#teaching civics

[progressiveactiondaily-blog]

Action of the day: Generation Citizen is a great resource for parents, educators, or anyone else who works with young people.  The site offers toolkits, lesson plans, and conversation starters for engaging young people in discussions about our democracy.

[teaching-humanities-matters]

Discussing the Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford Testimony

I am in the middle of the government unit with my 8th graders. This foundational unit gives them the background they need into how the government is structured and operates and the Bill of Rights so that we can consider U.S. history through the lenses of citizen rights, democratic values, and civil activism. Thursday’s testimony from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford--who has accused him of sexual assault when they were in high school--is a real-life illustration of much of what we have been talking about in the theoretical sense in class: the Supreme Court, the nomination process, Congressional procedures, and due process (discussed through a case study of the #MeToo movement).

I showed them a five-minute clip of highlights from the Wall Street Journal. I gave them the option first: They could watch the highlights only to learn about this important current event, then have a half-hour of open work time, or we could discuss the testimony for as long as they wanted. BUT there were rules imposed on me: I could only 1) ask questions of them or 2) answer direct, non-opinion questions they asked me.

After watching the video, they wanted to discuss the testimony, and they did--passionately and for the full half-hour left in class. I had to literally bite my hand at times to keep from interjecting my thoughts, but they did such an amazing job that they didn’t even need me. They asked questions, used evidence, challenged each other respectfully, and considered the testimony in the historical context of women being disbelieved or interrogated by authorities when making accusations of sexual harassment or assault. (Some of the students are studying this as part of position papers on related issues but all had some basic background from discussing #MeToo.)

I was so freaking proud of them.

I’m in my third year at my school, and I’ve had my 7th and 8th graders that long. And when compared to kids I didn’t teach as long, I see the effects of a discourse-driven classroom in the quality of the questions they ask, the evidence they use, the sophistication of their arguments, and most importantly, the curiosity and excitement that they bring to class.

They exceed many adults in their capacity for civil, well-reasoned discourse. I’m so proud of them.