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Bucky

(53,805 posts)
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:06 PM May 2017

All teachers... check in here (former students too) -- RE:Civics. Check in by state.

I teach government and economics in Texas. Lately I've heard a lot of chatter in the media about "we don't teach civics in high school anymore". Most recently Richard Dreyfuss repeated this on while on (*ugh*) Tucker Carlson's show:

Civics has not been taught in the American public school system since 1970. And that means everyone in Congress never studied the constitution and the bill of rights as you and I might have.


I think that's malarkey. I teach government to seniors and, pardon the French, I teach the shit out of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. My students study it in depth. But that's not the first that they've heard of it. For years I've taught World History--not AP or honors classes, but on-level World History--to sophomores. I even spent a couple of years teaching AP US History to juniors.

At every class at every level we went in depth on the Founding Fathers. In World History it's a full week on the founding documents, and what they meant and mean, and why they were written they way they were, and the philosophy behind them. And that is after the previous week studying the Enlightenment (it's high school so we just hit Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Montesquieu) and lay the groundwork for understanding the meaning of the US Founding.

In AP US history we spend two weeks on the Constitution and the Convention of 1787 & the Bill of Rights. In my government class we spend almost half the time referencing the practical and theoretical application of the Constitution. The class is not called "Civics"; it's called government. But it's the civics content and it's designed to give historical, theoretical, and practical context to what the Constitution and Bill of Rights are and mean.

As I said above, I think this "we don't teach civics anymore" meme is hogwash. But my knowledge is based only on what we teach in Texas. What do yall do in your state? Is civics really dead or is this just more "the modern world's all going to hell" boiler plate?

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Bucky

(53,805 posts)
1. Texas: We teach the Constitution and Bill of Rights in depth here.
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:08 PM
May 2017

That's the template for the kind of feedback I want.

(But of course offer any other content you want too)

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
2. I'm not a teacher but I attended HS in
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:14 PM
May 2017

the mid to late seventies and we definitely had a civics requirement . This was in the mid-west. One of our projects was to ask somebody in local/state government come to give a talk on different issues - death penalty etc.

Stuart G

(38,365 posts)
4. Bull......I was in the public schools in the 90s
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:15 PM
May 2017

and taught it often. When the Oklahoma building came down, in the 90s, we discussed it in U.S. History..The Constitution was always taught as was the Bill of Rights .. Dreyfuss is an actor, not a teacher...I taught and when I could, always taught civics.

In Illinois it is required to take a Constitution Test in order to graduate..(at least it was before I retired) ...!!!

southerncrone

(5,506 posts)
5. TN: We have a class titled Government which is required of all students for graduation.
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:17 PM
May 2017

I have noticed there was an apparent effort to hire conservative-leaning individuals to teach these classes. I do know that the teacher my own kids had for this class was EXTREMELY right-leaning & did interject those philosophies into their instruction. Luckily, the students, by & large, considered him crazy, so that helped counteract his efforts. However, they all HATED the class, too, because of this. Still a win for the "dumbing down" proponents.

Sancho

(9,065 posts)
6. Florida HS graduation minimum....
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:20 PM
May 2017

(d)?Three credits in social studies.—A student must earn one credit in United States History; one credit in World History; one-half credit in economics, which must include financial literacy; and one-half credit in United States Government. The United States History EOC assessment constitutes 30 percent of the student’s final course grade.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=1000-1099/1003/Sections/1003.4282.html

Of course, there are electives, related courses (geology, geography, Florida history, etc.).

Lochloosa

(16,019 posts)
7. Florida: Requiremtents to graduate with a general diploma
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:21 PM
May 2017

3 credits
• 1 world history
• 1 US History
• ½ Am Gov’t
• ½ Econ

That's it.

We read, studied and discussed the entire constitution in the seventh grade. That was in Civics class. That would have been around '68 or 69.

