Posted on 09/27/2003 12:52:07 PM PDT by Valin
This essay is part of “Terrorists, Despots, and Democracy: What Our Children Need To Know,” a report just released by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.
Our children are living in perilous times. To prepare them to preserve their heritage of freedom in this dangerous world, we must place education aimed at cultivating democratic citizenship at the heart of the school curriculum.
Education for democratic citizenship has two central components. First, our young people should come to understand-and embrace-the principles of liberty, equality, and justice upon which this nation was founded. They should learn about the institutions that make self-government possible, and become acquainted with democracy's unique historical roots. Second, they should develop the qualities of character that mark true citizens: courage, loyalty, responsibility, gratitude to forebears, and a self-sacrificing devotion to the common good. As democratic citizens, they must have a capacity for judgment, an ability to discern their duty, and a love for-and desire to perpetuate-the republic.
The heart of civic education is the study of American history and government. In recent decades, however, our schools have fallen woefully short in these areas, as evidenced by the abysmal results from the 2001 National Assessment of Educational Progress, on which more students scored "below basic" in American history than any other subject.
A glance at the textbooks that dominate U.S. history and government classrooms suggests why. Today's standard texts are dry, lacking in detail, monotonous, and politically tendentious. Such books could never inspire students to cherish their heritage of freedom. To foster democratic citizenship, we must fundamentally change the way our schools teach history and government. We must work to tell America's dramatic story in a way that engages young people's imagination, excites their gratitude, and reveals what is at stake in the American experiment.
America's story has two major themes: principles and people. Our challenge is to bring both to life for students. In teaching principles, we should make liberal use of original documents, as well as the stirring rhetoric of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, the great speeches of Washington, Patrick Henry, and Lincoln-all eloquently capture the essence of the American creed of liberty and equality, of majority rule and minority rights.
As students study these documents, they should dissect and debate the fundamental ideas from which our nation's political vision springs. On the subject of natural rights, for example, they could read not just Lincoln, but also Stephen Douglas; not just Frederick Douglass, but also John C. Calhoun. By exploring the assumptions and implications of these competing interpretations, students are likely to develop a reasoned allegiance to the principles that define our common life.
In addition to learning America's founding principles, students need to know our nation's history. By studying political history, they will discover how their forebears translated democratic ideas into institutions and practices. To grasp America's future possibilities, they must learn about the great statesmen, lawgivers, explorers, military heroes, inventors, economic innovators, and social crusaders whose decisions and actions have given our nation its shape.
A central part of America's story is its status as a nation of immigrants. For generations, the world's "tired and poor" have streamed here to take advantage of our extraordinary economic freedom and opportunity. Yet few contemporary students understand or value this aspect of their heritage. To rectify that situation, education for democratic citizenship should include the stories of immigrants like Elie Wiesel, Frank Capra, and Jaime Escalante, who endured great hardships to live the American dream.
A curriculum that centers on America's founding principles and history will lay the groundwork for democratic citizenship. But students need a broader context for informed decision-making: They must understand the place of America's experiment in ordered liberty in the larger world. Our young people need to know where else in the world self-government has taken root, and why-and where it has not, and why. They must be familiar with the various systems of government and social organization that compete with liberal democracy. Finally, they must study democracy's enemies and analyze its vulnerabilities. (An eloquent guide here is "Education for Democracy," a statement-with accompanying curricular guidelines-issued in 1987 by the American Federation of Teachers, the Educational Excellence Network, and Freedom House in conjunction with the bicentennial of the Constitution.)
This means, first, that our students must make a special study of the history of Western civilization. The West gave birth to representative government and the unique ideas that undergird it, including natural rights, freedom of conscience, and the rule of law. In addition, students must become familiar with the history, geography, and political systems of other areas-today, most urgently, the Middle East-whose societies have not been receptive to democracy.
Finally, our young people need to understand the ideas and forces that threaten democracy and the potential costs of defending or extending freedom. By studying World War II and America's nearly 50-year Cold War with Communism, they can learn much about the policies that are likely to strengthen democracy, and those that are likely to undermine it. Likewise, by examining our nation's post-war nation building efforts in Japan and Germany, the Marshall Plan in Europe, and our effort to contain Communism through the Vietnam War, they can assess the benefits and risks of attempts to spread freedom and prosperity to other lands.
Informed citizens need to be knowledgeable on all these subjects. In the end, however, teaching young people to be good citizens requires more than conveying knowledge. It also requires encouraging the cultivation of certain traits of character. In a word, it requires what the ancient Greeks called a paragon, or character ideal.
Many students today have difficulty distinguishing between a celebrity and a hero. We can help them to discern that all-important difference by acquainting them with champions of democracy and inspiring them to say, "I want to be like that."
To that end, our students need to hear the heroic stories of George Washington at Valley Forge and Nathan Hale's last words. They should also hear the voices of ordinary Americans, like Union soldier Sullivan Ballou, who wrote movingly to his wife before the Battle of Bull Run about his love of country. Novels and stories are another powerful vehicle for conveying the virtues of the citizen and patriot. My own children have thrilled to Johnny Tremain, and I still remember how moved I was at reading Edward Everett Hale's "The Man Without a Country" in ninth grade.
Our task as educators is to help young people see that America is worthy of their love and to help them become worthy of their heritage as American citizens.
-Katherine Kersten is a Distinguished Senior Fellow for Cultural Studies at Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank in Minneapolis.
The lesson for me is that while our sons' school is doing a fine job of teaching them math, reading, grammar and spelling, they can't be relied upon to teach history well. We make the time to take them to historic sites, discuss politics and economics with them, and try to integrate the principles of liberty and good character into their daily lives. We've always taken the time to do these things with them because liberty and love of country are high priorities for us. With the recent findings of the Fordham Foundation, it has taken on even more urgency.
Unfortunately, many students today have families which don't have the inclination to supplement their children's education in this direction. That's a threat to all of us as these kids grow into adulthood and vote.
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