Here's Why We Must Teach Democracy in Public Schools

We believe in the more perfect union described in the soaring opening sentence of this country’s Constitution. We all must believe in it for the country to endure. And for it to endure, we in education must teach the rising generation and those who follow how to be involved, caring, and responsible citizens.

The “we” that we speak of is not just the two of us speaking to you on this page.

“We” means a common sense of identity and a shared understanding of this nation.

When Gouverneur Morris wrote, “we, the people,” he was pulling together some not-very united states to form that more perfect union. In doing so, he and the other members of the Constitutional Convention neither minimized nor dwelled upon their significant differences. Instead, they endured weeks of challenging and emotion-laden conversations in which they listened to each other to find where their values were the same.

Society must do that now. And schools need to teach children how to do it. Our organizations — Generation Citizen and Urban Assembly — are doing that now. With a grant from the New York City Council, the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women in Brooklyn set up a Youth Leadership Council. It reached out to two other Brooklyn high schools and quickly devised a plan to ensure students are safe on their way to and from school. 

Generation Citizen’s programming in public schools nationwide has had measurable results. Two out of three students said they believed they were better equipped to make a difference in their communities with their improved civics skills, and three out of four said they now believed they had the power to do so. Teachers also report that the organization’s programming supported their ability to create a democratic culture in class — and beyond. Schools using these tools have helped establish better police-community relations, made free feminine hygiene products available in middle and high school bathrooms, and more.

Public education was created in this country to empower citizens to participate in government.

This is crucial in a society that has never been held together by a common race, religion, ethnicity, or even language of origin. All this country has is a common creed, so solid civics education is what will hold this country together.

College students have told both of us how they feel about our current crises of democracy, hope, and especially belonging. There is a decreased sense in America that people belong.

If people feel no sense of belonging, that inhibits their ability to drive change or to be stakeholders.

Not belonging leads to withdrawal from society, and withdrawal makes the fabric of society fray.

Look around. Increased hate crimes and hate speech are symptoms of not belonging and breed more of it. When politicians spread lies about legal Haitian immigrants, they communicated to immigrants everywhere that they did not belong.

Social-Emotional Skills Are Key To Citizenship

Civics education is built upon the foundational skills taught by social-emotional learning, which shows children how to consider the worth of other people. It teaches how to listen, consider different points of view, and, most importantly, work through disagreement and ambiguity to come to respectful resolutions. It teaches how to connect and belong. Teachers see the results: More than 9 out of 10 Oklahoma teachers using robust civics programming said a side effect was strengthening their relationships with students.

School is often students’ first experience of the public square, their first time simultaneously having to be in the same place. In time, they learn to take on responsibilities. They lead groups and assemblies.

School is practice using social-emotional learning skills to forge a common sense of belonging for all Americans.

The fact that school is compulsory is important. Faith institutions and even the workplace no longer bring all Americans into face-to-face contact. Being together, talking together, and working together teaches people how to listen and cooperate. But it’s not enough to bring people together. Schools must also equip them with the skills and attitudes to create community.

In recent decades, some schools have focused less on their civic mission and more on testing or imparting career skills.

Schools must develop students to prepare for college, careers, and community. Recognizing the overlap between these ideas will reduce the burden on schools to address each independently. They require the same skills. Effective collaboration is both a community-ready skill and a career-ready skill. It supports academic outcomes in college and is foundational to social-emotional development. Many schools have devalued community problem-solving skills, but many in education also recognize that the bridges we build with each other are even more enduring than the physical variety.

Key to all of this is presence and participation. When students practice working with others and institutions as citizens, they fully own their citizenship.

When they show up at city hall or the state house, they see that the government isn’t run by “them.” We run it. We, the people.

Students must learn their role in their community inside and outside of school. Schools must prepare students to critique the government and participate in it. Educators must act deliberately to show students the value of listening, arguing, and resolving. These skills don’t happen on their own. Cynics are less likely to sacrifice in service of solutions, but participants are motivated to do so.

When they do, they’ll be walking the paths blazed by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers in support of ratifying the Constitution, and invoking the legacy of Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who challenged and inspired the country to live up to those constitutional ideals. These Americans placed their faith in the collective ability of “we, the people” to pursue the common good on behalf of all Americans. We do, too, and our public schools should shape each generation to believe the same.