Literacy for Active Citizenship

by Jared J. Reitz

When I entered the field of education, many years ago, one of my first assignments was teaching civics to freshmen. Even today, I remember it as being among the most enjoyable classes I have taught. I have to admit, though— as I look back and know what I know now— I taught civics well, but it was all academic. I didn't teach civics as an "action verb"! The authors and publishers of the civics text from which I eagerly gave assignments offered the students no more than I did. Even though I encouraged the students to vote when the time came and, when called, to serve on a jury ("It is your civic duty!"), I did not feed the hunger of my students as I should have or provide them with all they actually needed to be prepared for the role of citizen. It appears to me that civics, let alone civic literacy, as it is taught today, has not changed much from when I began my career.

Just what are civics and civic literacy anyway? Civics is the study of the rights and duties of citizens. Civic literacy is comprehending and putting into action that understanding of the "duties of a citizen." Civic literacy is knowing how to be an active participant in society and knowing how to initiate change for the common good when necessary. That is huge. Not surprisingly, many of the skills needed for civics literacy are the same active literacy skills needed for language arts (and science and ... for any subject that requires the ability to think critically and comprehend meaning).

Ohio Center for Law-Related Education

The goal of the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE) is, as its tag line states, creating star players for our democracy. The largest state provider of law and citizenship programming in the country, OCLRE is in its twenty-fifth year partnering with Ohio's teachers to provide students the opportunity not only to discover their roles as citizens but to practice being effective citizens. OCLRE programs are designed to pull the students away from their desks and the teachers out from behind their lecture podiums.

Ohio High School Mock Trials

The Ohio High School Mock Trial program, OCLRE's largest, provides an opportunity for students to better understand the U.S. legal system. Each case is based on a constitutional issue and written by attorneys. Student teams must research and prepare the mock trial case from the perspective of both the prosecution and defense. Participants must build a case, support it by research, and then persuade the judges that their legal argument is the correct one. Other skills developed through the mock trial include the ability to speak well, present an argument, and think on one's feet. The trials are conducted throughout the state, with attorneys and court judges evaluating student performance.

Middle School Mock Trials

The Middle School Mock Trial program is based on popular pieces of literature read at the middle school level. The Giver (by Lois Lowry), Light in the Forest (by Conrad Richter), Nothing But the Truth (by Avi), and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (by Mildred Delois Taylor), to name a few, have been written into criminal cases. Students not only read good literature, but research and experience the process of preparing for a trial. The same skills learned by high school students are learned by middle school students.

Middle school mock trial attorneys wait for the court to be called to order.

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

The history and principles of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the focus of the nationally acclaimed program We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution. Free classroom sets of textbooks are available to elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Built into the program is a performance-based assessment— simulated congressional hearings. Students prepare answers to questions drawn from their study of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Students must leave their textbooks to research primary sources, newspaper articles, and other texts to answer the questions. Answers that demonstrate a deeper understanding of the Constitution and Bill of Rights are given verbally before a panel of judges. The judges follow the students' prepared statements with questions of their own. Here are a few examples of middle school questions. See how well you can answer them.

Natural rights philosophers believed that individuals gave up some freedom in order to protect their natural rights by forming "social contracts."

• What did natural rights philosophers mean by the term social contract?
• Compare the political system proposed by John Locke and that of earlier governments.
• What aspects of natural rights philosophy can still be seen in our government today?

Try this one:

Unlike the United States, Great Britain has never had a written constitution, and yet Great Britain has a constitutional government.

• What makes a government a constitutional government rather than just a government with a constitution?
• Do you think the founders were creating a constitutional government through the Declaration of Independence? Defend your position.

Through the We the People program, students move beyond knowing just the basics to a stronger understanding of all things related to being a U.S. citizen.

Project Citizen

Project Citizen, a sister program to We the People, engages middle and high school students in better understanding and developing public policy. Far too many citizens do not understand they have the power to effect change. Anyone who thinks that there is really only one way to achieve change— to vote for a mayoral candidate, presidential candidate, or member of Congress who promises change— is really abdicating one of the most powerful tools a citizen has: to initiate change at the grassroots level. Project Citizen teaches students to effect change logically and systematically using critical thinking skills. Students can apply their civic skills in their schools, their neighborhoods, their state, or the nation. Students around Ohio have actually brought about change through initiating their own public policy changes.

Youth for Justice

Not all change has to happen through public policy. Youth for Justice, a middle school program offered by OCLRE, challenges students to identify problems in their communities and then, as a group, find solutions to the problems through student-organized groups and the creation of awareness programs. Youth for Justice students have tackled numerous problems, including ones related to bullying, sexual harassment, respect, and graffiti on school building walls.

Middle school students share their drug abuse solutions at the Youth for Justice Summit.

Ohio Standards Alignment

All the programs offered by OCLRE are aligned to the Ohio Academic Content Standards for the Social Studies and the Ohio Language Arts Content Standards.

The Price of Literacy?

In November 2007, CNN reported that students at New York University would sell their opportunity to vote in the 2008 presidential elections. Twenty percent of the students surveyed would exchange their right for an iPod Touch, and over half would give up their lifetime right to vote for $1 million. What we see is that far too many U.S. citizens do not understand the simple basics of their governments or understand the real role of a citizen in a democracy.

As I noted at the start of this article, I was a good civics teacher, and when students left my classroom, they knew more about what it takes to be a good citizen than they did before that freshman civics class. But it's not what you know, it's what you understand. What my students knew was academic; what they lacked was in-depth practice and real-life experiences. Every young American needs to understand the importance of civic literacy, and as teachers we must instill in each and every student a passion for our democracy and the passion to take action. We want citizens who want to pay $1 million to vote rather than take $1 million not to.

Jared J. Reitz is Director of Programs at the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education. He taught middle school for thirty years in Piqua, Ohio, and is a former Piqua City Schools Teacher of the Year. He is a former Ohio Council for the Social Studies Middle School Teacher of the Year and an Ashland Oil Individual Teacher Achievement Award winner. Reitz, who has his M.Ed., is also an adjunct professor at Ashland University.

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