DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 313 271 SO 019 821

TITLE Education for Democracy: A Statement of Principles.Guidelines for Strengthening the Teaching ofDemocratic Values.

INSTITUTION American Federation of Teachers, Washington, D.C.;Columbia Univ., New York, N.Y. Teachers College.;Freedom House, Inc., New York, N.Y.

SPONS AGENCY California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.;Department of Education, Washington, DC.

PUB DATE 87

NOTE 24p.; For related document, see SO 018 637. Preparedin conjunction with the Education for DemocracyProject.

AVAILABLE FROM Education for Democracy Project, American Federationof Teachers, 555 New Jersey Ave., Washington, DC20001 (first copy free; additional copies, $2.50each).

PUB TYPE Viewpoints (120)

EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage.

DESCRIPTORS *Citizenship Education; *Democratic Values;Elementary Secondary Education; *Guidelines; HistoryInstruction; Humanities Instruction; InstructionalDevelopment; *Instructional Improvement; SocialStudies; Values Education

IDENTIFIERS *Principles Approach

ABSTRACTBased on the premise that democracy's values will not

survive if they are not purposefully transmitted to successivegenerations, this booklet proposes that U.S. schools increase effortsto improve citizenship education. The featured issues are: (1) the

reasons improvements are needed; (2) what citizens need to know; and(3) the role of humanities and history instruction as the core ofdemocratic education. The booklet concludes that there is a need for:(1) the teaching of a more demanding social studies curriculum; (2) areordering of curricula around history and geography; (3) the using

of enhanced imagination in history instruction; (4) increasing globalstudies; and (5) offering more humanities instruction, especially inliterature, ideas, and biography. A major curriculum reform effortwill require more effective textbooks and resource materials,collaboration between schools and universities, and new approaches toteacher education. (JHP)

************************************************************************ Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made *

* from the original document. *

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EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIO4CENTER (ERIC)

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Will democracy survive through the ages if we do not pur-posefully transmit to successive generations the values thatunderlie it?

We believe the answer is no. We believe that our childrenmust learnand we must teach themthe knowledge, values,and habits that will best protect and extend our preciousinheritance.

To help schools and teachers strengthen their teaching ofdemocratic values, the American Federation of Teachers, theEducational Excellence Network and Freedom House havejointly launched The Education for Demo. racy Project andprepared this Statement of Principles.

We hope that the perspective outlined here will be a usefulguide to educators. We hope that the public support for theseideasreflected in the diversity of the Statement'ssignatorieswill strengthen schools' resolve to consciouslyimpart to students the ideals and values on which our freesociety rests.

EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY is a joint project of theAmerican Federation of Teachers, the Educational ExcellenceNetwork and Freedom House.

The American Federation of Teachers is a union with a member-ship of 640,000most of whom are classroom teachers, highereducation faculty, and other school employees. The AFT is com-mitted to helping its members bring excellence to America'sclassrooms and full professional status to their work.

The Educational Excellence Networkheadquartered at TeachersCollege, Columbia Universityis a coalition of several hundrededucators and scholars devoted to the improvement of Americaneducation.

Freedom House is a national organization that monitors politicalrights and civil liberties around the world and that has spent 40years educating the public about the nature and needs ofdemocracy an ,1 the threats to it.

Quantities of EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY: Statement of Principlesmay be ordered by writing the Education for Democracy Project' at theAmerican Federation of Teachers, 555 New Jersey Avenue, WashingtonD.C. 20001. For pricing information and an order form, see page 23 of thisbooklet.

Funding for the Education for Democracy Project' has been provided bythe U.S. Department of Education, the California Department of Education,and private foundations.

©1987 by the American Federation of Teachers. All materialspublished by the Education for Democracy Project', including thisStatement of Principles, are protected by copyright. However, wehereby grant to all direct recipients permission to reproduce thematerial contained herein for distribution.

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SIGNATORIES TO THESTATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES*List in formation.

Henry J. AbrahamJames Hart Professor of Government& Foreign Affairs,University of Virginia

Morris B. AbramChairman, Conference of Presidents ofMajor American Jewish Organizations

Brock AdonisU.S. Senator. Washington

Gordon M AinbachState Commissioner of Education.New York

Arthur AsheTennis Champion

Morton BahrPresident, CommunicationsWorkers of America. AFL-CIO

Terrel BellFormer U S. Secretary of Education

William BennettU.S Secretary of Education

Walter BernsJohn M. Olin University Professor.Georgetown University

Owen BieberPresident. International Union. UAW

James H. BillingtonWriter

Eve M. BitherState Commissioner of Education.Maine

Harold BlackburnState Commissioner of Education.Kansas

Phyllis L. Blain sternExecutive Director. NationalAssn of State Boards of Education

Richard A. BoydState Superintendent of Schools,Mississippi

Bill BradleyU S Senahr. New Jersey

John H. BunzelSenior Research Fellow.Hoover Institution

James MacGregor BurnsWilliams College

Owen B ButlerRetired Chairman of the Board.Procter & Gamble Co

R Freenum ButtsSenior Fellow. Kettering Foundation

Joseph A Califano. JrSenior Partner. Dewey. Ballantine.Bushby, Palmer & Wood

Hortense G. CandyNational President, Delta Sigma ThetaSorority. Inc

Barbara L CarterActing President. Spelman Cc liege

Jimmy CarterFormer U S. President

Gordon Cowell:Executive Director. Association forSupervision & Curriculum Development

