Civic Education in the Elementary Years
September 01, 2020
Appears in September 2020: School Administrator.
A SCHOOL DISTRICT’S CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING COMMUNITY VALUES, AFFIRMING CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND FORMULATING YOUNG STUDENTS’ SKILLS FOR CONTRIBUTING IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
![Sheldon Berman talks with a student](/images/default-source/school-administrator/2020-september/25-berman-talking-with-student.jpg?sfvrsn=b4ccc42d_5)
Media coverage of racism, intolerance and street demonstrations has brought the fight for social justice into the nation’s living rooms. Elementary school children, who expect fairness and are at a prime age to develop political understanding, are trying to make sense of what they see. How can educators help them interpret these events in a way that prepares them to take a positive and active role in our democracy?
Our school district is developing the One Community, One Nation curriculum to capitalize on young students’ readiness for civic education; enable them to experience the value of community, culture and civil rights; and empower them to participate in making a difference for themselves and their community.
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Building Civic Dispositions
Among educators, there is a growing acknowledgment of the need to develop children’s social-emotional skills — yet integrating these skills into instruction has been elusive.
The One Community,
One Nation framework places a set of civic dispositions at the heart of the program, with each unit exploring and encouraging the development of different dispositions. These civic dispositions align with the social-emotional skills (the five core competencies)
in the CASEL framework.
For example, the civic disposition of individual responsibility aligns with responsible decision making, open-mindedness with self-awareness, negotiation and compromise with relationship skills, and promotion of the
common good with social awareness. Each is the civic embodiment of the core social skill as it plays out in the civic arena. This intentional alignment helps to equip students with the social-emotional tools to enter civic life with a sense of optimism
and confidence in their ability to make change.
The accompanying chart articulates the civic dispositions covered by One Community, One Nation. The right-hand column frames each disposition in language more appropriate to elementary students.
Appreciation is extended to Paul Graseck, who developed this chart during his time as director of cultural studies in the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky.
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