This afternoon, I had a great conversation with my wife, who is a Civics and Economics teacher (she teaches Psychology, too, though that didn't enter into our conversation). She's taught C&E for nearly 8 years -- 3 times a day, 2 semesters a year -- which amounts to having taught the same class almost 50 times.
And since she's a great educator, one who is always tweaking and refining her practice and has never taught the class the same way twice, I felt comfortable asking her a pretty simple question: what should your students (in NC, C&E is a sophomore class) be able to do when they leave your class?
Here's the list she came up with. Students should be able to:
- vote
- filter the BS from both political parties (this could be done alongside English classes)
- do the things you have to do as a citizen
- do the things you should do as a citizen (or articulate why you aren't)
- direct a complaint about anything, esp. gov’t-related, to the person or office that actually has the power to do something about it. (so, knowing who to complain to, and the proper tone for said complaint-- an effective tone that’s not going to get you arrested)
- articulate the principles of the Constitution -- checks & balances, separation of powers (and recognize when certain commentators are twisting them for their personal/political gains)
- enforce their rights if they get arrested (and just in general)
- articulate how prices are set (and who/what controls them -- i.e. President has nothing to do with gas prices)
- do a personal budget
- save money (and know why they should)
- understand & utilize knowledge about investments/portfolios/stock markets/CDs (all this is Personal Financial Literacy)
That's a really, really good list. And it would be an incredible class, if she were allowed to teach it that way.
This speaks to a couple critical principles.
First, she's an expert, and she should be treated that way. We've already covered how many times she's taught the class. She has also (voluntarily) helped write both the Civics End of Course test and the MSLs (the end-of-course exams that are replacing the EOCs for most NC classes). In that position, however, she has to write & review questions that match the SCOS -- never debate whether the SCOS is aligned with what students should actually know.
Second, the compulsory structure of the class indicates a contradiction of educational principles and good educational practices. The Standard Course of Study was designed (as it is in most states, I fear) with an endgame List of Information Students Should Know instead of Things Students Should Be Able To DO. Knowing what the Franking Privilege is as it relates to Congress is not a hallmark of an Educated Citizen.
There exist thousands of points of useless minutiae like that one we are demanding students memorize in ALL our disciplines. And there's just no need for it. We have Google.
Let's spend our days helping kids figure out writing a personal budget, or how to invest in the stock market, or how to communicate about something important to them in a clear, compelling way.
Let's let them leave our classes knowing-- really KNOWING-- something that actually matters.
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