Anyone who has lived in this decade can tell you that the United States of America has had some hard days. During another bitter election season, there were many dispiriting moments. Civil dialogue about the many issues we face was all but absent.
Especially troubling was a November 4th Wall Street Journal report that civics teachers not only steered clear of the election but also avoided discussing any current political issue in their classrooms.
Political campaigns and issues of national importance, however, are crucial opportunities for teachers to engage students in the democratic process. Teachers should invite them to learn the essential practices of civil discourse, such as understanding all sides of an issue and showing an openness to new ideas and ways of thinking. They can help students look to our history and core documents for insight. All of this serves as a path for students to become thoughtful citizens.
Yes, some teachers have taken it upon themselves to impart their personal politics. But many more teachers understand their critical role and simply lack the confidence to lead their students in political discussions. Civics teachers are generally provided with limited educational resources and content-based training while dealing with a highly volatile political climate and a culture that disregards what we as Americans hold in common.
We need to work together to find solutions to this crisis of knowledge and this crisis of confidence. We need to support civics teachers in every way we can so they can, in turn, help students become young citizens and take responsibility for self-government.
For 20 years, the Jack Miller Center has been working to fill this gap by supporting scholars devoted to teaching America’s founding principles and history. Our programs also aim to empower K-12 civics and history teachers with a deep understanding of core primary source texts, great debates, and key moments in our history. We work with the top professors in our network of 1,200 university scholars to provide rigorous professional development programs and innovative classroom application models that give teachers the knowledge and confidence they need.
Across the country, we have found partners in the private and public sectors who are on all sides of the political spectrum yet share our reverence for the American political tradition. We have witnessed, for example, a rising desire to incorporate civics into college and university curricula, expressed through the development of new civics and liberal arts-focused programs at Stanford, Purdue, and Johns Hopkins, to name a few.
Additionally, after decades of underfunding, a number of state legislatures are now stepping up to provide support for interdisciplinary departments at public universities. These institutions are being staffed by leading political scientists, historians, economists, and humanities scholars like Professor Jed Adkins, who heads the School of Life and Leadership at the University of North Carolina.
Another benefit of this civics renaissance is providing advanced civics education for teachers. Arizona State University and Utah Valley University have introduced innovative graduate programs for civics, history, and other social studies teachers to advance their knowledge of the subjects they teach.
UVU’s Center for Constitutional Studies is a particularly excellent example of the nonpartisan and academically rigorous kind of civics that’s flowering in higher education. Its Constitutional Literacy Institute has offered teachers thousands of hours of professional development. UVU is partnering with the university’s School of Education on a Master of Arts in Constitutional Government, Civics, and Law that will serve as an important credential. Utah Valley University and other similar institutes across the country can empower genuine civic revival by connecting top scholars with K-12 teachers.
The beating heart of American civics education will always be at the K-12 level. We need to redouble our efforts to teach students about all of America’s history, the good and the bad. Civics education is not about indoctrinating children into one ideology or another but is instead an invitation to learn more about America’s story – and for students to see themselves in it.
It was Frederick Douglass who called the Constitution a “glorious liberty document.” In that same speech, he went on to say that “every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly” the meaning of that charter. As a man born in slavery who had to fight even to learn to read, Douglass understood full well the importance of education in a republic. Civic ignorance leads to division, decline, and ultimately oppression. Republics only thrive when the whole citizenry understands the principles on which they are founded.
The occasion of America’s 250th birthday presents an opportunity for this civic education renewal. During the Bicentennial in 1976, Americans of all stripes were hungry for history – biographies became bestsellers, and reenactors honored the memory of our Revolution. We believe the same spirit can take hold in 2026. Let’s make the most of it.