Duval County in Florida does not offer a civics class.

mercuryblues

(14,491 posts)
8. Not a teacher
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:22 PM
May 2017

I did go to school in the 70's and we had civics, Learned everything you mentioned. I also have kids, 1 till in high school. Yes they still learn about government,. I don't think it is called civics any more, there lies their problem. They have lazy brains, because it isn't a "civics" course they believe it isn't being taught. t my kid's school it is called US government and it is a requirement to graduate.

This is what happens when republicans get the news from FB memes.

haele

(12,582 posts)
10. Washington State - from my parents (Dad was a retired H.S. teacher 1985 - 2004)
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:25 PM
May 2017

When I went to high school in 1973, there was a Civics class that went two semesters; that covered the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but it also covered principles of Civic participation and jurisdictional responsibilities as well as governance and had at least three field trips associated with it - a city council meeting, a "tax dollars at work" organization visit (to a community service organization or a city government division that interacted with the public depending on schedule), and day long visit to the state capitol. For my class, I got to spend a day in a city social services office, and had to write a 5-page paper on how it served the taxpayer to pay for that civic function. My brother spent a day at the county court clerk's office a few years later.

But according to my Dad, who taught History and Government in High School sometime in the early 1980's, that intense Civics class became "Government", starting with an overview of Government (history of, Federal Government, State Government) and ending with the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Pretty much a "them and us" type of presentation of Government, not a "we the People" focus.

It's a bit dated, but that's what I think the "we don't teach civics anymore" comes from. We teach Civics, but we teach it dry; we don't teach it in a participatory way.

Haele

Bucky

(53,805 posts)
17. Is there a required economics class too?
Thu May 11, 2017, 07:54 AM
May 2017

In Texas those two one-semester classes are usually coupled together

pnwmom

(108,925 posts)
18. I don't see one.
Thu May 11, 2017, 07:58 AM
May 2017

For social studies, the link says this:

Students must also complete an OSPI developed classroom- based assessment in civics in the eleventh or twelfth grade. The World History 2 and 3 courses will satisfy the state requirements for 1 credit in Current World Problems (CWP). The American Government course will satisfy the state requirement for a .5 credit in Civics.

MedusaX

(1,129 posts)
12. The "They don't teach civics anymore." Line is a prevalent RW talking point ...
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:34 PM
May 2017

Now...
45 may lead one to believe that civics related instruction no longer takes place ... however,

in south Texas, high school Gov/Eco instruction is alive and well....
(former teacher; parent of 3 HS grads: 2010,2016,2017; HS Site Based Decision Making Team - member)

Texas public universities also require students to take both state & federal 'government' courses as part of the undergraduate core curriculum component.


murielm99

(30,657 posts)
14. I taught middle school,
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:38 PM
May 2017

and one block of high school accounting and computer apps. After that, I subbed.

Middle school and high school students in Illinois must pass civics tests at the eighth grade and twelfth grade levels. One test covers the Illinois Constitution and the other covers the U.S. Constitution. They cannot graduate unless they pass these tests.

I subbed for a teacher in a nearby community who taught a special ed. class. We had to make accommodations for the students, but nearly all of them took the test. In that classroom, there was an aide who helped me enormously when it came to working with those students. She told me how much she was learning about government by helping the kids learn about it. I told her that I was learning as well.

I am grateful for that experience.


 

janterry

(4,429 posts)
15. Yes, they do
Wed May 10, 2017, 04:41 PM
May 2017

My daughter is homeschooled via an online program. They certainly do teach it, it's just part of regular history. But there is a section called civics and it talks about how you can make change in your neighborhood, community, city, state, and even Federally. They teach how we all have a responsibility to vote and how our vote can be influential.

The lesson included a series of inspiring stories that get kids to see that other kids have accomplished some amazing things in their community.

They even have civic projects that kids must design and implement in their neighborhood. My daughter had to do that in order to finish her segment exam.

In addition, she had to interview people in the community to see how they were 'civically minded' (what they did to help out).

demmiblue

(36,751 posts)
19. Here are the High School Content Expections specically for civics in Michigan:
Thu May 11, 2017, 08:24 AM
May 2017

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Three credits of social science are required in order to graduate: U.S. history and geography, World history and geography, and a half credit each of civics and economics.

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