Humanities II

"So what's to be done? Civic energy is going to have to come from the ground up to strengthen social cohesion, civic participation, and our ability to solve big challenges together. One big idea to strengthen our civic stocks and create pathways to better outcomes in education and employment is universal national service - an opportunity for every 18-28 year-old to perform at least a year of civilian national service through well-known groups like City Year, Teach for America and Habitat for Humanity or to join one of the branches of our Armed Services. Another bold idea would be to engage philanthropy in a $1 billion annual campaign to restore American history and civic education to its rightful place in American schools. We need "problems of American democracy" courses that teach students about the importance of bedrock American values, educate them through real-world experience about institutions that secure rights, check power, and enable public service, and provide practical skills to turn the wheels of a diverse democracy to address public problems. A final idea is for community leaders from different parties and sectors to experiment boldly with ways to fix public problems. "

"Young adults are losing faith in American democracy and have difficulty distinguishing between "fake news" and reliable news. That's according to a new research paper out from Tufts University. The solution? Support civic learning programs in K-12 education at the state and local level, the researchers argue. "We know that if you study civics in high school you are more likely to be an informed voter," says Peter Levine, co-author of the paper and an associate dean for research at Tufts. The paper is part of an effort to reinvigorate civics classes in schools across the country. It was presented at a summit in Washington, D.C., that was attended by foundations, nonprofits, researchers and universities. They hope to expand civics education to 10 million students by 2021 -- an effort that would require $100 million in funding. Organizers say they are in the process of raising that money. Civic learning has been an afterthought in school, the researchers argue. They offer six tips:"

""Talking Turkey" does just that. It starts with a series of downloadable questions, talking points and research links designed to teach children and adults the art of civil political discourse. Among the many pointers are guidelines for how to ask and answer questions, reminders to treat others' responses the way you would want yours treated and tips on how to ensure that everyone is given an equal opportunity to speak."

"What is the difference between civil rights and civil liberties? How does a bill become a law? Why do we have an electoral college, and how does it work? These might seem like very basic questions and could be considered general knowledge, but to the American public, they are simply esoteric: Though blind patriotism has turned to nationalism with unprecedented fervor, 69 percent of Americans cannot even name the three branches of government."

"How can we engage teenagers in the civic process? How can government leaders connect with young people in the classroom? And what, exactly, is fake news? These were some of the questions a panel of civic leaders discussed at Kankakee Community College as part of the 2017 Illinois Civics Academy for Teachers, a regional conference for teachers looking for innovative ways to implement the Illinois civic education requirements. The Wednesday afternoon panel was moderated by Kristine Condon, professor and program coordinator in paralegal/legal assistant studies and KCC's business and technology division. "

""To the extent we want kids to be good citizens, we want them to be able to think critically about whatever information they're getting," he said. "Teachers in the classroom have a responsibility to helping teach those skills." Following are summaries of the two new research studies."

"Civic engagement projects give students at East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy an opportunity to celebrate their community, as well as the skills and experience to make positive change."

"What has always impressed me about great teachers is how they can guide the tone of class discussions in positive directions through modeling and empathy. The same is true when it comes to politics. I have found success in this area by knowing my students and encouraging them to share relevant testimonials to illustrate their perspectives. Few things can build empathy better than looking at the dynamics of an issue through a peer's eyes. Putting Politics in Practice Modeling positive discourse is important when offering students a different path from the current divisive discourse found in today's political environment. Here are some successful strategies that I have followed in my own classroom:"

"Teachers in Oakland are working to help young people find ways to take what they are learning and become active agents for change in their community using a program called Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age. The Teaching Channel documented how teachers empower and engage students through a curriculum devoted to not only teaching students about the problems, but giving them tools to begin trying to change them. "The civic engagement work has given students a sense of agency, a sense of voice, and like a structure to think about 'how can I actually do something with the things that I'm learning,'" said Matt Colley, a ninth grade English and History teacher at Oakland Technical High School.* "And to really see school as a springboard to community engagement, as opposed to a report card grade.""

"Our own study of over 1.25 million stories published online between April 1, 2015 and Election Day shows that a right-wing media network anchored around Breitbart developed as a distinct and insulated media system, using social media as a backbone to transmit a hyper-partisan perspective to the world. This pro-Trump media sphere appears to have not only successfully set the agenda for the conservative media sphere, but also strongly influenced the broader media agenda, in particular coverage of Hillary Clinton."

" iCivics, a set of free online educational games developed by a nonprofit organization founded by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Last November, as the contentious presidential election came and went, the game was played roughly 3 million times, nearly twice as many as the year prior. Much of that uptick was fueled by teachers hoping to engage their students without further inflaming often-raw emotions. "One of the things I like about iCivics is that it's a place for students to go where they're not going to get angry, because you know it's not going to be slanted," said Jo Phillips, a veteran civics teacher at West Virginia's Ripley High."

