The Importance of Creating a Climate of Caring and Concern while Establishing a Positive Classroom Environment.

It takes a change in the mind set on the part of the student to move them from a sphere of disinterest and ambivalence to place of care and concern, while this endeavour can be initiated by the teacher, it’s the student whose active participation is needed. It’s my belief that the current classroom model needs to be changed and revamped.  The current model (also my model here in korea) where “students come in, they study, and leave, doesn’t create an open environment in which teachers can share their care and concern with their students. The classroom model needs to shift its focus from a place where academics is the main concern to a place where students feel more welcome, in a space of safety, security, and equality.   In this setting, students can reflect on their actions and understand the consequences of their actions while engaging in the learning process. While I truly desire to cater to the emotional needs of my students the vast majority of teachers in After school English Programs(AEP) are merely there because they have a foreign face.

When talking about a positive classroom environment in which care and concern have a safe place to play, the students themselves need a safe space to interact. Here the overall classroom environment needs to be one of equality, understanding, and where students are free from any form negativity. There are 3 components required to facilitate this, but all work in concert for the final goal of establishing a classroom that creates a positive classroom climate. These individual components are, the teacher, the classroom setup, and the emotional environment in which the students engage in the learning process.

The teacher

The teacher is the leader of the classroom, and as such he has to be the final authority on interactions between the students. As the authority figure, the teacher has to maintain a level of decorum in which he or she enhance the natural flow of the class and not detract from the learning process. In activity 1, we viewed reference material that gave suggestions in which a teacher can create a positive classroom environment. In his book, “The Art and Science of Teaching,” Morzano lists 8 action steps that the teacher can actively engage in, in order to establish and maintain effective relationships with students. In order to show care and concern in the classroom and foster a positive learning environment the teacher should focus on steps six through eight.

Step 6 titled “Consistently Enforce Positive and Negative Consequences.”  Morzano stresses that while there should be no fear of discipline during classroom conversation and interaction time; there are some instances that demand the teacher to use discipline as a tool.  Morzano suggestions involve consistency when responding to positive and negative actions within the classroom. If the teacher is consistent with both a positive system of rewards and a negative system of consequences, the students have a clear understanding of the behavioural etiquette that exists within the classroom.

In step 7 titled “Promote a Sense of Emotional Objectivity”, and 8, “Maintain a Cool Exterior.” The reading suggests that the teacher should maintain his or her emotional control and as such the students will follow in their teachers lead. Showing care and concern towards a student’s emotional problem doesn’t necessarily require an overly emotional response, but is illustrated in the teacher’s ability to maintain emotional objectivity when handling highly stressful situations. In cases where the teacher is impartial when handling student conflicts, the student is given an insight into their teacher’s ability to show concern without having his or her opinions or emotions affect their decisions or judgements.  The belief is that if  the teacher leads by example, the students may enact the same behaviour inside and outside the classroom.Being in an AEP program, or more importantly the “foreign face” I’m constantly being watched by students, they impersonate me, act like me, because its fun for them. There exists the desire to be a role model, and I do with my emotions and (sometimes) attention to detail, but as a foreign language speaker I can’t be there for them emotionally, I can’t even mediate arguments very well.

Here is a video that talks about creating an emotional space, something I’d very much like to do.

 

The physical setup of the classroom – In reviewing tolerance.org’s, “Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education,” devotes an entire chapter to classroom setup. This classroom set up plays an integral part in creating a positive educational environment as students spend a lot of time there, and their physical surroundings can have an appreciable amount of influence over them. In the article it gives 2 different classroom setups. While each of these setups have their advantages and disadvantages, there is one that promotes interaction and engagement, while the other promotes focus on the teacher. Here we will look at Classroom decor, desk positioning, and student responsibilities.

