Teaching to Sustain Democracy: The Democratic Fellows Opportunity

By: Amanda Maher (Assistant Professor of History and Philosophy and Brigid Beaubien (Professor of Teacher Education) on October 24th, 2022

A Call to Act

As Dewey argues, a democracy cannot sustain itself without the participation of informed citizens, and we, as educators, hold an essential role in the process of its ongoing rebirth. From our early childhood centers to our doctoral classrooms, we are the midwives. In What Universities Owe Democracy, the President of Johns Hopkins University, Ron Daniels, draws attention to higher education specifically and makes the case that colleges and universities are indispensable to the democratic process.

On the ground, EMU faculty understand their civic value, but, focused on enrollment numbers and post-graduation employment rates, as we must be, we perhaps have lost sight of this critical responsibility. Daniels claims that despite their democratic necessity, institutions of higher education have failed at living up to their responsibility, and we understand this to be true too.

Daniel’s argument is supported by alarming public data. Americans’ trust in government is declining, and people from opposing parties see the other as immoral, but we hardly need stats to tell us about the civic disengagement that has been happening around our family Thanksgiving tables. Many families have decided to stick to the topics of weather and football. Maybe this avoids food fights and keeps peace in our families, but this avoidance does not model civic dialogue for the next generation. Doing this modeling, then, becomes something we can do in our classrooms.

The call to act is urgent. One pollster draws attention to one point of agreement across party lines, but unfortunately, this point of consensus is one that does not bring us solace. He reports, “Americans coalesce around an ominous concern. Democracy, the bedrock of the nation, is in peril.” Our democracy is experiencing enormous strain, and it is time to act—in our classrooms, in our program areas, and at our university.

A Collective Responsibility

At the individual level, we can make a personal commitment to building our pedagogical skills and capacities, and fortunately, there is as much research about what works in classrooms to engage learners’ civic dispositions as there is about our national and institutional shortcomings—perhaps even more. In our university classrooms, creating opportunities for discussion and deliberation, political research and action projects, and structured reflection are impactful civic methods. Civic educational scholarship also tells us that learning to plan controversial discussions that situate diversity as a pedagogical asset develops students’ political interests and efficacy. Perhaps educators from non-civic disciplines might not see their teaching as part of democratic development, but we encourage everyone to ask, “How can I encourage my students to think about the connections between my discipline and their societal problem solving?” For example, our chemistry, business, and engineering majors need to make connections between their work and their responsibilities as citizens.

While each instructor at EMU from every discipline can and should make individual commitments and take immediate actions, fostering an impactful civic climate also requires collective action. As faculty, we must cross the silos to create interdisciplinary collaborations and programs with a shared purpose and determination to build an institution of higher learning that builds civic agency and sustains democracy.

We have been a part of many conversations around campus with people who share our commitment and sense of urgency, and we are using our appointment as the Morris Co-Chairs through the College of Education to bring us together to build our capacities and begin to take action.

An Invitation from the Michael G. Morris Co-Chairs

As the 2022-23 the Michael G. Morris Co-Chairs, we plan to use the Chair to engage in the questions and possibilities that address the central question, How can Eastern Michigan University do better at preparing our classroom educators to be the teachers of citizenry? In addition to our robust research agenda, we have organized a Democracy Fellowship opportunity for faculty and lecturers. While our work focuses on teacher education students, we encourage instructors from across the colleges to join this learning community. Several national experts in civic education, including Kei Kawashima-Ginsber (the director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), will facilitate workshops; a schedule of these workshops is on the Morris Chair website. Our speakers will build Democracy Fellows pedagogical capacities as well as support our collective vision making. Faculty and lecturers from all disciplines are encouraged to apply, and if you are not able to join the Democracy Fellows learning community, each speaker will prepare a talk open to the EMU community; these dates will be kept updated on the Morris Chair website as well.

Become a Democracy Fellow: What to Expect and How to Apply

Democracy Fellows must commit to attending the public speakers talks that will be held on Thursday evenings and participate in the follow-up workshops on the following Friday mornings. If you are interested in applying, click here to go to the registration form. Applications are due December 9, 2022.

Dates for Democracy Fellows Meetings:

January 13th January 27th

February 10th February 24th

March 10th March 24th

April 6th April 21st

Our hope is that our initiative will transform our classrooms and our institution to become more civically informed and engaged, and that this change will be the rebirth that we need to sustain democracy. All educators are midwives.