Know Local: Rethinking Civic Education for Civic Engagement

• In Event: Perspectives on Civic & Participatory Education

Abstract

Civic education is touted as an influential element of building democratic citizens, but there remain empirical questions about what genuinely works to make young citizens. Innovative empirical research has shown how many factors beyond the formal curriculum, such as school ethos, noncognitive skill development, service learning, and open classroom climate, can facilitate positive civic outcomes. However, this paper argues we need to return to and more critically reexamine the influence of content on student political outcomes. I examine whether slight changes in content to have it focus on local rather than national political information might impact student knowledge, efficacy, and trust, key features of politically engaged citizens. This randomized survey (n = 586 high school students), a product of youth participatory action research (n = 12) and student focus groups (n = 52), administered to Philadelphia high school students, contributes to this democratic imperative by showing that local political knowledge, even when only briefly introduced in a short newspaper article, increases student self-efficacy and interest in politics. The paper has implications for educational initiatives that seek to ameliorate democratic backsliding through curricular interventions and points to the need to move away from the increasingly nationalized politics curriculum and instead supplement heavily with material that is relevant and endemic to the lives of students.

Author

• Abigail Dym, Providence College