ERIC Number: EJ1274271
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1085-3545
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
What Is Education For? A Response to "What Kind of Citizens Do Educators Hope Their Students Become? A Response to 'Storypath: A Powerful Tool for Engaging Children in Civic Learning.'"
McGuire, Margit E.; Stevahn, Laurie; Bronsther, Shari Wennik
Democracy & Education, v28 n2 Article 10 2020
Darwich (2020) asked "What Kind of Citizens Do Educators Hope Their Students Become?" in her response to "Storypath: A Powerful Tool for Engaging Children in Civic Education" (McGuire et al., 2019). She argued that civics should be rooted in social justice grounded by critical civic empathy, which requires focusing on power and privilege given persistent disparities in caring for all people within our democracy. We agree and here further emphasize the importance of dismantling systems of oppression that block efforts to advance this goal. We also recognize pragmatic complexities in elementary school classrooms that require teacher professional judgment to create conditions for success. These include attending to diverse developmental needs of learners, classroom time constraints, and instructional standards that do not explicitly focus on social justice. We describe how the teacher in McGuire et al. navigated these challenges and call for systemic change to support teachers in routinely engaging all children in experiential civic learning grounded by critical civic empathy. [This article is a response to "What Kind of Citizens Do Educators Hope Their Students Become? A Response to 'Storypath: A Powerful Tool for Teaching Children Civic Learning'" (EJ1255977).]
Descriptors: Role of Education, Citizenship Education, Civics, Empathy, Social Justice, Elementary School Students, Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Social Development, Emotional Development, Democracy
Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road MSC 93, Portland, OR 97219. Tel: 503-768-6054; Fax: 503-768-6053; e-mail: journal@lclark.edu; Web site: http://democracyeducationjournal.org/home
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A