Desk positioning – In order to create a cross cultural positive classroom environment that shows care and concern, the students themselves need the space which they can focus on themselves and each other, not just the teacher. Here the desk positioning can be utilized to focus on partners, groups, or individually.  Seated separately the students have personal reflection time away from distractions, here they can come to a better understanding of how they themselves operate. Moving the desks together with a preferred partner can create a space for two students to share in some fun while working on a task. Working with desks together in groups can strengthen bonds and open avenues for conversation to an extent that other seating arrangements just don’t offer. In my school this is something I can offer, but as I don’t have my own classroom it’s a lot of work at the beginning and end of each day.

Classroom décor – Maintaining the proper decorations in class can also contribute to a positive climate. Teachers who have multiple cultures in one classroom are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Here the goal of the teacher is to try and equally represent each culture. This can be done by allowing students to hang posters of their hero’s or having maps of different countries. This can lead to students feeling like they belong and their heritage is important here. Conversely Imagine how a student would feel if a classroom was filled with posters of one culture. This can alienate the other cultures in the room and cause resentment or annoyance. Here having different cultures represented can open doors for interactions and conversations that would otherwise be missing. Not having my own room, this simply isn’t feasible.

Student responsibilities – Teachers should assign classroom responsibilities to multicultural groups when possible. This mixes students and puts them into situations where they can be active together in a variety of situations.  Mixed cultural students who work together may start seeing classmates more as equals if they all engaged in similar levels of work. The idea here is that even though the students may be culturally diverse, they can all do the same job to a similar degree of success, and this similar ability may set equality in the students minds. Currently I have teams and team captains, each captain is responsible making sure their groups workspace is cleaned up.

Here is a video that speaks specifically to items in classroom and item placement

The emotional environment

When talking about a positive classroom environment in which care and concern have a place to flourish, the students themselves need a safe place for their emotions to play. In Activity 1 we learned about how to develop a positive relationship with the students, the underlying requirement it seemed was  that before any of this could happen, a safe emotional environment was needed. While this was not directly stated it did seem that a lot of the theories and action steps actually take place within a safe emotional environment. This environment needs to be one of understanding and freedom from negativity. There are a few ways to go about this, but all reach the final goal of establishing a classroom that gives students respect and understanding no matter what background or racial group they’re from.   Through Mutual respect and open conversation without fear of discipline this goal can be achieved.

Mutual respect – One important part of constructing an emotional environment is to establish that all students deserve the respect they need as a person. This initially is maintained by the teacher to ensure that all students receive the respect due them.  Once the students understand that everyone is equally valuable and begin to put it into practice, the teacher can then begin to slowly back off and let students interact by themselves. While the teacher allows the students to interact as they see fit, he or she maintains watch that all are maintaining the required etiquette.

Open conversation, not discipline – Students react extremely well to leading questions and talking through issues. Where they don’t do well is when they are disciplined harshly. In the Pikas “Model of Shared Concern” from activity 2, bullies and victims met individually and collectively with the teacher to talk out issues. This was done under the understanding that there would be no punishment for bully or victim, they were brought together to talk out the issues. The “Model of Shared Concern” emphasized that each student would offer suggestions on how to fix the situation in question. Likewise, to promote and maintain a positive classroom climate, this method of open discourse should be used daily to foster cooperation.  Open dialogue with a teacher mediating can ensure that respect is achieved during cross culture conversations, if there are any issues between the students, the teacher can step in and lead the conversation in a more profitable direction. Here, because I am teaching in a different language, I’ve very little ability to engage with them on this level

Once these steps have been followed, I feel that the classroom will become a more positive place. If the emotional environment, and physical environment are setup in their proper ways the teacher can then lead his students into mutual respect and understanding throughout their lives and not just in the classroom.

Refrences

Teaching Tolerance. (2014). Critical Practices for Anti-biased Education. Retrieved on October 28, 2016, fromhttp://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/PDA%20Critical%20Practices_0.pdf

Education Art The – Amazon S3. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/platform-user-content/prod-copy/get_help_resources/activity_resources/module4/The_Art_and_Science_of_Teaching.pdf

Sparks, S. D. (2016). Social-Emotional Needs Entwined with Students’ Learning, Security. Retrieved fromhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/10/16environment.h32.html

(2012). Responsibility, Respect, and Relationships. Creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms. Retrieved October, fromhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svpsjicKRG0

(2015). Flexible Classrooms: Providing the Learning Environment That Kids Need. Retrieved fromhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cscJcRKYxA

 

A “what if” lesson plan: Creating a plan for multiple stages of ELL students.

