Plato argued that education is the “training in excellence from youth upward which makes a man passionately desire to be a perfect citizen, and teaches him to rule, and to obey, with justice.” These ancient but relevant words encompass the first of Mortimer Adler’s hypothesized purposes for education: civic development. As it was in ancient Greece, one of the primary functions of public education is to prepare youth to become cohesive citizens within their respective communities.
In each school across the country, the morning bell chime ushers in the invitation for each member of the faculty, staff, and student to stand and join in pledging allegiance to the star-spangled banner and the country that it embodies. In my experience through primary education, civic awareness did not stop after the unison reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. From American History, government, to sociology, many courses, even the ones without an intrinsic national focus are anchored to American ideologies. Content is typically presented in an American-centric approach. Furthermore, although the first classes to come to mind when thinking of high school are often the core math, science, and language courses, over the years in my school and the schools of those that I have spoke to, many courses (often mandatory) were dedicated to specific societal focuses—courses such as the infamous sex ed., to personal finance, home repair, and home economics. Moreover, many courses similar to these are required to be taught by state law in Pennsylvania, and similarly in other states across the country. Since it is evident that schools are putting forth and effort to civically prepare students for their future roles in society, the next question we must ask is how well are schools preforming this function.
Studies suggest that when present (and of adequate quality) civic education, in reference to lessons in history, government, and the similar, are substantially successful at providing civic empowerment which leads to political involvement at all levels and higher voting rates. There is a strong causal relationship between quality exposure to these topics and these integral functions of society. This is where the good news ends. Quality in this specific arena is rare, and to an alarming degree more common within wealthy, diversity-absent communities. This inadequacy within economically suffering communities, both rural and urban, is partially cause to a continuation and further striation of the political landscape. Individuals who lack proper civic education are less likely to run for office and to vote which is leading to elected officials who poorly represent the people as a whole, but rather small, more privileged portions of the country. Of course, there are a lot of other factors that lead to this result; nonetheless, education disparity is one that is particularly alarming.
Walk into a senior home and it will take two minutes to the half reminiscing complaint, “schooling doesn’t mean anything. In my day, we learnt more before eighth grade than you kids graduate with after 13 years.” To some degree these ‘old-timers’ are right, it is hard to dispute that high school is doing less to prepare students for “the real world.” Forbes contributor, Roy Avik, presented research showing that although students believe that they are prepared to enter the work force, employers overwhelmingly disagree. Additionally, levels of anxiety regarding growing-up are on the rise. Unlike civil education, this problem seems to be pretty wide spread—indiscriminately inadequate across the country. Some suggest that this is less a result of degrading primary education system and more the result of a movement away from the traditional family dynamic. Regardless, it is fair to argue that with such a societal impact, it is necessary for schools to take action to improve their standing in this area.
Given the complex and intricate nature of each of these issues, it is difficult to determine a solution to these complications. One suggestion however, that would go a long way to providing a more equitable quality of education across all disciplines, not just civic education, would to be to revise the method of funding schools on the state level. Speaking to Pennsylvania, the majority of funding for primary education institutes are contingent on the physical location of the school. Therefore, the economic health of the district directly impacts the budget of the district. As a result, wealthier communities are able to provide higher quality education, widening the striation. To conclude, in order to provide a high quality and effective education that meets the needs of society, it is critical that on a national level, primary schools improve in terms of developing students civically.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2015/09/21/students-think-theyre-ready-for-the-real-world-employers-not-so-much/#7ef994e311ce