More than ever, civic learning is needed to ensure each and every person across this country has the necessary tools to engage as members of our self-governing society. However, schools are also a growing part of the culture wars. According to a 2022 National Education Association Survey, nearly half of schools reported challenges teaching about race and racism and practices related to LGBTQ students in the classroom. As we've discussed before on the show, book bans, funding cuts, and teacher shortages are also making teaching anything — let alone civics — more difficult.
At this critical juncture, Civic Learning Week unites students, educators, policymakers, and private sector leaders to energize the movement for civic education across the nation. This week's episode includes two experts who talk about the theory and practice of strengthening civics education in these polarizing times.
Emma Humphries is Chief Education Officer and Deputy Director of Field Building for iCivics, the non-profit founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to reinvigorate civics through free, interactive learning resources. Emma serves as iCivics’ pedagogical expert, ensures its resources evolve to a place of greater equity and deeper learning for all students, and advocates for more and better civic education across the country.
Ashley Berner is Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Associate Professor of Education. She served previously as the Deputy Director of the CUNY Institute for Education Policy and as an administrator at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Her most recent book is Pluralism and American Public Education: No One Way to School.
Civic Learning Week
iCivics poling on bipartisan support for civic education
Diffusing the History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America's National Story
How elected strongmen weaken democracy
30 years of democracy in South Africa
David Hogg on leaders we deserve
Democracy is the sum of us
Cassidy Hutchinson on what comes after January 6
How discontent destabilizes demoracy
A different take on social media and democracy
How to combat political extremism
A different kind of political divide
Tim Alberta on evangelicals and Republicans
How election officials are preparing for the year ahead
Finding hope in 2024
Year in review: Media, mental health, and threats to democracy
Making Peace Visible: The state of democracy in India
Does mandatory civic education increase voter turnout?
A deep look at political loss
When populism and democracy collide
Understanding union voters
A conflict at the heart of our political disagreements
What can we learn from early democracies?
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