There are Six Stages of Second-Language Acquisition, for this activity I will be focusing creating a lesson plan that incorporate the first four.

1.) Pre-production

The “silent period” where students are learning but rarely speak

2.) Early Production

Students at this level can speak in slight, short sentences and have a basic understanding of context. The student focuses on listening and absorbing the language, there are many errors in this stage

3.) Speech Emergent

Speech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer but the student still relies on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary increases while errors decrease in common or repeated interactions.

4.) Beginning Fluency.

Fluent communication in social context with few errors. Student is beginning to focus on academic language and challenging contexts. The student struggles here due to gaps in vocabulary and context.

Next semester, I will be teaching a 2^nd grade unit on camping and outdoor activities.  The objective is to teach subject specific word recognition and spelling.  The material I will need consists of student and teacher flashcards, scrap paper, scissors, glue, and crayons

During the warm up stage, students and teacher use flashcards to elicit word recognition.    This simple strategy will include learners in all stages of second language acquisition.  The students at the beginning fluency stage will lead the lower level students through the method of mimicry and language repetition.  Through the use of visual cues the teacher reinforces vocabulary retention.  Introducing a game at this stage can initiate students at all levels in the learning process. By repeating and displaying the vocabulary flashcards the student who is first in matching the teacher’s flashcard will win a point.  After a few rounds of this game, students will have retained a great deal of the vocabulary introduced in the lesson.  At this stage, the teacher can shift his or her focus to the next phase of language acquisition.

Through the use of scrap paper, students can practice spelling by writing and listing each vocabulary word. At this point all students have a basic understanding of the lesson subject and can pronounce and spell the new vocabulary that was introduced. At this stage, the focus shifts and the class transition to a group activity.  In introducing the next activity, the teacher organizes the students into groups, incorporating mix levels of students in each group. The next activity engages student’s creativity by having them draw and color a campsite. While the student’s attention is now focused on creating illustrations, the teacher can divide his time between the different levels and cater to their understanding.

For level 1’s, as they’re drawing their campsite and outdoor activities, the teacher can ask basic questions prompting a corresponding response. While these students may be at the lowest level, they should be able to respond to the flashcards using the pre taught vocabulary.   To engage disinterested students find a topic that may excite them. For example, campsites may not be very exciting for them, but if there was a dinosaur eating a camper or smashing a tent, the student may regain interest and become more focused on the task.

For level 2’s, start with simple vocabulary question about their campsite then transition to more basic questions like what is it? or what color is it? One word answers are fine, prompt with flashcards where necessary. If students are disinterested then utilize the same tactic used for the level 1students.

For level 3’s, while they’re focused on their drawing task ask more complex questions requiring detailed answers. Students should be able to answer with multiple words, but not necessarily in complete sentences.  Learners at this stage should also be able to talk about actions at a very basic level. If the students are bored or having a hard time getting interested in the lesson then introduce some outlandish situations like tanks, robots, or explosions.  Proceed this by asking some concept check question like what’s happening or do you like your creation.

For level 4’s, focus on the conversational aspect of the subject, ask them questions about their experiences camping and what activities they enjoy doing outdoors. Engage them on past stories and prod them for details to really get their interest peaked. The other students can get pulled into these small conversations and start adding their own experiences with their limited vocabulary.

 

 

Reference

Language Acquisition: An Overview | Colorín Colorado. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Korea: An international School’s Perspective on Specialized Learning and the Referral Process

In completing this assignment, I came to the natural conclusion that my focus should lie in the referral process found at the few international schools operating here in Korea.  Considering that my job of choice would be found at an international school, I felt researching how the school dealt with the topic of disabilities in Korea would be beneficial.  I was able to contact and interview a guidance counselor and three teachers who focused on disabilities in Korea, their insight into the referral process were both enlightening and informative.

