Why We Should, and How We Can, Support Civic Education

By: Brigid Beaubien

“I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law someday
At least I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill.”

 Schoolhouse Rocks: Dave Frishberg 1975

Did you hum along? As a child, I remember watching this Schoolhouse Rocks piece during Saturday morning cartoons. I was fortunate to grow up in a home where citizenship was modeled and to attend a high school with dynamic and engaging civic and history teachers who promoted a deep understanding of democracy and citizen participation. 

Unfortunately, not everyone has this experience. As a professor of Social Studies Methods in the College of Education, I've seen firsthand how a civic education deficit has been decades in the making as funding, resources, and class instruction have shifted to meet the demands of high-stakes tests and topics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The federal government spends $50 per year per student in K - 12 education on STEM education while spending only five cents per year per student on civics education. Yes, you read that correctly. While no one can argue against the importance of STEM topics, I find it concerning that, as a society, we place such little emphasis on helping young people understand how to citizen.

When many of our students register for my course, they are entirely disconnected from their civic identity. As a faculty member does, on the first day of class, I always ask students to introduce themselves and share their feelings about taking a social studies course. Some look forward to the course, but most report apprehension, if not outright dread, about taking a course focusing on civics. They report horror stories of teachers (and, dare I say, professors) spending hours lecturing and then giving tests that students are confident were explicitly designed to make them cry. They talk about how B O R I N G these topics are, filled with memorization about things that seem insignificant to them. As a lover of all things civics/history and democracy, this pains me; so many of our students are disconnected from their civic identity and the importance of citizenship engagement. I've wondered what we could do to remedy this.  

I’m not alone.  Nationally, there have been multiple reports and calls to action urging universities to reclaim higher education's civic mission, including the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy's Future (2012) and the US Department of Education's Advancing Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy: A Roadmap and Call to Action (2012). In 2021, Ronald J. Daniels, President of John Hopkins University, wrote the book What Universities Owe Democracy, and that same year, 300 researchers and practitioners released The Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy (EAD).

Each of these reports come to similar conclusions: universities and the faculty they employ must become intentional in developing civic capacities. The impact faculty and universities could have on sustaining democracy is powerful. 

That’s why I was so thrilled to be named as the director of the Upshur Institute for Civic Education (UICE), an amazing opportunity to actually be able to help create some solutions to the civic deficits our students experience. UICE was founded in 2022 with a generous gift from former EMU History and Philosophy faculty member Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur, Ph.D., to provide sustained support for investigating innovative, effective approaches to civic education. 

Have you ever thought about how you could weave projects to develop Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement in your students? 

Perhaps this could be through:

• Course development plans that encourage greater student engagement and offer the opportunity for transformative learning experiences;

• Collaborative and/or interdisciplinary work around democratic engagement;

• Research projects, including conducting experiments and/or demonstrations;

• Projects related to the scholarship of teaching and learning;

• Community engagement experiences (local or global);

• Team-based or problem-based learning;

• Large-group debates;

• Peer teaching;

• Role-playing or game-based learning;

• Place-based pedagogies;

• Faculty learning communities.

I'm excited to share that the Upshur Institute for Civic Education (UICE) has announced the 24/25 AY grants to fund just such projects for up to $6000 a project.  These grants can be for any EMU faculty, lecturer, or employee who is seeking to promote innovative methods of teaching and learning in history and social studies.  Won’t you join us in fostering a new generation of informed and engaged citizens?  

Not sure if your project fits the grant goals? Wondering how to create a budget for such a project, and what to ask for? Don’t hesitate to reach out, I would love to learn about what you are doing and answer any questions!  If we meet for coffee, I’ll be sure to show you my “I’m just a bill” keychain!  You can reach me at bbeaubi1@emich.edu.

Click here for all the details on how to apply for the grant. We welcome your submissions!