John IV ChandlerPresident. Assn of American Colleges

Lynne aeneyChairman. National Endowmentfor the Humanities

Alice ChildressWriter

Hens CisnerosMayor. San Antonio, Texas

Todd ClarkEducation Director. ConstitutionalRights Foundation

Joan Ganz CooneyPresident. Children's TelevisionWorkshop

Saul CoopermanCommissioner of Education.New Jersey

John E CorballyPresident. John D & Catherine TMacArthur Foundation

John J CreedonPresident & CEO. Metropolitan LifeInsurance Company

Alonzo A CrimSuperintendent of Schools, Atlanta

Elizabeth CrowEditor, Parents Magazine

S John DartsSuperintendent of Public Instruction.Virginia

Lucy S DawidowiczWriter

A Graham DownExecutive Director. Council forBasic Education

Dot ts NASenior Research Fellow.1 he I Judson InMitute

Frank DrozakPresident. Seafarers' InternationalIlnion of North America

Marian Wright EdelmanPresident. Children's Defense Fund

Christopher EdleyPresident, United Negro College Fund

Diane U. EisenbergExecutive Director. Council for theAdvancement of Citizenship

H Dean EvansState Superintendent of PublicInstruction. Indiana

Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.Chairman, RepublicanNational Committee

Dante B. FascellU S Representative. Florida

Millicent FenwickFormer Congresswoman & Ambassador

Chester E Finn, Jr.Assistant Secretary.U S Department of Education

Gerald R. FordFormer U.S. President

William D FordU S Representative, Michigan

Calvin M FrazierState Commissioner of Education,Colorado

Mary Ha twood FutrellPresident. National Education Assn.

Eller: V FutterPresident. Barnard College

David P. GardnerPresident. University of California

Robert A. GeorginePresident, Building & ConstructionTrades Department. AFL-CIO

Carl GershmanPresident. National Endowmentfor Democracy

Bernard R. GiffordDean. Graduate School of Education.University of California /Berkeley

Rabbi Joseph B GlaserExecutive Vice President.Central Conference of American Rabbis

Nathan GlazerProfessor of Education and Sociology.I larvard University

Robert A. GoldwinResident Scholar, AmericanEnterprise Institute

John GoodladProfessor of Education,University of Washington

William F. GoodlingU S Representative. Pennsylvania

Tipper GoreAuthor

Tony D HallU.S. Representative, Ohio

Joe Frank HarrisGovernor, Georgia

Lou HarrisPresident, Louis Harris &Associates, inc.

Peter D. HartChairman, Peter D HartResearch Associates, Inc.

Orrin G. HatchU.S. Senator, Utah

Augustus F HawkinsU.S. Representative. California

Dorothy HeightPresident, NationalCouncil of Negro Women

Hazel W HertzbergProfessor of History & Education,Teachers College, Columbia Lniver,ity

Theodore M. Nesbit rghPresident, University ofNotre Dame

Frances HesselbeinNational Executive Director,Girl Scouts of the USA

Ruth C. MuellerIlillRetired Educator and Administrator

E.D Hirsch,JrKenan Professor of English,University of Virginia

Bill HonigCalifornia Superintendent ofPublic Instruction

Sidney HookProfessor of Philosophy , !loos erInstitution/New York 'nwer,ity

Benjamin HooksPresident, NAACP

David HornbeckState Superintendent of SchoolsMaryland

Shirley M 1 lufstedloFormer (1.S. Secretary of Education

Jim HuntFormer Governor, North Carolina

David G. 1;0;Executive Director. American A,,n ofColleges for Teacher Education

Steve flingerPresident, Close -( Tp Foundation

James 11 JeffordsU S Representative, Vermont

Barbara JordanProfessor, University of Texas

John 7' JoffePresident. Intl Union of Bricklayers& Allied Craftsmen. A FL-C10

Stephen S KaaganCommissioner of Education, Vermont

Ann KahnPresident, The National PTA

David 7' KearnsChairman & CEO, Xerox Corp

Rabbi Wolfe KamanThe Rablu -al Assembll.