Initially, at the start of my first interview, I assumed that this school didn’t have an effective system for dealing with those who had disabilities; because the program is only two years old and is still a work in progress.  There was a quasi-system of support in place, but one that didn’t meet my expectations especially when viewed in terms of the counselor’s explanation. I had envisioned something more along the lines of Activity 1’s video about Finland, proper IEP’s. To be fair though, this is their second year with an Enhanced Learning Center Specialist or ELCS (pronounced ELKS). The head counselor whom I spoke with was unaware of any programs before her arrival 3 years prior so it’s “bumpy” for everyone she stressed.  The referral processes consists of 1.) a Google form in which teachers fill out and send to the counselor, these reference the student and the type of disability whether it be social, emotional, mental or academic. 2.) The counselor then talks with the teacher about what support they’re looking for. 3.) The counselor then contacts the Enhanced Learning Center Specialist and connects the teacher to the ELCS. 4.) The ELC specialist and teacher work together to modify the classroom setting, in addition to creating supplementary and specific targeted material to enhance and  support  the student learning capabilities.  Once an IED between the ELCS and teacher has been created it’s the teacher that has the responsibility of seeing the student succeed. There’s no government oversight on the IED, and no appeal process for parents who might feel their child isn’t getting the required help they may need. The school holds all the power in this situation.

As the conversation continued, I learned that during the schools admission process, students with mild disabilities were more likely to be accepted while those with more severe handicaps were typically denied entrance. During the intake process each student is asked for recommendations and information from previous schools and teachers. Two things they specifically ask for are Individualized Education Plans if any were followed,(IEP’s), and if the student had or has any disability.  Most of the major decisions resulting in a student’s acceptance or denial are made by the ELCS, if she deems that the disability outstrips the schools’ abilities for instruction, they are denied. I thought of the video “A Day in the Life of a Special Education Teacher”, in the video this required specialized equipment and teachers with a lot of time and resources, something this private international school didn’t have. While not overly bothered by how they made their decisions, I was struck by how simple the decision making process was. Here, the referral process is completely contained within the school administration. Within the case studies previously read, in the U.S. there are mechanisms in place that provide the parent a means to appeal decisions placed by the school; whether it be through the courts in a lawsuit that the school didn’t provide proper educational facilities, or through the Department of Education that describes criteria which schools have to follow. Private schools in Korea do not have to abide or even consider Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) when interviewing students for admission. In the international school setting, the admission process is reviewed and approved by the headmaster; parents, students, and even the government have authority over these proceedings.

As I continued with my interviews, a much clearer picture was painted by the teachers who implements these policies.  At this school, parents themselves can make the referral to the school staff. Once the student has been tested and properly diagnosed with a learning disability, a team is formed. This team consists of parents, specialists, teachers and administrators to create an exceptional IEP. There are multiple levels of testing and evaluations of what to do in the classroom, there is even a separate course of classes outside of normal class time (LD1) designed solely to train student’s cognitive abilities. Each student now has a complete learning profile with their parents, teachers, administrator, and specialist focused on their education. There’s not a lot left to the imagination as to how well this student will do, ample support and lots of different programs will be a great asset for these students.

The referral process found at this international school is easily accessible to both patents and students.  I, however, found that the school admission policy was too exclusive and in this case provided a barrier for students who would have benefited greatly from the Enhance Learning Center.   Through the interviews in Activity 2 and the required studies found in Activity 1, we see how the future of special education is moving away from a setting where students are stigmatized for having a disability to a place where students are given support through IEP’s to enhance their learning capabilities.

Reflection on the role personalised learning plays in Education.