"The videos demonstrate the process of facilitating group learning about media literacy. Students are prompted to think critically about all media messages by asking questions such as: * Who produced this media message, and for what purpose? * Is the information credible, how would you know? * What techniques were used to communicate this message? * Who might be the target audience? * Who might benefit or be harmed by this message? * How might other people interpret this message differently? As shown in the videos, teachers respond with evidence-based prompts such as: "What makes you say that and where is that shown in the document?" These literacy principles are often preceded by content questions that encourage students to analyze media documents, including: * What are the main messages here about… (fill in the blank)? * What bias or point of view do you see here? * What information is left out of this message and why? Project Look Sharp developed these materials after assessing how some teachers present media documents to illustrate key points rather than to engage students. The videos include running annotations that explain how to conduct discussions about media messages using the constructivist methodology. Teachers will learn how to shift their practices from predominantly delivering facts to engaging students in rigorous analysis, application of key knowledge, and reflection on their understanding of the mediated world they live in."

"Here's the one big lesson we've learned: Agency begins with being able to ask your own questions and continues with the ability to participate in decisions that affect you wherever and whenever they are made. That's the one big lesson from nearly three decades of work and it has implications from the micro level of our daily lives to the highest levels of decision-making in our democracy. For it's possible to imagine a dictatorship that discourages citizens from asking questions, but we should not accept a democracy in which questions cannot be asked. A strong sense of agency, and self-efficacy on a fundamental level is actually a precursor, a foundation for more effective action on any level of our democracy. It's the beginning of the journey towards democratic action, not its completion. Skip over it however, and you get pretty much the status quo we've got today. If you're happy with that, don't bother to read on. How do we translate this one big idea, one big lesson into action? We've been working on trying to answer just one question in the simplest way possible: How can we democratize access to the deceptively simple yet very sophisticated skills of question formulation and effective participation in decisions? Let's focus here on just the first skill; question formulation. It is no small matter to teach the skill; it's often developed only through high levels of professional education and with years of experience. Indeed, access to them can be difficult and costly. In 2002, The New York Times asked college presidents what should students learn in four years of college. There was a consensus that students could not come out of college knowing all there is to know so college should, according to Leon Botstein of Bard College, "engender a lifelong habit of curiosity, as opposed to becoming more convinced that you are an authority." He went on to say students should learn "analytical skills of interpretation and inquiry. In other word

"Teaching Mockingbird suggests a central question around which a class's study of Harper Lee's novel can be organized: What factors influence our moral growth? What kinds of experiences help us learn how to judge right from wrong?  As students read and reflect on the novel, they return to this question and can begin to make deeper and broader connections between the novel and their own moral and ethical lives. They begin by considering the pivotal moments in their lives that shape who they are and their senses of right and wrong.  Then they analyze how the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird change over the course of the story, identifying pivotal moments in the story that influence how the characters think about morality and justice.  The complete Teaching Mockingbird guide also introduces models of moral development that have emerged from the field of developmental psychology, which students can use as the basis for even deeper character analysis."

"In the 1950s and 1960s, ethnic writers moved onto the bestseller lists and achieved recognition in literary circles. Ralph Ellison, Philip Roth, and N. Scott Momaday showed how Americans once at the margins were now closer to the country's cultural center. In doing so, all three writers expanded the boundaries of American literature and opened up the definition of what it is to be American. The video provides the backdrop for this era, as a post-World War II America began to enjoy a prosperity that led it toward conformity and mass consumption. However, the postwar economic boom and "white flight" to the suburbs increased the physical and class distance between the white middle class and ethnic minorities who remained in older neighborhoods closer to the city centers. Ellison, Roth, and Momaday helped to resist the imaginative segregation that accompanied these changes in the urban and suburban landscape. Ellison's adaptations from jazz and blues, Roth's ethnic comedic rifts, and Momaday's ingenious use of Native American narrative traditions all helped to make storytelling richer and expanded readers' awareness of where narrative art comes from and who is capable of creating it. The video also emphasizes the risk these authors took in their innovative approaches as representatives of their own communities, often facing fierce criticism and misunderstanding of their fiction and its intentions. "

"Fostering productive discussions on contentious topics."

"A key element of social journalism is creating space in which you can listen to your community: digitally or in-person. I did this through interviews with people that have a stake in my community and a survey of journalism educators and students, the two stakeholder groups most relevant to improving the preparation of emerging journalists for their careers. Foundations support publishers and journalism educators, who, in turn, allow the foundations to meet their goals. Journalism educators and publishers prepare and develop emerging journalists through which they engage the public. "

"Teacher Elizabeth Robbins has found that most people underestimate students' capabilities. But once young people have a framework for thinking of themselves as active players in their communities, their nation, or their world, they can achieve much more than we realize. In this talk, she offers a compelling model for upending civics education as we know it and helping students research and take action around issues that affect them."

"There are good reasons to teach Julie Otsuka's novel today. In addition to helping students build historical empathy, I believe there is a chance that reading about distant lives can help us learn empathy for those around us today. When the Emperor Was Divine is a difficult story about difficult history. It can be deeply unsettling to teach and to learn about a moment in our country's past that was identified at the time and has been rightly described ever since as a source of national shame. It can be hard to reconcile the historical reality of Japanese internment with American ideals, past and present. However, the difficulty of this story does not excuse us from teaching it. Indeed, in our present moment, filled with xenophobic rhetoric, building empathy is more important than ever."