How Educators Can Teach Civics in Today’s Political Climate

Policymakers on both sides of the aisle agree: Students need access to civics education. But the best ways to teach the subject—especially amid current events like political violence and the deployment of the National Guard across the country—remain a source of debate.

On Sept. 17, the same day that the U.S. Department of Education unveiled plans to promote an emphasis on “patriotic education” that “emphasizes a unifying and uplifting portrayal of the nation’s founding ideals,” educators at a civics symposium here expressed concern about how to teach social studies in this political climate.

Many social studies teachers report in surveys that it’s harder than it used to be to discuss anything that could be considered controversial, especially those in states with laws on the books that restrict how they can talk about race, gender, and other concepts deemed divisive. In a survey of 24 veteran teachers who participated in a summer program on the Constitution, about 75% said they have “self-censored or avoided certain civics topics due to fear of pushback or controversy.”

So, how can educators teach the U.S. Constitution and civics in today’s political climate?

The role of civics is to teach kids how to think critically, and that is the framework teachers should follow when addressing it in the classroom, said Christina Grant, the executive director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, during a panel discussion on how to teach the Constitution at the symposium, which was held at American University’s law school.

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