Personalized learning seems to be one of the best ways to really get through to students of any learning ability. Consider education at any level where the teacher lets the student focus on what interests them most. As I write, I think about my education going through the public school system. There were an inordinate amount of lectures which I found difficult to sit through and focus on. Personalized learning for every student should be the goal of public education and not just for those that require special education. In Finland’s Formula for Education success, we see this is an important part of their curriculum

In the video “How are you smart? What Students with Learning Disabilities are Teaching Us” we see a teacher engage his class with individualized lesson plans. Specifically, we see 4 students, 3 of which have a different impairment. In a normal school, they would probably be hard pressed to get through the day. With individualized lesson plans they are not only able to survive but thrive. They are also able to analyze their impairment in terms of how affects their interactions with others. What I find most interesting is that through this individualized lesson planning, each student has come to the realization of or has been taught to a point where they are able to not only embrace their disability, they find the strengths in them, and are able to understand and utilize their learning disabilities.

For those with a learning disability or even just those who have a hard time in the current education system something different is needed. An Individualized Learning Plan gives each student a large pool of options, which they can choose from to complete most tasks. This offering of choice allows the student to gravitate naturally to something they prefer and in a sense gravitate toward who they are. If the student is consistently free to choose their own path, if they are not forced into a concrete mold of “one lesson plan to rule them all”, would we not find our schools graduating complete individuals and not just creatures that regurgitate information? The video, New York’s School of One, shows happy focused students, something all teachers’ desire.

What would happen if these individuals would they themselves continue the process? Not merely being consumers but progenitors of education for the next generation? If someone with Asperger’s can, through a series of individualized lesson plans, self-analyze their condition, and succeed, wouldn’t they be a prime candidate to teach others along those same lines?

The future of education has already been shifting away from the established public education, here I point to charter and voucher schools. I also look at the availability of information so overwhelming that even the University model may not hold up much longer. At this point there will probably be a paradigm shift from teaching tests to teaching the individual. If the goal of higher education changes, then the goal of high, middle, and elementary schools will change as well. Here is where IEP’s will become the norm across all abilities, those with learning disabilities or otherwise.

For the learning disabled and the normal students Individualized Lesson Plans seem to be key to unlocking the major issues that face education. I feel that my earlier examples as well as the Finland video give a good account of the power of personalized learning. The direction of education and the video New York’s School of One strengthens the merit of my position, that if  we’re no longer teaching the test, then what better direction to turn than toward the individual?

 

 

 

Reference List

 

• How Are You Smart? What Students with Learning Disabilities are Teaching Us

1. (2012). How Are You Smart? What Students with Learning Disabilities are Teaching Us – YouTube. Retrieved 0, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdqaUcq7YVQ

 

• Finland’s Formula for Education Success:

1. (2012). Finland’s Formula for School Success (Education Everywhere Series). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsdFi8zMrYI

 

• New Yorks School of One:

1. (2010). SCHOOL OF ONE. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTrI6nj5xU

 

 

• A Day in the Life of a Special Education Teacher:

1. (2008). A Day in the Life – Special Education Teacher. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcWtAmVB9-o

Active Civics

“Government of the people, by the people, and for the people” Abraham Lincoln

            Abraham Lincoln said it best, that government should be created, maintained, and in service to its citizens. As a citizen of the United States, we have the right and responsibility to enact a certain level of control over our government.  To maintain this free society, we need to equip our citizens with the knowledge and ability to understand the mechanisms that drive our government. Today, sadly few understand or are knowledgeable about the basic functions of their government.

During my years in the education system, I had almost no interest in civics, government, or politics.   Civics was emphasized almost exclusively for the test I had to take to graduate.  Unfortunately, the only information I retained from the two mandatory classes I had to take in high school, consisted mostly of copying dates and locations from a projector; and being tested on them twice a semester.

It wasn’t until my time in college I had an education that excited and engaged my interest.  This renewed interest in my education and new found enthusiasm for civics came mainly from a great Political Science instructor. If you’ve ever had a teacher that wowed you or one you looked up to, one that opened up a subject in a new fantastical way, this was the professor for me.  As a result, my passion and focus on this subject matter flourished.   So why did it take until college to get interested in civics? For starters, we actually did something with the material.  Lectures, notes, and tests were a part of class; but we also had mini projects. Things like picking a topic in the news and reporting your findings to the class made me feel like I was not only learning, but reporting it gave me the impression that what I did was important.

