[Note:
This posting is a continuation of a series of postings that addresses
what a civics teacher preparation program should include. If not read, the reader is encouraged to check
out the previous postings in this series that began with the posting on September
28, 2021, entitled “Prime Reason.”]
And then there is one: the last of five elements
of a viable teacher preparation program especially for civics teachers in
public schools. That element is:
Element Five:
A program that identifies civics classroom materials and curricular
approaches that address and enhance the other four elements of a viable teacher
preparation program.
This will not take too many more comments since,
in essence, this last element simply aims to put in place what the other
elements advance. And a viable way to
describe what is being called for is to review what the blogger attempted to do
in his FSU days in his teacher preparation, inquiry course.
His
students in that course were expected to make presentations on three reputable
inquiry models. At that time, the three
were the Engle and Ochoa model, the jurisprudential model, and the Massialas
and Cox model. Today, the list would be
different; for example, this blogger presents a model in his book, Toward a
Federated Nation. In addition to those
prior models, the students were also presented with the “We the People …”
materials from the Center for Civic Education.
In
all of these, students were/are asked to discuss the models and materials in
relation to the other elements previously described. As the development of the course continues,
the instructor should add other published materials for the students to analyze. This blogger is currently writing a book that
looks closely at the two major textbooks high schools currently employ: Magruder’s
American Government[1] and Glencoe United States Government: Democracy in Action.[2]
By way of a teaser,
that review makes the following claims:
· The
books offer its mostly descriptive content to students in extremely objectified
language. In line with scientific
efforts, that language avoids any value or attitudinal positions regarding its
content.
· The
chosen information, though, reflects what is currently debatable or
controversial in American society. Given
the language used in these books, that reportage does not explicitly state this
editorial bias, but given what is included, one cannot find all of those
choices as coincidental. In short, the
effort of these books is to inform future voters about what the writers of
those texts believe will be the issues that students will confront as adults.
· While
many of the chosen issues can be analyzed and debated in terms of how they
relate to justice or how they advance or detract from a civil society, the
books tend to avoid questioning along those concerns. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are
passing on bits of information or inquiries without much focus placed on them.[3]
· By
providing information that informs future voters about what will possibly
affect their “consumer” interests, the texts naturally portray an
individualistic approach to this study of politics. Of course, as with any reportage of politics,
one must mention collective or communal arrangements at some point. But the reflected aims do not center on what
advances or hurts the common advantages of those arrangements, either in how
highlighted issues are relevant to common causes or how citizens have entailed
obligations regarding those issues.
·
And finally, and this is the
qualification alluded to earlier in the book, Glencoe differs from Magruder
to the extent that the former attempts to adopt the methodology of behavioral
political science.[4] Glencoe, with its inclusion of raw
data and inquiry questioning, reasonably mimics what political scientists do –
but is gauged to the sophistication of its audience, that being high school
students. But in no way do the textbooks
pick up the challenge that Daniel Elazar’s aims[5]
represent. The books are mostly silent
on issues of justice or civility.
Overall, therefore, these books, if used – and the likelihood is
very high that they will be used – need to be extensively supplemented in order
to meet what the elements highlight. A viable
preparation course addresses the main obstacles to accomplishing meaningful civics
education in the nation’s schools. It
warns prospective teachers that their social studies classroom is not an
isolated reality.
It encourages them
to boldly address what might be for their students unpopular ideas or
issues. In addition, the presentation provides
a tool to analyze curricular packages and materials. By juxtaposing the two continuums presented
earlier in this series – egocentric to universal and scientific/technical to
holistic – one can mentally gauge the various material products one encounters.
The mental
presentation identifies some very basic concerns. They indicate that in order to be successful
in one’s classroom and revitalize a commitment to viable civics education, one
must address some very fundamental attributes of the nation’s collective and
individual existence. The extent of what
one finds currently in the nation’s political landscape – its problems and issues
– unfortunately has seeped into issues of legitimacy both in the eyes of
parents and the nation’s student population.
So, to finish this
series, here are the five elements:
Element One:
A viable teacher preparation program needs to make clear that civic
preparation is not only a foundation of civics education or even social
studies, but also of all public education and of responsible private
educational programs as well.
Element Two:
A preparation program identifies both the challenge presented by the
commodification of education and the popular culture that supports such
commodification by describing it, explaining it, and evaluating it.
Element Three:
A program that imparts the teaching skills that allow those perspective
teachers to conduct curriculum strategies that instruct children and
adolescents in the civic knowledge and skills suitable to their developmental
level and to the civic challenges of their community, state, and nation.
Element Four:
A program that couches, primarily through civics education but radiating
throughout a utilized curriculum, an instructional approach in moral terms. And …
Element Five:
A program that identifies civics classroom materials and curricular
approaches that address and enhance the other four elements of a viable teacher
preparation program.
Enough said.
[1] William McClenaghan, Magruder’s American Government (Florida
Teacher’s Edition) (Boston,
MA: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2013) AND Daniel
M. Shea, Magruder’s American Government
(Boston, MA: Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2019).
[2] Richard C. Remy, Glencoe United States
Government: Democracy in Action (New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Glencoe, 2010).
[3] For example,
in Glencoe’s coverage of economic politics, an editorial cartoon appears
in which three fish of various sizes are depicted. The smallest fish states, “There is no
justice in the world,” as it is about to be eaten by the midsized fish. The midsized fish says, “There is some
justice in the world,” as it is about to be eaten by the large fish. And, of course, the large fish says, “The
world is just.” This example is in the
textbook, in the opinion of this blogger, more for its humor than its concern
for justice. See Remy, Glencoe United
States Government, 718.
[4]
This account dedicates a
bit of space (see appendix chapter) to reviewing what constitutes behavioral
studies, especially in political science.
[5]
Elazar’s aims for political science are pursuing justice, discovery of factors
affecting political behavior, and promoting civil society.
