What Is Entailed in Civic Reasoning

• In Event: How Can the Science of Human Learning and Development Inform Preparing Students to Engage in Civic Reasoning?

Abstract

Drawing on the report Educating for Civic Reasoning and Discourse by the National Academy of Education (Lee, Dong & White, 2020), this paper addresses the multi-dimensional demands of civic reasoning (Lee, Nasir & Smirnoff, 2020). These demands include knowledge, dispositions to engage complexity, to weigh competing points of view, to weigh evidence, to empathize with others, and ethical reasoning (Stitzlein, 2020) . Knowledge includes both procedural and conceptual knowledge of topics that arise in the public domain, topics that cross all content areas taught in schools, knowledge that is both conceptual and procedural. This paper synthesizes research from across the learning sciences and human development around what is entailed in developing this range of knowledge and dispositions as are salient at different points in life course development, with a particular focus on the age ranges and transitions in the K-12 sector.

Author

• Na'ilah Suad Nasir, Spencer Foundation