This BRI Teacher Council Member Shares Her ‘Declaration of Civics Educators’

By Laura Nelson

It has been almost 250 years since Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence. The ideals outlined in that document are still key to our country, especially its call for equality and unalienable rights. However, civic education that teaches our young people about this document and these ideals took a backseat to subjects like math and science and we’re seeing the results in recent standardized testing. In response, I created a Declaration of Civics Educators:

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to elevate the teaching of civics, and to highlight how civic ideals connect this country, and to assume among the other subject areas the equal station to which civics is entitled, a decent respect to others requires that we announce our intentions.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all subjects are created equal and social studies in general and civics specifically have taken a back seat for too long. Civics prepares students to take part in our democracy and to be meaningful members of our communities. That when young people are short-changed of a robust civic education, they feel unqualified and therefore their strong belief that they can affect change is undermined and their participation stifled.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that curriculum long established should be reexamined to bring civic education out of the textbook into real life, and experience has shown students are more disposed to flourish in and outside the classroom after participating in a specific civics class that incorporates activities, including primary sources, simulations, and discussions.

When a long train of neglect and usurpations and pursuing a focus on other subject areas reduce students’ civic performance, it is the right, it is the duty of civics educators to throw off such indifference and provide new instruction to ensure future generations of prepared and active citizens. Luckily, we civic educators have a firm friend in the Bill of Rights Institute. It is a place we can find resources that include primary sources, simulations, and discussions highlighted above as activities that have demonstrable benefits to our students, as well as real-life ways for students to apply these civic ideals. So, in celebration of 250 years of our Declaration of Independence, let’s recommit to high-quality civics education that goes beyond simply knowledge of facts and into the real-life practice of civic skills.

Laura Nelson is a teacher at the Academy for Sciences & Agriculture in Vadnais Heights, MN. She is also a member of the Bill of Rights Institute's National Teacher Council.