Mary Ann KirkPresident, Kirk Communications

Paul G Kirk, Jr.Chairman, Democratic NationalCommittee

Lane KirklandPresident, AFL -Cie

JeaneJ. KirkpatmkProfessor, Georgetown University

Father Leonid KishkorskySecretary, Orthodox Churchin Amenca

Leszek Kolakou'skiProfessor, Commute- on SocialThought, University of Chicago

Ann LandersColumnist

Judith E. LamerDean, College of Educat on,Michigan State University

Norman LearWriter / Producer,Act III Communications

E; nest IV 14-everPresident, Ethics and PublicPolicy Center

Leslie Len kowskvPresident. Institute forEducational Affair,

Herbe; t LondonDean, Gallatin Division,New Thrk ( 1inver,ity

Ben II LoveChief Scout Executive,Boy Scouts of America

Robot W LundeenRetired Chau man,1)ow Chemical Corp

Joe E LutieharmsState Conum,moner of Education,Nebraska

Richard (I' LymanPresident, Rockefeller Foundation

John 7' nraldState Coin nussioner of Edam ion,New Hampshire

Charles MarshallVice Chairman, AT&T

Jew!! Jackson McCabePresident, National Coalitionof 100 Black Women

Tom McNeelState Superintendent of Schools,West Virginia

William H. McNeillProfessor of History Emeritus,University of Chicago

Billy A MelvinExecutive Director, NationalAssociation of Evangelicals

Lenore MillerPresident, RetailWholesaleDepartment Store Union, AFI-C10

Ricluird D MillerExecutne Director, AmericanAssn of School Administrators

MillikenFormer Governor, Michigan

Walter F MondaleAttorney

Edmund S MuskieFormer U S Senator, former U S.Secretary of State

Martina NarratilovaTennis Champion

Richard John NeuhausDirector, The Rockford Institute,Center on Religion & Society

John Cardinal O'ConnorArchbishop of New York

Joseph A. O'Hare, S JPresident, Fordham University

Frederick O'NealPresident, Assn of Actors andArtistes of America, AFL; CIO

Jack F OteroNational President, Labor Council forLatin American Advancement

13oyamin F PaytonPresident, Tuskegee University

Claiborne PellS Senator, Rhode Island

Charles PetersEditor, The Washington Monthly

Robert PickusPresident, World Without War Council

Anthony T ArtesiaFounding President, People for theAmerican Way

Norman PodhoretzEd.tor, Commentary Magazine

Alvin F Pou.ssaintSenior Associate in Psychiatry,Judge Baker Children's Cents r

Charles N QuigleyExecutive. !bra tor,Center for Civic Education

Ruth E. RandallState Commissioner of Education.Minnesota

Austin RanneyProfessor of Political Science.University of California/ Berkeley

Diane RauitchChairman, Educational ExcellenceNetwork

Harold Raynolds, Jr.State Commissioner of Education.Massachusetts

A raves ReichlcySenior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Werner RogersState Superintendent of Schools,Georgia

Bayard RuskinPresident, A. Philip RandolphEducational Fund

Ted SandersSuperintendent. StateBoar(' of Education

Samuel G. SavaExecutive Director, National Assn ofElementary School Principals

William SchneiderColumnist and Author,Amer,can Enterprise Institute

Gene L SchwilckPresident, The Danforth Foundation

Donna E, ShalalaPresident. Hunter College

Albert SpankerPresident, AmericanFederation of Teachers. AFL CIO

Paul SimonU.S. Senator, Illinois

Theodore R Sue,Professor of Education,Brown Univenaty

John B. SlaughterChancellor, University of Mai viand,College Park

Andieu F SmithPresident, Global Perspectivesm Education

Marshall S SmithDean, School of Education,Stanford Unnerqtv

Organmtional affiliation *Wedfor identification purposes only

Donald StewartPresident, The College Board

Leonard SussmanExecutive Director. Freedom House

John J SweeneyPresident. Service EmployeesInternational Union. AFL-CIO

Gardner Taylor, D DSenior Pastor, Concord Baptist Church

Stephan ThernstromWinthrop Professor of History,Harvard t'ni ersIt

James R ThompsonGovernor, Illinois

Scott D ThomsonExecutive Director, Nnonal Assn ofSecondary School Principal,

Michael TimpanePresulen . Teachers CollegeColumbia Unnersity

Gerald N TirozzzState Commissioner of Education,Connecticut

Ltr 1,71mannActress

Gene trphazePresident National Football LeaguePlayer,. Association, AFL-CIG,

Patrick WelshTeaoher, Author Mks (11(1w -W.1

ElleAnclrev. W Nlellon Professor in thelumandies, Boston I. inver,aty

Gauge FColumnist

Lynn R WilliamsInternational President, UnitedSteel Workers of America, AFL -CK)

William S WoodsideChairman, Executive Committee,Primerica Corp

William WynnPresident, United Food & CommercWorkers Intl Union. AFL CIO

EDUCATION* * * F*0*R * * *

DEMOCRACYAs the bicentennial for our Constitution approaches, we call for

a special effort to raise the level of education for democratic citi-zenship. Given the complexities of our own society, of the rest ofthe world, and of the choices we confront, the need is self-evidentand improvement is long past due.

As the years pass, we become an increasingly diverse people,drawn from many racial, national, linguistic, and religious origins.Our cultural heritage as Americans is as diverse as we are, withmultiple sources of vitality and pride. But our political he:itage isonethe vision of a common life in liberty, justice, and equality asexpressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutiontwo centuries ago.

To protect that vision, Thomas Jefferson prescribed a generaleducation not just for the few but for all citizer.,, "to enable everyman to judge for himself what will secure or endanger hisfreedom." A generation later, Alexis de Tocqueville reminded usthat our first duty was to "educate democracy." He believed thatall politics were but the playing out of the "notions and sentimentsdominant in people." These. he said, are the "real causes of all therest." Ideasgood and badhave their consequences in everysphere of a nation's life.

