In the last posting, this writer identified and defined the
academic field of social studies and, more specifically, civics education. That description focused on what R. Freeman
Butts declared the aim of civic education should be. That is, “building and maintaining a cohesive
political community devoted to the civic ideals of liberty, equality, popular
consent, and personal obligation for the public good.”[1]
While Butts,
with this quote, provides an outline of what civics should be about doing, this
posting wants to more practically describe these aims. A term that captures Butts’ sense of what
civics should be is social capital.
Robert Putnam tells us that social capital means having
an active, public-spirited citizenry, egalitarian political relations, and a
social environment of trust and cooperation.[2] Stated in this language, one can more readily
think in practical terms.
This writer, inspired by these
scholars, believes that civics should be about, one, imparting political
knowledge including the more mundane information of the structure, processes,
and functions of government and the other entities of the political system such
as political parties and the media; two, training students as to the political
skills that have proven to be effective in the political processes of a
democratic/republican system of governance, and three, encouraging a
disposition among students that leads to political engagement.
These three aims advance social
capital in that they contribute to enhancing basic social knowledge, promoting
basic social skills, and casting in a positive light the goodness of acting
toward those attributes that make up social capital. All of this, contrary to the relatively value-free
view of the natural rights construct of governance and politics, is a value-rich
perspective. It, therefore, demotes
liberty from its lofty perch under the perspective of the natural rights view
(that construct’s trump value) not to obscurity, but to a more responsible
position.
Liberty loses its raison d’etre status, and becomes more instrumental in advancing
social capital. As such, a more
responsible view of freedom is promoted, one that avoids trending toward licentious
or irresponsible behaviors. With a
richer sense of the moral – of good and evil – civics education cannot address only
what is going on in government, but what good citizenship means in all aspects
of social life. That includes behavior
within family, religion, community, and other arrangements in which people
regularly function.
One such arrangement is business as
people fulfill the roles of customers, employees, and owners. John M. Longo mentions that one aspect of
business success, at least in the eyes of some successful investors, is how
collaborative, within its workforce, a business is.[3] That reflects a cadre of workers who define
part of their responsibilities – of their job – to be good citizens within
their workplace. As such, civics, when
viewed as a moral inducing activity, has a role in the economic realms of a
society such as in this nation’s economy.
Previously in this blog, this writer
suggested a possible course of study outline that is based on such a view of
civics. Its adoption would seriously
change what takes place in most civics classrooms today; that is, it would call
for a severe curricular change (including changing state standards). Therefore, one should not hold out much hope
that such a course of study would be put in place. But it does illustrate what is sought after if
one were to turn to a more moral position.
To implement this course, one needs to
forget the prevailing
textbooks[4]
and the structure that these textbooks outline and develop a course entirely on
social capital priorities. To begin with,
each element of a society, from the most basic to the most complicated, becomes
a potential source of content. From the
individual – the most basic, but still complicated – to international
arrangements such as the UN can be included.
A list of these elements
and an accompanying “social capital” issue is included in the following:
•
The individual – short term interests vs. long term interests
•
The family – the effects of divorce
•
The neighborhood – responsibilities toward problem children
•
A small business – treatment of employees
•
A labor association (such as a union) – efficiency and quality
issues vs. worker interests
•
A large corporation – product safety
•
A local government (either city or county) – zoning or
racial/ethnic divisions
•
Law enforcement agency – judicial rights applicable to an accused
•
White House – leadership that advances social capital
•
Congress – the extent that money (donations) is influential
•
The courts – the role of interpreting constitutional principles as
expressions of social capital
•
Society during wartime – special demands on citizenship
•
International associations – levels of interdependence between
nations
Such a course of study
would be comprised of thirteen units to be covered in an eighteen-week semester
at the high school level. Middle school
civics courses last the entire academic year, so the list can be longer or each
item can demand more time (or a combination of the two).
The point is that a
purely “social capital” approach gives low priority toward “teaching” the
structure of government, per se, and a higher concern for the level of
social capital characterizing our government and our society. The assumption is that the structure of
government and related entities becomes instrumental in dealing with these
issues and that students will learn the structure as a matter of course.
By taking this approach,
units of study would incorporate the type of questions that get at how mindful
in plans and actions participants are of social capital concerns. But in this option, the overall aim is to
have students know, understand, and appreciate the bonding among citizens that social
capital calls for, given the concerns Butts and Putnam express. But if this is the ideal with little chance
of adoption, what is the advantage of presenting it?
Ideals help develop what
is; what is espoused can be useful in designing what gets to be utilized. Teachers can take these ideas, look at what
they are doing, and modify their efforts to reflect what is being advocated
here and help in developing a citizenship noted for its sense of responsibility
in promoting the common good.
[1]R. Freeman Butts, The
Civic Mission in Educational Reform: Perspectives for the Public and the
Profession (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1989), 65.
[2] Robert D. Putnam, “Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital January,
(1995): 65-78.
[3] John M. Longo, The
Art of Investing: Lessons from History’s
Greatest Traders, (Chantilly, VA: The
Great Courses/The Teaching Company, 2016).
[4] The prevailing textbooks can be maintained, but as
reference books that contain much, if not all, of the structural information a
student would use in carrying out inquiries this course of study would have
students perform.
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