"If education is to be a safeguard of democracy, then recent events suggest tweets and other social media must be part of curriculum," write Daniel G. Krutka and Jeffrey P. Carpenter. In this article, the authors argue that teaching citizenship also requires teaching with and about social media. They provide a framework for educators to…

President Barack Obama once said he believes that he learned how to be a good citizen by reading novels. In this article, Laura Tavares looks at the ways that ELA teachers can use fiction to illustrate social and ethical awareness, humility, and a tolerance for difference--all traits that are necessary to be a good citizen. By putting themselves…

"Teachers need to prepare young people for interdependence and diversity at all scales: in the school community, neighborhood, town or city, nation, and globe," writes Audrey Osler. "This is what I refer to as 'education for cosmopolitan citizenship.'" In this article, the founding director of the Centre for Citizenship and…

According to former Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor, active citizenship requires that students know how to persuade others by logic, seek consensus, understand and create constructive dissent, and practice other vital critical-thinking skills. However, in the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics, only one in four…

The author presents evidence of "glaring gaps in U.S. students' civic knowledge, motivation, and interest." From the inception of the United States through the mid-20th century, he writes, civic education was at the center of U.S. schooling. Since then, however, there has been a decline in civics instruction, fueled by increasing…

Adults in the United States have been migrating to ideologically homogenous communities, a phenomenon that researchers have called "the big sort." Thus, the need for young Americans to engage in civil discussion of controversial issues has never been greater. Public schools are an ideal place to undo the big sort because controversial issues fit…

The goal of environmental education is to create a citizenry that is knowledgeable about the biophysical environment, aware of ways to help solve environmental problems, and motivated to work toward their solution. Today environmental issues are more complex and urgent than ever, but the schools have not met the challenge of preparing young people…

Typically embodied in classroom-based projects, service learning aims to link community service with the school curriculum to enhance both character development and academic skills. Service learning can also go beyond these goals to prepare students to become engaged citizens, by expanding their understanding of social problems and the role of…

The author describes two 9th grade experiences that began his transformation from a lackadaisical student into a motivated learner. In the first incident, a word of advice from a teacher made him aware that his actions mattered. In the second, his engagement in writing a story for the school newspaper taught him the power of discovering new…

Argues that while customizing education through home schooling may permit schooling to be tailored for each individual student, total customization also threatens to insulate students from exposure to diverse ideas and people and thereby to shield them from the vibrancy of a pluralistic democracy. (Contains 10 references.) (Author/PKP)

Data collected by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on 9-, 13-, and 17-year olds for two periods of time show a decline on items dealing with political knowledge and attitudes; but a gain in ability to describe ways to avoid future wars. (Author/MLF) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results…

A conversation with Larry Cuban, Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University, about two contradictory trends in education: customization and standardization and their effect on the public schools' responsibilities to provide both individual and social benefits. (PKP)

Much that schools have attempted to perform could be better accomplished by community-based education that would link older adults and youth. Intellectual development and citizenship are uniquely the responsibility of the schools. (Author/MLF)

Sixteen educators and noneducators comment on John Henry Martin's proposal to narrow the goals of schooling and involve others more fully in the education of adolescents. (Author/MLF)

Although the United States is clearly a melting pot, the country has generally held monolingualism in English as the gold standard of U.S. citizenship for immigrants. Fewer than one in 10 students at U.S. colleges major in foreign languages, and only 9 percent learn the most widely spoken languages in the world, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian,…