We cite de Tacqueville's appeal with a sense of urgency, for wefear that many young Americans are growing up without the:-....lucation needed to develop a solid commitment to those "notionsand sentiments" essential to a democratic form of government.Although all the institutions that shape our private and public livesfamily, church, school, government, med:ashare the respon-sibility for encou aging democratic values in our children, our focushere is on the nation's schools and their teaching of the socialstudies and humanities.

In singling out the schools, we do not suggest that there wasever a golden age of education for citizenship, somehow lost in

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[We believe] that democracy is

the worthiest form of humangovernance ever conceived.

recent years. It is reported that in1943that patriotic era fewerthan half of surveyed collegefreshmen could name four pointsin the Bill of Rights. Our purposehere is not to argue over the past,but only to ask that everyone witha role in schooling now join towork for decisive improvement,

Our call for schools to purposely impart to their students thelearning necessary for an informed, reasoned allegiance to theideals of a free society rests on three convictions:

First, that democracy is the worthiest form of human govern-ance ever conceived.

Second, that we cannot take its survival or its spreador itsperfection in practice for granted. Indeed, we believe that thegreat central drama of modern 1 tory has been and continues tobe the struggle to establish, prest.cve, and extend democracyathome and abroad. We know that very much still needs doing toachieve justice and civility in our own society. Abroad, we notethat, according to the Freedom House survey of political rights andcivil liberties, only one-third of the world s people live under condi-tions that can be described as free.

Third, we are convinced that democracy's survival dependsupon our tiansmitting to each new generation the political vision ofliberty and equality that unites us as Americansand a deep loyal-ty to the political institutions our founders put together to fulfill

that vision. As Jack Beattyreminded us in a New Republicarticle one Fourth of July, ours isa patriotism not of blood and soilbut of values, and those values areliberal and humane."'

Such values are neitherrevealed truths nor natural habits.There is no evidence that we areborn with them. Devotion tohuman dignity and freedom, toequal rights, to social and

economic justice, to the rule of law, to civility and truth, totolerance of diversity, to mutual assistance, to personal and civicresponsibility, to self-restraint and self-respect all these must betaught and learned and practiced. They cannot be taken forgranted or regarded as merely one set of options against which anyother may be accepted as equally worthy.

Such values cannot be takenfor granted or regarded asmerely one set of optionsagainst which any other maybe accepted as equally worthy.

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WHY WE ARE CONCERNED

Are the ideas and institutionsand above all the worthofdemocracy adequately conveyed in American schools? Do ourgraduates come out of school possessing the mature political judg-ment Jefferson hoped for, an ability to decide for themselves"what will secure or endanger" their freedom? Do they know ofdemocracy's short and troubled tenure in human history? Do theycomprehend its vulnerabilities? Do they recognize and accept theirresponsibility for preserving and extending their politicalinheritance?

No systematic study exists toanswer these questions. We lack . .. a majority of high schooladequate information on students'knowledge, beliefs, and enth seniors do not know what theusi-asms. There has been little exami- 1954 Brown v. Board of Edu-nation of school textbooks andsupplementary materials, of state cation decision was about.and district reruirements in his- Nor could majorities identifytory and social sciences, or of Winston Churchill or Josephwhat takes place in e' ?.ryclayschool pi active. A study of how Stalin.high school history and govern-ment textbooks convey the princi-ples of democracy is underway. and we hope that -everal otherstudies will be launched soon.

Meanwhile, the evidence we do havealthough fragmentaryand often anecdotalis not encouraging. We know, for instance, ofthe significant decline over several decades in the amount of timedevoted to historical studies in American schools, even in the col-lege preparatory track: today, fewer than twenty states requirestudents to take more than a year of history in order to graduate.We know that, as a result. many students are unaware of promi-nent people and seminal ideas and events that have shaped ourpast and created our present. A recent study shows that a majorityof high school seniors do not know what the 1954 Brown v. Board ofEducation decision was about.2 Nor could majorities identifyWinston Churchill or Joseph Stalin. Without knowledge )f our ownstruggle for civil rights, how much can students understand ofdemocracy's needs at home what it has taken and will still taketo extend it. And what can they know of democracy's capacity torespond to problems and to reform? In ignorance of the SecondWorld War and its aftermath, how much can they grasp of the costand necessity of defending democracy in the world? Having never

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debated and discussed how the world came to be as it is, thedemocratic citizen will not know what is worth defending, whatshould be changed, and which imposed orthodoxies must beresisted.

We are concerned also that among some educators (as amongsome in the country at large), there appears a certain lack of con-fidence in our own liberal, democratic values, an unwillingness todraw normative distinctions between them and the ideas of non-democratic regimes. Any number of popular curriculum materialsdeprecate the open preference for liberal democratic values as"ethnocentric." One widely distributed teaching guide on humanrights accords equal significance to freedom of speech, the right tovote, and the guarantee of due process on the one hand, with the"right" to take vacations on the other.3

In the rush to present all cultures in a positive light, the un-pleasant realities of some regimes are ignored, as when this guideWks of the high value accorded the right to strike by governmentsin Eastern Europe (a notion that would surely be disputed by thesupporters of Solidarnosc). Or as when another guidefinanced bythe U.S. Department of Educationlauds the Cuban government'scommitment to women's rights, noting with approval that men whorefuse to share equally i'l household responsibilities can be penal-ized with "re-education or assignment to farm work.'"

