Point of View Rachel Ross, Fort Bend ISD

Civic Education: Conversations Ramping Up in Texas

by Rachel Ross Communications Department Coordinator Fort Bend ISD

The charge for schools and districts is to help students think critically and to build citizens who contribute to their local communities. Civics education is an integral part of this comprehensive education.

Among his priorities for the 87th legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott listed increased civics education for students as a focus area, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle quickly filed bills for consideration. They all sought to establish professional development for teachers, provide students with simulations of democracy in actions and teach media literacy.

Civic engagement is a combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that connect citizens to their community and encompasses a variety of the social studies themes included in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), established by the State Board of Education.

Student awareness brings the real world into the classroom

With students now consuming more media, the events of the past year have made their way into the classroom. Teachers and school staff have had to grapple with not only the stress of the ongoing pandemic but also the current events, which have a personal impression on their students.

Chassidy Olainu-Alade, the community and civic engagement coordinator for Fort Bend ISD, believes that in these instances, teachers serve best as facilitators to foster healthy discussion and expression. She was a teacher for several years before administration and says the classroom is where students first learn to be engaged citizens.

"The classroom should be the setting for structured conversations and academic discourse, where the teacher is a facilitator whose purpose is to clarify misconceptions and offer counter perspectives free from

their own opinions and points of view," Olainu-Alade said. "Students must learn to formulate their points of view, state their perspectives and engage in debates respectfully while valuing the opinions of others."

In Texas, civics education begins in elementary, with a focus on community and citizenship, culminating in the senior-year course on government. These are good starting points, but Olainu-Alade believes students should have more service-based learning, moving into their local communities to see the various civic processes in action. Another opportunity in civic education, to her, is teaching media literacy to students by building their critical thinking and reading skills to discern fact from opinions.

Working to build more engaged citizens statewide

Founded in 2000, the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas works to build civic mindedness in Texans of all ages through programming, in addition to researching statewide trends.

Over the last 20 years, the institute has measured Texans' civic engagement and participation, and findings show a decline across several areas. Fewer state residents report discussing politics with friends, family and neighbors, and fewer volunteer and donate to charitable organizations. The only area to show an increase was the percentage of Texans who voted in the last midterm and presidential elections, compared to previous years.

Heather Vaughn is the senior education outreach coordinator at the Strauss Institute and has extensive experience training teachers and developing a curriculum for K-12 students. She notes that Texas is one of only 26 states requiring students to complete a formal civics education course, fulfilled through the government course offered in high school. But overall, spending on students' civic education is down, compared to other areas of education investment.

"When looking nationwide, spending on STEM education per student is about $50, while spending on civic education per student about $0.05. Fifty dollars versus five cents," Vaughn said. Modeling civic behavior for students While Texas is among the states with formalized civics education, more can be done to increase civic engagement and participation and is as simple as modeling behavior for children and youth.

As students form their own opinions and feel more comfortable expressing themselves, it is important that parents show students how to express their opinions in healthy ways, says Olainu-Alade. Parents can teach students the difference between types of civic speech and what speech is appropriate in specific circumstances. In addition, parents can engage with their children in conversations about American history, civic processes and current events.

"Parents should not only discuss their political point of view but allow their students to explore a variety of viewpoints,” she says. "These are only lessons parents can teach."

For Vaughn, parents are a child's best model for social connectedness, beginning with increased neighborliness, including talking to neighbors and exchanging favors like watering plants or walking someone's pet. She says parents help them build trust and find ways to contribute to their neighborhood and community. Another way is to find volunteer opportunities closely aligned to a child's interests, such as spending time in a community garden with a youth concerned about food insecurity and ending hunger.

Both argue that one of the best ways to model civic engagement is to take children to the polls when parents vote. They not only see the process in action, but it demystifies the practice for them when they become eligible voters.

"When they see the routine regularly, they will be less intimidated by the process and encouraged by you prioritizing the civic task," Vaughn says.

Teaching civics helps to increase students' engagement as young adults, whether done formally or informally and with increased media usage, this educational component is more important. Learning to contribute to their local communities prepares students for success, not only in their chosen career or dream path but for life. It is the responsibility of all adults to equip students with the tools they need to participate in American civic life.