empowering actions." If we hope to ever realize the civic mission of schools, it will take experiences like those that Carrie had, and that so many of us can recount personally, to make it happen.