Design/Teaching Strategy

Definition

The underpinnings of schoolwide civics; the practices, skills, and dispositions that frame civic learning in the classroom and with extracurricular activities.

Evidence

• Team-taught classes
• Literature/culture-rich classes
• Extracurriculars that connect students to issues in their communities (from local to global)
• Classes are taught with a strong research component
• Unit maps reflect civic skills and dispositions
• Formative and summative assessments relate to civic learning

Examples

• Civic learning occurs in many academic departments across disciplines
• Students use their own lived experiences to address issues in the classroom
• Issues related to race, gender, ethnicity, and etc. are openly discussed in classrooms
• Group projects emphasize collaboration, teamwork, and student leadership
• Multiple varied sources are utilized and critically vetted
• Student-created inquiry

Connections to Principles of “Lived Civics”

• Culturally relevant texts: Are the texts taught in courses speaking to students’ lived experiences / racial identities?
• Group Projects: Projects are inclusive and represent diversity of thought. What do power structures in these groups look like? Is every member of the group exhibiting their leadership abilities?
• Civic communication skills: Verbal and non-verbal empathy; Students are taught what it means to relate to similar lived experiences and how to relate to those with different walks of life and opinions

DuQuoin High School has embraced the opportunity to address a global issue by making connections across the curriculum. In English II, students read a fictional book entitled Sold by Patricia McCormick; this book exposes the truth about human trafficking. Students are drawn to the story about 13-year-old Lakshmi who is from a very impoverished village in Nepal and becomes a victim of human trafficking, due to her family’s poverty. Students then read other texts that offer diverse perspectives on this current social issue.

This introductory experience in English II then connects to students’ experiences in other classes. They read nonfiction articles discussing the different types of trafficking that happen all over the world, including the United States. Students read articles about bonded labor, child labor, domestic servitude, forced labor, forced marriage, and sex trafficking. Each article includes a real story of a person who was forced into that particular form of slavery, and how they eventually escaped. In the Current Events course, student analyze this as a contemporary issue, and look for solutions to this problem. Spanish classes also explore this issue as a regional problem that plagues several countries in central and South America. This experience is made even richer by utilizing some community resources: two guest speakers. The first is from Bangladesh, who challenges students to explore the connection between culture and human trafficking. The second speaker works for International Justice Mission and discusses the efforts of the International Justice Mission to end slavery across the globe. This has resulted in much student interest in taking action to alleviate this appalling world problem.

Visit the Illinois Civics Hub Media Literacy Toolkit for resources to support students in

• Engaging in critical analysis of off- and online information by judging its accuracy and credibility, developing and posing questions, investigating a range of sources, and discussing the tensions and multiple perspectives surfaced
• Supporting students to utilize digital tools in order to investigate issues they care about, engage in dialogue, circulate and produce media, raise awareness, and create change

Visit the Illinois Civic Hub Civil, Brave, and Reflective Classroom Toolkit for resources to support students in:

• Making explicit civic learning connections and applications across all content areas
• Drawing on students’ knowledge, lived experiences, and essential and supporting questions to engage in critical and sustained inquiry
• Employing group projects and activities that foster teamwork, collaboration, and student leadership
• Supporting students to build confidence as well as a sense of responsibility and efficacy in order to make a difference in their schools and communities

Visit the Illinois Civics Hub Anti -Racist Toolkit for Classrooms and LGTBQ+ History Toolkit to support students in:

• Promoting an understanding of diversity (gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation) and developing mutual respect for others
• Including fiction and non-fiction texts representing multiple, diverse perspectives that engage with civic, political and social issues in writing, speech, and other media