This insistence upon maintaining neutrality among competingvalues, this tendency to present political systems as not better orworse but only different, is illustrated by this test question de-signed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress and

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1 i

administered in the 1981-82 school year to students aged nine,thirteen, and seventeen:

Maria and Ming are friends Ming's parents were born inChina and have lived in the United States for twenty years."People have no freedom in China," Maria insists. "Thereis only one party in the election and the newspapers are runby the government."

"People in China do have freedom," Ming insists. "No onegoes hungry. Everyone has an opportunity to work andmedical care is free. Can there be greater freedom than that?"

What is the best conclusion to draw from this debate?A. Ming does not understand the meaning of freedom.B. Maria and Ming differ in their opinions of the meaning

of freedom.C. There is freedom in the U.S. but not in China.D. People have greater freedom in China than in the U.S.

According to NAEP, choice B"Maria and Ming differ in theiropinions of the meaning of freedom is correct. The test's framersexplained in a 1983 report summarizing the survey's findings thatstudents choosing answer B "correctly indicated that the conceptu, freedom can mean different things to different people in dif-ferent circumstances." And, of course, in the most narrow, literalsense, B is correct.

Around the world, people and governments do apply differentmeanings to the word "freedom." Some states that deny freedomof religion, speech, and conscience nonetheless define themselvesas free. But we need not accept their Orwellian self-definitions as ifwords had no meaning. Were we to use Ming's definition offreedoma job, medical care, and ample foodmany of history'sslaves and today's prisoners would have to be called "free"! To of-fer such a definition, and to leave it at that, without e:aborationas NAEP has doneis grossly tomislead students about history,about politics, and above all, abouthuman rights. In fact, the "rights"to food and work and medicalcare, when separaxd from therights to free speech, a free press,and free elections, are not rightsat all. They are rewards from thegovernment that are easily be-stowed and just as easily betrayed.

We are rightly accustomed tohonest scrutiny of our own faults,and so it is all the more inexplic-

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Some states that deny free-dom of religion, speech andconscience nonetheless de-fine themselves as free. Butwe need not accept theirOrwellian self-definititis asif words had no meaning.

able when educational materials sidestep or whitewash violation., ofhuman rights and pervasive injustice in other lands. Students needan honest, rigorous education that allows them to penetrateOrwellian rhetoric and accurately compare the claims and realitiesof our own society and those of others. Such a goal is compromisedwhen the drawing of normative distinctions and values is frownedupon as a failure of objectivity, on the premise that all values arearbitrary, arising from personal taste or conditioning, withoatcognitive or rational bases. They are nut to be ranked or ordered,the argu.nent runs, only "clarified"; so the teacher must strive tobe "value-free." But such a formulation confuses objectivity with

It is hardly necessary to be neutral iu regard to freedomover bondage, or the rule of law over the rule of the mob, or fairwages over exploitation, in order to describe objectively the dif-ferences among them, or among their human consequences.

What of Nazi values and their consequences? lb grasp thehuman condition in the twentieth century objectively, we need tounderstand the problems of German society that pushed so manyto join the Nazis and to acquiesce in their crimes. But to "under-stand- is nr to forgive, or to trivialize, those crimes. Or to teach,in Richard Aunt's phrase, "no-fault, guilt-free history'. where no-body is to blame for anything and fixing responsibility isdisallowed.

Finally, no discussion of the discomfort that some feel inteaching children to ..erish democracy can fail to mention that

some may be indifferent, or evenalienated from Americandemocracy, out of disillusion overits failings in practice. Thepostwar confidence in theAmerican way of life was under-mined by the political upheavals ofthe 1960s and early 1970s. First,Aim rica had its long-overduereckoning with the historic nation-al shame of racial discrimination.Then the country found itselfmired in tne Vietnam War, andwas further shocked and disheartened by assassinations and theevents of Watergate. As we strug-

gled to confront our failings and correct our flaws, legitimate self-criticism turned at times into an industry of blame. The Unite :iStates and its democratic allies were often presented as though wealone ha(' failed, and as thuogh our faults invalidated the yen,'

The United States and its demo-

cratic allies were often pr-sented as though we alonehad failed, and as though our

faults invalidated the veryideals that taught us how torecognize failure when wemet it.

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ideals that taught us how to recognize faiiure when we met it.While the realities of our own society are daily evident, many

students remain ignorant of other, quite different, worlds. How canthey be expected to value or de-fend freedom unless they have aclear grasp of the alternativesagainst which to measure it? Thesystematic presentation of realityabroad must be an integral part ofthe curriculum. What are the po-litical systems in competition withour own, and what is life like forthe people who live under them?If students know only half theworld, they will not know nearlyenough. We cannot afford what one young writer recalled as a"gaping hole" in his prestigious, private high school's curriculum.3He and his classmates, he says, were "wonderfully instructed inAmerica's problems ..."

