Is Citizen the Right Word?

by Mary Ellen Daneels, Lead Teacher Mentor

Last month, I had the privilege to facilitate vertical articulation in a suburban school district around the new Illinois Social Studies standards. To create a common vision for this work, I asked the teachers in the room a simple question, “What is the purpose of social studies?” The word cloud below illustrates the results.

As the participants began to wordsmith the items in the cloud to create a cohesive mission statement, a question emerged, “What do we mean when we say social studies prepares students to be citizens?”

The 2011 Guardian of Democracy Report: The Civic Mission of Schools made the case the civic education was NOT a political issue, rather, an endeavor that both sides of the spectrum could embrace.

The loss of quality civic education from so many of our classrooms has left too many young Americans without the most basic knowledge of who our forefathers are, or the significance of the founding documents, […and] the risks and sacrifices made by previous generations, to ensure that this country survived war and depression; through the great struggles for civil, and social, and worker’s rights. It is up to us, then, to teach them.

- President Barack Obama

Since the founding of this Nation, education and democracy have gone hand in hand. The Founders believed a nation that governs itself, like ours, must rely upon an informed and engaged electorate. Their purpose was not only to teach all Americans how to read and write but to instill the self-evident truths that are the anchors of our political system.

- President Ronald Reagan

So why did my colleagues take pause at the term “citizen?” Their concern was that the word, “citizen,” has political connotations to many of the children in their classrooms. For many students, “citizen” may be a term that is a “non-starter” for them, as public policy and political rancor has made the term a loaded and emotional one. They might think, “I am not a citizen, so this content does not apply to me.”

All agreed that the intent in using the term “citizen” was to denote that all of us are participants of the communities in which we live. In the end, the group crafted a statement stating that the purpose of social studies is “To prepare students to be informed and civically engaged individuals who understand diverse perspectives, as well as their own culture, with a desire to take action, local to global.”

Shawn’s recent blog post responding to a recent critique by the Fordham Foundation about the nature of civics and social studies education in general reaffirms the importance of preparing ALL students for civic life. But does the language we use to that end matter? What do you think? Please post your comments below. Together, we can prepare the youngest members of our democratic republic for college, career and civic life.