Although I had a great professor in College, it was the lack of a good civics education during my primary schooling, which hindered my understanding of the role of a citizen and the government. The education system in which I grew up in lacked a lot of initiative in multiple areas, in the curriculum, the lesson planning, and to some extent  in the teachers themselves. So how did we get here?  As Charles N. Quigley, Executive Director of the Center for Civic Education, so eloquently surmised in his address at the 1999 American Bar Association Symposium:

“Modern” civic education as a recognized and discreet curriculum began a century ago in the effort to Americanize the waves of “alien” immigrants who arrived on these shores to ensure that they were assimilated into the then dominant Northern European culture with its Judeo-Christian, Graeco-Roman, and (in law and government) Anglo-American roots. Sometimes referred to as “pressure cooker” civic education, these early initiatives tended to be catechistic and dull, but they carried on for more than half-a-century of sustained by the patriotic euphoria of two world wars and the “circle the wagons” mentality of the early years of the Cold War.  (Quigly, 1999).

This historical background provides an initial framework on how and why we educated in civics.  We currently don’t have this “circle the wagons” mentality today, yet many of the older generation echo this sentiment, so what changed ?

Quigley continues:

The 60s, of course, meant a “goodbye to all that.” Vietnam and then Watergate brought disenchantment, rebellion, experimentation, a loss of faith in traditional institutions and traditional leaders, the break-up of consensus, weakening of the core culture, the advent of heterogeneity, multiculturalism, etc. One of the great ironies of America’s civic culture in this century is the fact that it has been so victimized by its success. The civil rights movement and the opening of the floodgates to immigrants from all corners of the globe have created a diverse society in many ways out of synch with the common (and admittedly ethnocentric) core values that underwrote civic education earlier in this century. Redefining civic education in this polyglot world is the overriding challenge for civic educators today.  (Quigly, 1999).

The question that we now need to ask ourselves is what does the civics education landscape look like today?  Today, we find that in an era of standardize testing; civics education is being left behind.  While our educators focus on core subjects like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; only 39 states require at least one course in American government or civics, only nine of which requires students to pass a social studies test in order to graduate from high school.  (Emma Chadband, NEA Today, 2016).  Due to a shift in the school curriculum, we see the spotlight shift from social studies and government.  With an education centered around polices such as No Child Left behind and Race to the top we are seeing a noticeable gap in the student’s education.  We are not equipping our students with 21^st century citizenry skills.

While the outlook for public civic education may look bleak; there are many who see the noticeable gap in our students education and have taken the initiative to shine a spotlight on the issues affecting our youth.   Project Citizen is a government funded organisation that stresses the importance of civics in education. Currently they are campaigning with others to support senate resolution bill 150, to increase civics in education and professional development of civics educators. If passed this bill will greatly expand civics in education throughout elementary and secondary schools.   This organisation endeavours to provide lesson plans and projects to better educate our youth in civics. Project citizen provides lesson plans that vary in its societal impact, but teaches students how to actively engage with the government.  One teacher in Johnson county Tennessee enrolled her 5th grade class in Project Citizen, the students had free reign to decide what project they would choose, something that would impact society. The students chose to petition the local school board to construct another access road to their school, as the main road was deemed too dangerous by virtue of traffic. The petition while unsuccessful, did manage to persuade the school board to make changes to the existing road, making it safer.  An impressive feat, while not a world changing event, the initiative taken by these fifth graders shows the positive impact that civic minded citizens can enact in their state and government.

The Teachers Guild (TTG) engages educators and designers from all across the globe to engage students in a number of topics, including civics. TTG engages designers and educators in a new and creative way, they choose a specific topic, and then break it down into 4 stages. 1.) Discover: Teachers, designers, and/or those who are interested or knowledgeable on the topic share their insights. 2.) Ideate: Those interested will post their ideas and methodologies in teaching the subject. 3.) Evolve: These Ideas will then begin to take on a life of their own with a download-able toolkit, here educators can make specific lesson plans and programs for how they want to teach a specific subject.  4.) Select: Each project gets voted on. Each program is put up for others to try and to rate, the end result is a popular program/lesson plan that others can use.  TTG is currently collaborating with dozens of educators and designers in an effort to produce civically minded students, those who are able to use their voice to enact change on matters that are important to them.

