Talking politics: Will Staal, Honey Creek Middle School social studies teacher, talks with his eighth-grade students during class. The class was doing an activity in which they were role playing historical figures to understand different persona’s roles in the abolition era. Photo courtesy VCSC
Last fall, Will Staal’s social studies classes at Honey Creek Middle School stepped away from their regular U.S. history lesson to spend time on a mini-unit leading up to the November election.
They studied the Electoral College versus the popular vote and wrote opinion pieces on which they prefer. Students researched different races at the local, state and federal level.
They looked at Vigo County’s status as a national bellwether. “We made predictions. Would Vigo County stay a bellwether county?
“They really enjoyed that,” said Staal, who teaches eighth-grade social studies.
Whatever his classes are studying, Staal crafts lessons so that they are relevant for students in today’s world, and he incorporates civics and government academic standards.
“One of the biggest things we do in this classroom is learning how to form your own viewpoint and how to communicate that viewpoint ... learning how to debate and how to have productive discussions with people you don’t agree with,” Staal said.
Now that a new state law will require a semester-long civics education course in middle school, “I’m really excited for the opportunity to get more civics and government involved in our lessons,” Staal said.
“To be honest, I think if you ask any student in my classroom, we’re already touching on that. It won’t be that big of a transition. I’ll be interested in seeing how it pans out,” he said.
New state civics education law
A new state law passed this session of the Indiana General Assembly will require Indiana middle school students to complete a one-semester civics education course, starting with those who begin sixth grade during the 2023-24 school year.
The legislation, which applies to public, charter and state-accredited private schools, requires students to complete the course in sixth, seventh or eighth grade.
House Enrolled Act 1384 was approved by votes of 49-0 in the Senate and 88-1 in the House, with Gov. Eric Holcomb signing it April 8.
The bill’s author, Rep. Tony Cook, R-Cicero — a retired school superintendent and government teacher — said he’s been concerned about people’s lack of knowledge about government and their lack of civic engagement.
While students often complete a government class during their senior year of high school, the new law will reach them earlier and help prepare the next generation of leaders, he stated. “As they grow up and begin to vote on issues impacting their communities and nation, young adults need to understand the basics of their government.”
A 2019 survey by the nonprofit Institute for Citizens & Scholars found only 4 out of 10 Americans could pass the citizenship test. “This certainly represents a larger problem facing our democracy, which depends on civic engagement,” he stated.
This legislation came out of a recommendation from the Indiana Civics Education Task Force lead by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. Cook and other legislators were appointed to serve on the group, which also included Loretta Rush, Indiana Supreme Court chief justice, and Connie Lawson, former Indiana secretary of state.
One member of that task force was State Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute, who enthusiastically endorses the legislation. “I think it’s a great thing. We can all use a little more civics education. The more people understand how government works and representation works, the more people are better informed,” she said. “We need an active democracy; we need active participation by people.”
She also supports reaching students at the middle school level. “It’s important to reach kids when they are actively engaged and excited to learn, rather than by the time they are seniors in high school just checking a box to graduate,” she said.
The law calls for the state board of education, in coordination with the Indiana Department of Education, to establish standards for civics education by July 1, 2022.
The legislation also establishes an Indiana Civics Education Commission, made up of legislators, state-level elected officials or their designees and seven appointments by the governor.
According to Holly Lawson, Indiana Department of Education spokeswoman, the department and state board of education will work with the to-be-appointed commission “to establish and implement civics education standards for Indiana schools. We’ll have more details to share as the process of establishing these new standards progresses.”
Civics education makes for better ‘democracy keepers’
Matt Bergbower, chair of ISU’s political science department, supports the legislation.
One way to make citizens better “democracy keepers” is to prioritize civics education in high school or middle school/junior high, he said. He also has some thoughts on what should be included.
While it’s important to teach the three branches of government and Bill of Rights, of equal importance is how that information is relevant to people’s lives and how those rights can be applied.
It’s not enough to know First Amendment rights, Bergbower said. “You need to know how to apply them when faced with ... a challenge,” he said. “You take it to the next level.”
He would also like to see educators “look at the current political environment and try to combat some of the worst ills of our democracy,” Bergbower said. One area involves misinformation and information literacy.
“I think our youth could benefit from understanding sources, understanding different modes of communicating information and reliability of those modes, the motivation of the actors,” he said. What are the motivations of a politician, Fox News or Associated Press? “They all have different motivations.”
Students should learn the importance of independently verifying political information and how to do that research, Bergbower said.
He believes these are skills the American public “are kind of lacking right now. And it’s not all their fault because the information environment is pretty overwhelming and there are a lot of talented actors out there presenting misinformation.”
He believes the new civics course will be a good opportunity to introduce youth to local government and local elected leaders; it’s a way to establish relationships between local government and community youth.
Jim Mann, a high school social studies teacher and former Vigo County Council member, believes the state and society in general benefit from informed citizens who elect office holders knowledgeable in areas including economics, politics and process.
“Anything that advances the cause of social studies is a plus,” he said.
Mann said he is “wary” as far as the cost of the legislation in terms of time, energy and dollar figures.
Those developing the curriculum and standards “have some significant work to accomplish” in coming up not only with content but also placement in the middle school curriculum, which is already established.
In Vigo County, middle school students have core classes; different related arts classes every quarter [business, technology, Family and Consumer Sciences and art] as well as physical education or music every other day.
To make room for the semester-long course, something will have to be given up. What will it be, what impact will that have and will it need to be made up, Mann asks. It also could impact what’s taught in high school.
As far as the makeup of the 15-person commission, Mann questions why no students or parents are included. Among the governor’s seven appointments to that group will be two social studies teachers and two representatives of teacher preparation programs.
Mann also hopes to see an emphasis on local government. “I think there is a great opening for instruction on local government that isn’t happening” currently, he said.
Local districts await future guidance
In the Vigo County School Corp., Bill Riley, director of communications, said the district will await additional guidance from the Indiana Department of Education on how to implement the change.
“It is our understanding that IDOE will work to develop standards this summer and we hope they will provide guidance on how to effectively implement a semester of civics education in the middle school social studies curriculum,” he said.
Currently, middle school social studies standards cover four areas: history, civics and government, geography, and economics.
In Vigo County schools, sixth graders have a social studies class that covers these standards areas in the western hemisphere; seventh grade focuses on the eastern hemisphere; and eighth grade is U.S. history. Civics and government standards are currently met throughout the curriculum in grades 6-8.
Civics is embedded in each of the current courses, Riley said.
“Having a semester of civics-only social studies will cause some sort of rebalancing of focus on these standards areas, and so we do await guidance from IDOE for how that should be done,” Riley said. “We also await clearer guidance on how to rebalance a focus on the other social studies standards areas of history, geography, and economics.”
VCSC also expects to receive guidance on teacher licensing in the area of civics, he said.
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