Why Should Delaware Care?
Civics education can equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become more informed and engaged citizens. Delaware does require students to be taught civics education, but some educators go beyond the standard requirements.
In Nathan Moser’s 10th grade social studies class, students don’t have to be afraid to voice their opinions on pressing issues like minimum wage, student debt or climate change. Instead, his students protest those issues right outside of their school.
More than 90% of students at the Freire Charter School Wilmington are students of color, and Moser understands that police arrival may have a negative connotation for some students. However, he enjoys showing them his interaction with police when legally protesting.
“I’m the first one to talk, they’re not allowed to talk to the public unless I’m there. When they see the interaction that I have with the police, they can join me and realize they’re allowed to do these things, they’re legally supposed to be doing these things,” Moser said. “They’re getting congratulations for it. It’s kind of eye-opening for some of them who have only had negative interactions, and now we’re seeing the positive side of that.”
Moser’s social studies class doesn’t revolve around a standard curriculum and Scantron tests; he describes his lessons as “activities that people talk [about] and say, ‘Oh, I wish they taught this in school.’”
Students participate in different interactive lessons throughout the school year, like roleplaying different forms of government, tracking the stock market with fake money and looking at how to pay rent and split bills with their classmates acting as roommates, among other activities.
Moser designs his “Power & Money” course to be something students can take with them in the future, rather than focusing on tests. Those efforts recently earned him the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Civics Education, and he sees the award as a form of validation that he made the correct decisions when planning the class lessons.
Delaware is one of many states that requires its districts and charters to teach social studies standards covering civics, economics, geography and history. There are different “Civic Anchor Standards” for the state’s students, with complexity standards increasing with each grade cluster.
The standard for ninth through 12th grade students is to analyze the structure and purpose of different forms of government around the world, understand the dynamic process of how the American government functions and understand that citizens are individually responsible for staying informed about public policy issues.
Other local organizations like the League of Women Voters of Delaware also hold multiple events to get young people engaged with democracy, like working with Girl Scouts for their civic badges or helping students register to vote at the University of Delaware, said Jill Itzkowitz, who is in charge of the League’s voting and elections committee and the Vote411 candidate survey tool.
Nearly 70% of adults in the United States say it’s very important to vote in elections to be a good member of society – yet many sit out Election Day. About 66% of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election, but only 46% of voters turned out for the 2022 midterm elections.
When people are civically involved at a younger age, it helps them get more comfortable with the process of voting and to understand the importance of voting, Itzkowitz said.
She added that it’s important to teach students about civic education, especially with the upcoming presidential election, because “there’s differences in these candidates, and that things like climate change, or the environment, or the woman’s right to choose are on the line.”
When the teacher then makes that lived connection between what they’re learning and doing in the classroom and how it actually works outside of the classroom, that’s true civic education.
donna phillips, center for civic EDUCATION
Studies have shown that civics education can equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become more informed and engaged citizens.
Not everyone will see themselves when they read “We the people” in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, but it’s important for students to understand they rightfully have an active place, said Donna Phillips, the president and CEO of the Center for Civic Education, a national nonprofit that works to advance education about the U.S. Constitution.
“When the teacher then makes that lived connection between what they’re learning and doing in the classroom and how it actually works outside of the classroom, that’s true civic education,” Phillips said. “That’s when the knowledge sinks in.”
Phillips pointed toward the Miami-Dade County (Fla.) School District for its work with the Center for Civic Education’s Project Citizen, which aims to provide a first-hand approach to learning about the country’s government system and how to monitor and influence it.
Many students propose a bill either at the school, community or state level, and some ideas from their proposed public policies are taken up by local lawmakers, Phillips said.
Moser’s students write letters to representatives in all levels of government, starting with the city council. Students write about different topics that affect them and invite their city council members to come and discuss those issues.
Students also learn about the three branches of government and how to get involved while writing their letters, Moser said. The section ends with an email or video sent to students’ senators or representatives in Congress. Their efforts to have their voices heard have been successful, with city council members coming to Moser’s class multiple times to discuss the issues with students.
Phillips, a former educator of 20 years, also noted that teaching social studies is challenging because there’s often controversy over what can be taught.
Many states have imposed restrictions on teaching topics like race and gender, and Texas suppressed students’ interactions with elected officials in class projects. Milford School District’s board of education recently indefinitely tabled its policy that would propose new standards for controversial and sensitive issues, including expressions of political beliefs.
Moser hasn’t received pushback from parents or colleagues for the way he teaches his class, but has questioned himself if he’s doing the right thing for his students after deciding to have students show mastery through projects and presentations instead of tests.
“I grew up just seeing Scantron tests after Scantron tests and that’s what I was used to,” Moser said. “I made the conscious choice to say, ‘I don’t want to do my class like this,’ that maybe it’s just me saying those things to myself, saying ‘I’m doing something different than the way I was brought up. Is this correct? Or am I doing them a disservice?’”
Some teachers, like Moser, may feel doubt about going against the standard format of teaching a lesson and giving a test. But having that interactive learning experience gives students more of an investment in their community than they’d get from a textbook, Phillips said.
“When students are working on something and identifying a way to make things better, it gives them an investment in their community in a way that just sitting in a classroom and learning about things from a book or a movie or a test just [doesn’t],” Phillips said.