UNICEF has been behind a lot of civics in education over the years, in ways I didn’t expect. While I don’t see them taking a role in changing the way countries teach civics in education, they do an amazing job at seeing the disconnect between  governments and their citizenry. UNICEF performs case studies providing invaluable data.  UNICEF in partnership with UNESCO conducted an in depth analysis in order to assess both the contents and the teaching process of Civic Education to primary and secondary school students in Serbia and Montenegro. There are dozens of other countries in which UNICEF are also actively performing data analysis, and engaging the population in the importance of civics in education.

The United Nations Development Program Bureau for Development Policy (UNDP).  “The UNDP ensures inclusive and effective democratic governance by advocating, advising, fostering impartial spaces for dialogue, achieving consensus and building institutions.” (Civic Education Practical Guidance Note, p. 4).    The UNDP endeavors to promote civics education by educating democracy at both a local and national level.  In educating in civics, the UNDP stresses the correlation between civics education and poverty reduction.

These initiatives though fantastically engaging and wonderfully educational, are too far and few between.  Though we can applaud the initiatives taken by these organizations illustrating civics in action at the elementary levels with Project citizen, the active creation and implementation of civics projects through The Teachers Guild, the creation and analysis of civics in education as a whole through UNICEF, and the entire focus and mission to make civics a living breathing organism worldwide through the UNDP.  The major overarching question that still remains is, why doesn’t the domestic government utilize the current education system to do the same?

If we are to truly have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, then as educators we need to seriously question the quality of our civics education imparted onto the next generation. I feel that even though there are some good organizations that are doing a great job at educating in civics there’s no real foundation. Consider the current 2016 presidential election race where the people may lament the task of choosing between a clown or a crook, yet the citizenry seem unable or incapable of affecting the necessary change on the system in which produces them.

While completing the research necessary for this project, I learned a great deal of information about the effectiveness of these educational organizations.  I found the Executive Director of the Center for Civic Education address to the Bar Association Symposium was an incredibly enlightening and insightful look into the history of our civic education.   From our country’s inception to the 1960’s; there was a chuck of history I hadn’t considered.  I knew it existed but I had never given it any critical thought. I learned how the nation coped with the changing values created by the continuous shift in migrant population.  My parents echoed the “circle the wagon mentality”, but I never knew where the terminology came from until I was able to read Quigley’s address.  I realized that there is a gap in our civics education; and while I felt that there were not enough initiatives being taken by the government to rectify this situation.  I found that there were many organizations attempting to fill these gaps.  Organizers, teachers, and students were taking on the challenge of creating and designing effective lesson plans and curriculum as illustrated with The Teachers Guild and Citizens Project.

 

References

Chadband, emma. (2012, October 17).  In Standardized Testing Era, Civic Education Getting Left Behind.  Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2012/10/17/in-standardized-testing-era-civic-education-getting-left-behind-2/

Evaluation database :Civic Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in the Republic of Serbia. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/index_14389.html

Hardy, B. L. The Importance of Civics Education. Retrieved from http://www.asbj.com/TopicsArchive/Parents-and-Communities/The-Importance-of-Civics-Education.html

Mullaney, T., Houp, A., Santos, J. G., Marra, P., Amalong, J., B., . . . Scripps, E. The Teachers Guild. Retrieved from https://collaborate.teachersguild.org/challenge/civic-education/ideate

Project Citizen.  (2016). Retrieved from http://www.civiced.org/programs/project-citizen

Quigley, Charles, N.  (1999, February 25-26).  Civic Education: Recent History, Current Status, and the Future.  Retrieved from http://www.civiced.org/papers/papers_quigley99.html

United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Development Policy Democratic Governance Group: Civic Education Practical Guidance Note.  Retrieved from  http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/undp/governance/civic-edu-note-03e.pdf