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The Civic Summer Institute for Learning and Teaching aims to create a powerful learning community of civics teachers from across the country who will share effective practices and distill guiding principles that can inform and enrich civics education for educators across the country.

Institute Goals

Education in civics and history equips members of a democratic society to understand, appreciate, nurture, and, where necessary, improve their political system and civil society. As a nation, our bonds are strained, civility has worn thin, and our sense of common purpose has weakened, just as the need for cooperation on large challenges grows urgent. The time has come to recommit to the civic and history education of our young people as a key mechanism for repairing the foundations of our constitutional democracy. Support for and learning among civics teachers is crucial for success.

To continue to address this urgent need, the Democratic Knowledge Project will host a group of 12 teachers (grades 8 - 12) at a one-week, expenses-paid Civic Learning Institute at the Schoodic Institute campus in Acadia, Maine: Sunday, July 20 – Saturday July 26, 2025.

Educators will participate in an intellectually engaging and emotionally restorative learning context in which they can:

Reflect on and deepen their understanding of their own roles as civic participants.
Deepen their understanding of and capacity to support deeper civic learning for their students.
Share their promising practices and challenges with one other in ways that can inform future professional learning for civics teachers.
Have free time to pursue additional topics.

Our hope is that you will...

Glean new ideas, questions, and ways of thinking from fellow participants as well as from visiting scholars.

Reflect on your own civic identity, how it has changed and developed over time, and how you can support the growth of your students' civic identities through deeper civic learning.

Feel rested, renewed, and reinvigorated at the conclusion of the institute!