Building Youth's Civic Education in a Digital World: Evidence from Street Law's Civic Education Initiatives

• In Event: Let's get digital: Preparing youth for living in a post-human future

Proposal

Effective civic education not only builds students’ civic knowledge but also strengthens their civic skills and fosters constructive civic dispositions. Evidence from the 2016 IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education study (a broad inquiry into civic education conducted in 24 countries) shows that all three of these elements—knowledge, skills, and dispositions—are closely tied to positive civic outcomes. The study indicated that “students’ civic knowledge and self-efficacy as well as student’s beliefs were consistent predictors of expected electoral and active political participation.” In the U.S., the Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE’s seminal reports on the Civic Mission of Schools of 2003 and 2011 described the “six proven practices” of civic education and show the ways in which civic education can practically improve student’s knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Expanding on these practices, the 2017 paper The Republic is (Still) at Risk—and Civics is Part of the Solution by Peter Levine and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg noted that for civics to be effective in the 21st century it must prepare students for an increasingly digital and complex world; it must enable students to be thoughtful consumers of news from social media rather than printed local newspapers, equip them to navigate a polarized society facing complex social and environmental challenges; engage a generation more diverse than preceding generations, empower all students for effective civic engagement, and be a priority for grades k-12.

Street Law is dedicated to building student competencies in the three core elements of civic education and prepare them to be participatory and involved citizens throughout their lives. In this presentation, Street Law’s chief program officer, Jennifer Whatley, will describe how the organization’s materials and methodologies equip teachers to address three of the six proven practices in civics education—teaching “courses on civics, government, and law”; integrating “deliberations of current, controversial issues” into their lessons; and engaging students in “simulations of adult civic roles.” The presentation will also discuss how Street Law’s student-centered approach fosters essential skills and democratic dispositions and why these skills and dispositions are even more necessary in a world where social media and polarized rhetoric increasingly shape political discussions. She will offer examples of Street Law lessons which guide students to apply foundational concepts to public issues influenced by a digital world. These include a deliberation on whether policy makers should ban hate speech, a court case study applying U.S. constitutional prohibitions on unreasonable searches and seizures to cell phone usage, and lessons on cyberbullying.

Street Law, Inc. is a global, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with more than 40 years of experience developing classroom and community programs that educate young people about law and government. Street Law programs and materials help advance justice by empowering people with the legal and civic knowledge, skills, and confidence to bring about positive change for themselves and others. In the past year, 900,000 students representing every state in the U.S. used materials developed by Street Law. In addition, the organization has worked in 45 countries.

Author

• Jennifer Whatley, Street Law, Inc.