How can they be expected tovalue or defend freedom un-less they have a clear graspof the alternatives againstwhich to measure it?

but we were at the same time being educated in splendidisolation from the not'en that democratic societies had com-mitted enemies; we learned next to nothing of the sorts ofalternatives to bourgeois liberalism that the twentieth cen-tury had to offer ... (We) learned nothing of what it meantto be a small farmer in Stalin's Russia or Ho ChiVietnam. That it had been part of Communist policy to"liquidate as a class" the "kulaks" was something we hadnever heard spoken of. It was perfectly possible to graduatefrom the Academy with high honors and be altogether in-capable of writing three factual paragraphs on the history ofany Communist regime (or for that matter of any totalitarianregime whether of the Right or Left)."

WHAT THE CITIZEN NEEDS TO KNOW

What was, and is, lacking is a fullness of knowledge, an objec-tive and balanced picture of world realities, historical and contem-porary. We do not ask for propaganda, for crash courses in theright attitudes, or for knee-jerk patriotic drill. We do not want tocapsulize democracy's argument into slogans, or pious texts, orbright debaters' points. The history and nature and needs of

democracy are much too seriousand subtle for that.

We do not ask for propagan- Education for democracy isnot indoctrination, which is theda, for crash courses in the deliberate exclusion or distortion

right attitudes, nor for knee- of studies in order to induce beliefby irrational means. We do not

jerk patriotic drill. . . . We do propose to exclude the honestnot propose to exclude the study of the doctrines and systems

of others. Or to censor histo-ry our own or others' as closed

and systems of others. Or to societies do, or to hide our flaws or

censor history, our own or explain them away. We do not needa bodyguard of lies. We can afford

others', as closed societies to present ourselves in the totalityof our acts. And we can afford to

do . tell the truth about others, evenwhen it favors them, and compli-

cates that which indoctrination would keep simple and comforting.And then we leave it to our students to apply their knowledge,

values, and experiences to the world they must create. We do notpropose a "right" position on, say, American involvement in theVietnam War; or on the type of nuclear weapons, if any, we shouldhave; or on what our policy in Central America should be; or onwhether the E.R. A. should 1)e passed or hiring quotas supported.Good democrats can and do differ on these matters. On these and ahost of other policy issues, there is no one "truth." Our task is morelimited, and yet in its way much greater: to teach our children tocherish freedom and to accept rtsnonsibility for preserving andextending it, confident that they will find their own best ways ofdoing so, on the basis of free, uncoercecl thoughts.

The kind of critical thinking we wish to encourage must reston a solid base of factual knowledge. In this regard, we rejecteducational theory that considers any kind of curricular content tobe as good as any other, claiming that all students need to know is"how to learn," that no particular body of knowledge is more

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worth noting than any other, that in an age of rapid change, allknowledge necessarily becomes "obsolete." We insist, on the con-trary, that the central ideas, events, people, and works that haveshaped our world, for good and ill, are not at all obsolete. Instead,the quicker the pace of change, the more critical it will be for us t...remember them and understand them well. We insist that absentthis knowledge, citizens remain helpless to make the wise judg-ments hoped for by Jefferson.

First, citizens must know the fundamental ideas central to thepolitical vision of the eighteenth-century four..lersthe vision thatholds us together as one people ofmany diverse origins and cultures.Not only the wordsnever onlythe wordsbut the sources, themeanings, and the implications ofthe Declaration of Independence,the Constitution, the FederalistPapers, the Bill of Rights.

To go deeper than the words,and truly to understand the ideas,students must know where and how they arose, in whose minds,stirred by what other ideas. What historical circimstances werehospitable, and encouraged people to think such things? What cir-cumstances were hostile? What were the prevailing assumptionsabout human nat-,:-e? About the relationship between God andthemselves? About the origins of human society and the meaningand direction of human history? To understand our ideas requires aknowledge of the whole sweep of Western civili2Xion, from the an-cient Jews and Christianswhose ethical beliefs gave rist_. 'ademocratic thoughtto the Greeks and Romans, thr,:ugh theMiddle Ages, the Renaissance and the Reformation, the EnglishRevolutionso important to Americathe eighteenth centuryEnlightenment, and the French Revolution, a violent cousin to ourown. Such a curriculum is indispensable. Without it, our principlesof governmentand the debates over them ever sinceare notfully comprehensible. They are mere words, floating in air withoutsource, life, drama, or meaning.

Second, citizens must know how democratic ideas have beenturned into institutions and practicesthe history of the originsand growth and adventures of democratic societies on earth, pastand present. How have these societies fared? Who has defendedthem and why? Who has sought their undoing and why? What con-ditionseconomic, social, cultural, religious, militaryh., ve helpedto shape democratic practice? What conditions have made it dif-

The kind of critical thinkingwe wish to encourage mustrest on a solid basis of fac-tual knowledge.

ficult sometimes even impossiblefor such societies to take root?Again, it is indispensable to know the facts of modern history,dating back ai, least to the English Revolution, and forward to ourown century's total wars; to the failure of the nascent liberalregimes of Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Japan; to thetotalitarianism, oppressions, and mass exterminations of our time.How has it all happened?

Third, citizens in our society need to understand the currentcondition of the world and how, it got that way, and to be preparedto act upon the challenges to democracy in our own day. What arethe roots of our present dangers and of the choices before us? Forintelligent citizenship, we need a thorough grasp of the daily work-

ings of our own society, as well asthe societies of our friends, of ouradversaries, and of the ThirdWorld, where so many live amidpoverty and violence, with littlefreedom and little hope.

