Powerful Knowledge in Action: The Role of Civics Coursework in Supporting Civic Engagement

• In Event: 16.055 - Salvaging Civic Education: Powerful Teaching and Learning to Address the Civic Opportunity Gap

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Frame
Gibson and Levine (2003) suggest schools can help students become responsible citizens by giving them the opportunities to experience best practices of civic education. Current research on civic education has been attending to these opportunities by providing engaging and real-life educational experiences (e.g., Flanagan, 2013; Watts & Flanagan, 2007; Youniss, 2012; Youniss & Levine, 2009; Zukin et al., 2006). Meanwhile, the limelight has sidestepped traditional coursework and its potential to help students develop civic engagement. Bachner (2010) points out 33 states required a course in American Government/Civics for the graduating class of 2013. Furthermore, the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) transcript study shows 86% of high school seniors report taking a government, civics, or politics course during high school (NCES [National Center for Education Statistics], 2009). And yet, many high school graduates do not know basic political facts or information (Annenberg Public Policy Center, 2014), which continues to be a concern for civic educators. While it is necessary for the field to examine more non-traditional forms of democratic education (e.g., action civics curricula), it is also important for research to continue investigating the influence of traditional coursework in supporting students’ civic engagement.

Methods and Data Sources
This conceptual piece addresses the theoretical underpinnings for focusing on traditional political knowledge education. It draws on the concept of “powerful knowledge” (Barrett & Rata, 2014; Young, 2013) and well-known studies in political science to argue despite the need for research on non-traditional civic education methods (i.e., action civics, volunteerism, and service learning), traditional coursework continue to offer important supports to students’ developing civic engagement by teaching them powerful political knowledge. Young (2013) presents powerful knowledge as knowledge that ‘enables children to interpret and control the world’ (p. 117). This paper presents ‘powerful political knowledge’ as knowledge that enables children to engage with the system and change it for the better. At the same time, I provide preliminary analysis of survey responses from 6000 7th graders to show how traditional civics coursework can help support students’ acquisition of powerful political knowledge. Powerful political knowledge has three main components: (1) worthwhile knowledge vetted by the discipline or society; (2) knowledge that includes but transcends individual daily experiences and pertains specifically to collective understandings of a sustainable democracy; and (3) enables those who hold it to engage productively with processes of democracy.

Findings and Significance
Delli Carpini and Keeter’s (1996) study suggests the more knowledge one has about politics (the ‘nuts and bolts’) and how politics work, the more able and likely they are to engage in politics. Political knowledge boosts participation because knowledge may help individuals understand why it is important to participate. Preliminary analyses of survey data supports this connection between knowledge and participation and suggests students who score better on a political knowledge exam tend to also report being more civically engaged.

Author

• Jane C Lo, Florida State University