Local history provides a unique lens through which to explore the events that most directly impact the lives of students, their schools, and communities. Drawing on the C3 Framework’s (NCSS, 2013) Inquiry Arc and John Dewey’s (1920) notions of experience, the authors use an original instructional unit designed for a high school government class to examine the potential of investigating local history in the context of civics education. Illustrations from and reflections on the unit provide an example of how primary source analysis can empower students to learn about their communities and how citizens can impact local policymaking.
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... Scholars have argued for a multitude of classroom activities to equip students with the historical thinking, literacy, and argumentation skills employed by historians (Nokes, 2013(Nokes, , 2019Seixas & Morton, 2012;VanSledright, 2014;Wineburg, 2001;Wineburg et al., 2013). However, there is little scholarship on how to strengthen students' civic thinking, literacy, and argumentation skills (Clabough, 2018;Cook & Yoder, 2019;Journell, 2017;Journell et al., 2015). ...
This six-day research project examined the potential for how trade books and primary sources can be used in concert with each other to develop middle school students’ disciplinary thinking skills in the manners advocated for in the C3 Framework. The project was focused on the trade book Thurgood, a picture book biography about Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Students drew images and used words to describe Thurgood Marshall’s civic identity and answered metacognitive analysis prompts explaining their thinking and work. Students’ work samples suggest that they employed a nuanced integration of both civic and historical thinking to articulate how Thurgood Marshall’s lived experiences influenced his civic action and civic identity.
The idea according to which human capital is the main engine of growth has a large support in the specialized literature. In this context, the analysts have argued that sustainable growth and development of a country relies not on a large number of people but on a large amount of human capital. The explanation is simple: a healthier and better educated society involves more productive people, who are able to efficiently evaluate the opportunities and to take the right decisions, a higher social cohesion and more "green skills" that raise the environmental awareness. Considering all these aspects, the main objective of this paper is to identify the way in which human capital, through its qualitative dimensions, influences the sustainable development in the EU states. In order to reach this purpose, we have collected, tabulated and analysed the secondary data offered by various statistical yearbooks, reports and by different empirical investigations. The conclusions of this study may offer valuable information for the EU policy makers regarding the importance of investing in human capital in order to ensure a sustainable development.
While historical thinking has a rich literature, civic thinking has been an underdeveloped area of research in social studies education. I discuss in this article three activities designed to strengthen students’ civic thinking skills by examining the “political death and resurrection” of Richard Nixon in the 1960s. These three activities help students critically analyze politicians’ remarks to grasp direct and indirect messages contained within political statements and advertising. The steps and resources to implement these activities are provided. The development of students’ civic thinking skills helps them analyze a politician’s arguments and judge for themselves the merits of a candidate and his or her statements and policy recommendations.
Over the last couple of years, White nationalist groups have been at the forefront of American political life, especially with the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The historical roots of White nationalist movements run deep in the United States and are most closely associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In this article the authors explore the history of the KKK outside of the South and how this oft-neglected history gets at elements of intergenerational and intragenerational occlusion. Next, we discuss the type of angry political rhetoric used by the KKK. Finally, a series of activities are provided. These activities enable students to see the presence of the KKK outside of the South, break down elements of intragenerational and intergenerational occlusion as it relates to the Klan, and confront angry political rhetoric in the racist messages of the KKK. These activities give students experience to analyze the messages of White nationalist movements to prepare them as future citizens to counter such rhetoric on the local, state, and national level.
Political theorists are too often silent on questions of method and approach. David Leopold and Marc Stears have assembled a distinguished group of contributors to break that silence and to explain and defend the research methods they utilise in their own work. The result is a rich and varied collection which does not suggest that there is only one right way to conduct political theory, but rather introduces readers to many of the often unelaborated methods and approaches that currently inform the work of leading scholars in the field. Amongst the topics covered are the complex and contested connections between political theory and a range of adjacent disciplines—including moral philosophy, the empirical social sciences, the history of political thought, the world of ‘real’ politics, critical social theory, and ideology. Both individually and as a collection, these essays will promote understanding and provoke further debate amongst students and established scholars alike. They will be encouraged to reflect on their own methodological assumptions, to re-examine the practical tools of analysis they employ, and to re-evaluate why the research they do matters.
Young Children's Civic Mindedness provides a well-grounded understanding of children's civic thought and action by inviting readers to look and listen carefully to the voices of young children themselves. Grounded in research on children's evolving civic identities and drawn from extended case studies and rich narrative vignettes, this book shows the many ways even the youngest children can be civic-minded and political. The book engages readers in thinking about the many ways children reason about and approach civic problems; how children's experience in various local and larger contexts shapes their thinking and action; and the environmental factors that delimit what children see as possible in civic spaces. Written for early childhood, elementary and civic educators, this book encourages readers to go beyond mere rhetoric on the importance of civic education, to develop improved ways of teaching for children's civic development.
Planners are bound up in the reproduction of racialized exclusion. This fact inspires demands for equity, cultural competency, and anti-racism within the profession. This study examines the impacts of a “Race and Place” autobiography writing assignment on undergraduate students’ racial identities and understanding of racism. It combines: (1) a content and narrative analysis of student essays; (2) a post-course survey; and (3) qualitative interviews with a sample of students. Critical autobiographical writing may help students understand their own identities, build empathy for peers, and identify personally with structures of inclusion/exclusion in ways that inspire longer-term commitments to racial justice.