This is no small order. It re-quires systematic study of Amer-ican government and society; ofcomparative ideologies and politi-

cal, economic, and social systems; of the religious beliefs that haveshaped our values and ou- cultures and those that have shapedothers; and of physical and human geography. How can we avoidmaking all of this into nothing more than just another, and perhapslonger, parade of facts, smothering the desire to learn? Apart fromneeded changes in materials and methods, in the structure of cur-ricula and of the school day itself, we believe that one answer is tofocus upon the fateful drama of the historical struggle fordemocracy. The fate of real men and women, here and abroad,who have worked to bring to life the ideas we began with deservesour whole attention and that of our students. It is a suspenseful,often tragic, drama that continues today, often amid poverty andsocial turmoil; advocates of democracy remain, as before, prey toextremists of Left and Right well-armed with force and simpleanswers. The ongoing, worldwide struggle for a free center of"broad, sunlit uplands," in Churchill's phrase, is the best hope ofthe earth, and we would make it the heart of a reordered cur-riculum for history and social studies.

How can we avoid making all

of this into nothing more than

just another . . . parade offacts?

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.I. 7

HISTORY AND THE HUMANITIES ASTHE CORE OFDEMOCRATIC EDUCATION

We regard the study of history as the chief subject in educationfor democracy, much as Jefferson and other founders of the UnitedStates did two centuries ago. In revamping the social studies cur-riculum, we should start with the obvious: History is not the enemyof the social sciences, but is instead their indispensable source ofnourishment, order, and perspective. We aim at nothing less thanhelping the student to comprehend what is important, not merelyto memorize fact and formula. But it is clearly impossible to reachgenuine comprehension of economic, political, social, and culturalquestions without examining them in their historic context. To pull"case studies" and "concepts" out of historical narrative, as somany social studies programs do, not only confuses students but islikely to distort the truth of the human condition.

Of all the subjects in the curriculum, history alone affords theperspective that students need to compare themselves realisticallywith othersin the past andelsewhere on earth--and to thinkcritically, to look behind assertionsand appearances, to ask for the"whole story," to judge meaningand value for themselves. Historyis also the integrative subject,upon which the coherence andusefulness of other subjects de-pend, especially the social sciencesbut also much of literature and thearts. Taught in historical context,the formulations and insights ofthe social sciences take on life,blood, drama, and significance.And, in turn, their organizing con-cepts and questions can help rescue history from the dry recital ofdates and acts so many students have rightly complained about.

We are pleased that several major reform proposals agree onthe centrality of history.'' Theodore Sizer, in Horace's C'ompromise,makes the joint study of history and ideas one of the four requiredareas of learning throughout the secondary years. The Paideia Pro-posal puts narrative history and geography at the center of thesocial studies curriculum, during every grade beyond the elemen-tary. Ernest Boyer's Carnegie Report, High School, asks for a year

The ongoing, worldwidestruggle for a free center of"broad, sunlit uplands," inChurchill's phrase, is thebest hope of the earth, andwe would make it the heartof a reordered curriculum forhistory and social studies.

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of the history of Western Civilization, a year of American history,another of American government, and a term's study of non-Western society. The Council for Basic Education sets an "ir-reducible minimum" of two years of American history, one year ofEuropean, and the study of at least one non-Western society indepth. The state of California now calls for at least two years ofhigh school history.

We also ask for wider reading and study in the humanities. Forwe are concerned, again, with values, with every citizen's capacityfor judging the moral worth of things. In this, courses in "values

clarification" do not get us veryfar. They either feign neutrality ordescend to preachiness. Valuesand moral integrity are betterdiscovered by students in theirreading of history, of literature, ofphilosophy, and of biography.Values are not "taught," they areencountered, in school and life.

The humanities in our schoolsmust not be limited, as they sooften are now, to a few brief

samples of Good Things, but should embrace as much as possibleof the whole range of the best that has been thought and said andcreated, from the ancient to the most recent. Otherwise, studentshave little chance to confront the many varied attempts to answerthe great questions of lifeor even to be aware that such questionsexist. The quest for worth and meaning is indispensable to thedemocratic citizen. The essence of democracy, its reason for being,

Of all the subjects in the cur-

riculum, history alone affords

the perspective that studentsneed to compare themselvesrealistically with others . . .

RAk18i

is constant choice. We choose what the good life is, and how oursocietyincluding its schoolsmay order its priorities so that thegood life is possible, according to what we ourselves value mostThat is what de Tocqueville meant by the "notions andsentiments" of a people.

Education for democracy; then, must extend to education inmoral issues, which our eighteenth century founders took veryseriously indeed. This is hardly surprising. The basic' ideas of liber-ty, equality, and justice, of civil, political, and economic rights andobligations are all assertions of right and wrong, of moral values.Such principles impel the citizento make moral choices, repeatedlyto decide between right and wrongor, just as often, between oneright and another. The authors ofthe American testament had notrouble distinguishing moraleducation from religious instruc-tion, and neither should we. Thedemocratic state can take no partin deciding which, if any, churchforms its citizens' consciences.But it is absurd to argue that thestate, or its schools, cannot beconcerned with citizens' ability totell right from wrong, and toprefer one over the other in allmatters that bear upon the com-mon public life. This would beutterly to misunderstand thedemocratic vision, and the moralseriousness of the choices itdemands of us.

