Civic Education: Insights From Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Middle School Students

Abstract

This study explored the views of culturally diverse middle school students on civic education in an urban setting. It employed a qualitative approach to gain a deeper understanding of students’ experiences. The results showed a need for a more inclusive approach to civic education that better reflects the communities in which they live. The study highlights the significance of considering the perspectives of diverse groups in creating and implementing urban civic education programs. It contributes to discussions on the role of civic education in fostering active citizenship and social responsibility among young students.

Keywords

civic education middle school students culturally and linguistically diverse students critical race theory critical multicultural citizenship education culturally relevant pedagogy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander

(2007). What is common about common schooling? Rational autonomy and moral agency in liberal democratic education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41(4), 609–624. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.2007.00592.x

Atkins

T. D.

(2018). Amplifying diverse voices: Strategies for promoting inclusion in the law school classroom. The Second Draft, 31(2), 10–14.

Banks

J. A.

(2001). Citizenship education and diversity: Implications for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487101052001002

Biseth

(2009). Democracy and education in a multicultural Scandinavia: What mandate is designated to educators? Intercultural Education, 20(3), 243–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980903138590

Bonnett

(2000). Anti-Racism. Routledge.

Bridges

K. M.

Keel

Obasogie

O. K.

(2017). Introduction: Critical race theory and the health sciences. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 43(2-3), 179–182. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098858817723657

Burroughs

Groce

Webeck

M. L.

(2005). Social studies education in the age of testing and accountability. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 24(3), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3992.2005.00015.x

Campbell

D. E.

Levinson

Hess

F. M.

(Eds.). (2012). Making civics count: Citizenship education for a new generation. Harvard Education Press.

Carleheden

(2006). Towards democratic foundations: A Habermasian perspective on the politics of education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 38(5), 521–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220270600628229

10.

Castro

A. J.

(2010). Challenges in teaching for critical multicultural citizenship: Student teaching in an accountability-driven context. Action in Teacher Education, 32(2), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2010.10463553

11.

Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (2022). https://circle.tufts.edu/

12.

Crenshaw

Gotanda

Peller

Thomas

(1995). Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement. The New Press.

13.

Creswell

J. W.

Creswell

J. D.

(2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Sage.

14.

DeJaeghere

J. G.

(2009). Critical citizenship education for multicultural societies. Interamerican Journal of Education for Democracy, 2(2), 223–236. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/ried/article/view/159/253

15.

DiAngelo

R. J.

(2018). White fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press.

16.

Educating for American Democracy (2021). Educating for American democracy: Excellence in history and civics for all learners. iCivics. https://educatingforamericandemocracy.org

17.

Freire

(1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Herder; Penguin.

18.

Gall

M. D.

Gall

J. P.

Borg

W. R.

(2007). Educational research: An introduction (8th ed.). Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

19.

Gay

(2004). The importance of multicultural education. Educational Leadership, 61(4), 30–36.

20.

Giroux

H. A.

(1988). Schooling and the struggle for public life: Critical pedagogy in the modern age. University of Minnesota Press.

21.

Inthorn

Street

Scott

(2013). Popular culture as a resource for political engagement. Cultural Sociology, 7(3), 336–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975512457141

22.

Kendall

D. L.

Cannon

Gill

J. K.

(2021). The role of white support in predicting racial minorities’ feelings of inclusion and retention. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 21(2), 168–182.

23.

Kendi

I. X.

(2019). How to be an antiracist. One World.

24.

Kumi-Yeboah

Smith

(2016). Critical multicultural citizenship education among black immigrant youth: Factors and challenges. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 18(1), 158–182. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v18i1.1079

25.

Kuttner

P. J.

(2016). Hip-hop citizens: Arts-based, culturally sustaining civic engagement pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 86(4), 527–555. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-86.4.527

26.

Ladson-Billings

(1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.2307/1163320

27.

Learning Standards for Social Studies Revised Edition (1996). http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/sslearn.pdf

28.

Leonardo

Manning

(2017). White historical activity theory: Toward a critical understanding of white zones of proximal development. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(1), 15–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2015.1100988

29.

Levine

(2003). The civic mission of schools. National Civic Review, 92(4), 63–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/ncr.34

30.

J. C.

Kisa

(2021). Requiring civics then and now: Potentials and pitfalls of mandated civics curriculum. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 123(2), 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812112300202

31.

McDevitt

M. J.

Caton-Rosser

M. S.

(2009). Deliberative barbarians: Reconciling the civic and the agonistic in democratic education. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education & Information Studies, 5(2), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.5070/d452000654

32.

McDonough

(2008). The course of “culture” in multiculturalism. Educational Theory, 58(3), 321–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2008.00291.x

33.

Mutekwe

Sedibe

(2015). South Africa’s quest for democratic education through a language in education policy perspective. Creative Education, 6(10), 1076–1085. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2015.610106

34.

New York State Department of Education (2021).

35.

Nieves

(2013). The civic achievement gap: A study of the civic knowledge, skills, and attitudes of Hispanic students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Education and Society, 31(2), 51–66. https://doi.org/10.7459/es/31.2.04

36.

Ochoa-Becker

A. S.

(2007). Democratic education for social studies: An issues-centered decision making curriculum (2nd ed.). Information Age Publishing.

37.

Pellegrino

A. M.

Lee

C. D.

Luongo

B. J.

III Zakaria

O. A. Y.

(2010). Music as a tool for 21st-century civic education. Action in Teacher Education, 32(4), 83–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2010.549739

38.

RISE (n.d.). Georgetown Law. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/your-life-career/campus-services/office-of-the-dean-of-students/rise/

39.

Rosen

S. M.

(2019). “So much of my very soul”: How youth organizers’ identity projects pave agentive pathways for civic engagement. American Educational Research Journal, 56(3), 1033–1063. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218812028

40.

Sánchez Loza

(2021). Dear “good” schools: White supremacy and political education in predominantly White and affluent suburban schools. Theory Into Practice, 60(4), 380–391. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2021.1981075

41.

Siegel-Stechler

(2019). Is civics enough? High school civics education and young adult voter turnout. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 43(3), 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2018.09.006

42.

The Center for Educational Equity, Teachers College, Columbia University (2022, March 24). Finding common ground for civic education in turbulent times (webinar). https://tc.yuja.com/V/Video?v=4671533&node=15561511&a=1234666879&autoplay=1

43.

Walling

D. R.

(2007). The return of civic education. Phi Delta Kappan, 89(4), 285–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170708900411

44.

Winthrop

(2020). The need for civic education in 21st-century schools. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BrookingsPolicy2020_BigIdeas_Winthrop_CivicEducation.pdf

45.

Wynter-Hoyte

Smith

(2020). “Hey, Black child. Do you know who you are?” Using African diaspora literacy to humanize blackness in early childhood education. Journal of Literacy Research, 52(4), 406–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296-20967393

46.

Zeigler

Camarota

A. S.

(2019). 67.3 Million in the United States spoke a foreign language at home in 2018. https://cis.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/camarota-language-19_0.pdf

47.

Zimmerman

(2002). Whose America?: Culture wars in the public schools. Harvard University Press.

48.

Zinn

(2003). A people's History of the United States: 1492-present. Perennial Cl.