The democratic state cantake no part in decidingwhich, if any, church formsits citizens' consciences. Butit is absurd to argue that thestate, or its schools, cannotbe concerned with citizens'ability to tell right fromwrong, and to prefer one overthe other in all matters thatbear upon the common publiclife.

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CONCLUSIONSIn calling for a decisive improvement of education for

democracy, we are well aware that this will require a sea-change inthe typical curriculum. Specifically, we call for the following:

1. A more substantial, engaging, and demanding social studiescurriculum for all of our childrenone that helps students to com-prehend what is important, not merely to memorize names, dates,and places. The required curriculum should include the history ofthe United States and of democratic civilization, the study ofAmerican government and world geography, and of at least onenon-Western society in depth.

2. A reordering of the curriculum around a core of history andgeographywith history providing the perspective for consideredjudgment and geography confronting students with the hardrealities that shape so many political, economic, and social deci-sions. Around this core of history and geography, students shouldbe introduced to the added perspectives offered by economics,psychology, sociology, anthropology, and political science.

3. More history, chronologically taught and taught in ways thatcapture the imagination of students. Historical biography, colorfulhistorical narrative, and debate over the central ideas that havebrought us here are all appealing to students. And we recommendthat a central theme in the study of history be the dramatic strag-gles of people around the globe and across the centuries to win,preserve, and extend their freedom.

4. More attention to world studies, especially to the realisticand unsentimental study of other nationsboth democratic andnon-democratic. Comparative study of politics, ideology, economics,am culture, and especially the efforts of cit,zens to improve theirlot through protest and reform, offers students a healthy perspec-tie on our own problems and a needed window on problemselsewhere.

5. A broader, deeper learning in the humanities, particularly inli.erature, ideas, and biography, so that students may encounteral-A comprehend the values upon which democracy depends.

hrough such study, moral educationnot religious education and:iot neutral values clarificationcan be restored to high standing inour schools.

We understand that such a major reform of the curriculum willrequire more effective textbooks and auxiliary materials, aimed lessat "coverage" than at comprehension of what is most worth learn-ing. It will require continuing collaboration between facultymembers from the schools and universities, where both worktogether as equals to clarify what is most worth teaching in their

20') 11.4,

[

6

subjects and to devise ways to convey the material to diverseclienteles. And k requires new approaches to teacher education,both pre-service and in-service, to help teachers present therevamped and strengthened curriculum.

Our proposal asks for great intensity of teaching effort. Stu-dents will not reach genuine understanding of ideas, events, and in-stitutions through rote learning from texts, classroom lecture, andrecitation followed by short-answer quizzes. We ask for activelearning on the part of studentsample time for class discussions,for coaching, for frequentseminars to explore ideas, and forregular wilting assignments.

We know that teachers wouldlike nothing better than to work inthis way. We also know that theycannot be expected to do so whenthey are responsible for 150 ormore students, coming at them ina kaleidoscopic. five-times-fiftyminute daily lockstep, frequentlyrequiring three or four differentpreparations. We thus allyourselves with recent calls to dramatically restructure education.Over time, we must sharply alter the management, the schedules,and the staffing patterns of our schools to afford teachers moreauthority, a wider latitude of methods and materials, more time todevote to the intellectual lives of fewer students, and more time todevote to their own intellectual growth.

We understand that the dramatic changes we call forin cur-riculum and structurewill not come easily. We know also thatthese changes can be made, and must be.

As citizens of a demo,:ratic republic, we are part of the noblestpolitical effort in history. Our children must learn, and we mustteach them, the knowledge, values, and habits that will best protectand extend this precious inheritance. Today we ask our schools tomake a greater contribution to that effort and we ask allAmericans to help them do it.

We know that teachers would

like nothing better than towork in this way. We alsoknow that they cannot be ex-pected to do so when they are

responsible for 150 or morestudents, coming at them in akaleidoscopic, five-times-fifty

minute daily lockstep . . .

1. 4

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REFERENCES1. Jack Beatty, "The Patriotism of Values." The New Republic, July 4 and

11, 1981.

2. National Assessment of Educational Progress, Foundations of Literacy.1986

3. National Council for the Social Studies, International Human Rights,Society and the Schools. 1982.

4. Women's Educational Equity Act Program, "In Search of Our Past," inWorld History Teacher Guide. Funded by a grant from the U.S.Department of Education.

5. Scott McConnell, "Vietnam and the '60s Generation: A Memoir."Commentary, June 1985.

6. Theodore Sizer, Horace's Compromise. Boston: HoughtonMifflinCompany, 1984.

Mortimer J. Adler, et al., The Paideia Proposal. New York: McMillanPublishing Company, 1984.

Ernest Boyer, High School New York: Harper & Row Company, 1983.

Thomas C. Mendenhall and James Howard, Making History Come Alive.Council for Basic Education, 1984.

California State Board of Education, Model Curriculum Standards, Grades9-12 History-Social Studies.

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