“e pluribus unum” Now is the Time for Educators to Build a New Foundation for Excellence in History and Civics Education
Our guest author is Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, Director of the Democratic Knowledge Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Board Member of the Shanker Institute.
Once again, on this Constitution Day, we find ourselves in a nation under stress– with a polarized electoral landscape and high levels of disconnection from our constitutional democracy among young people who see our political system as not responsive to the challenges of our times–school shootings, climate change, stalled social mobility. The classroom cannot alone change these dynamics, but it can help.
Yet teaching American history and civics is particularly challenging right now, precisely because of that polarized landscape. As educators, how do we share our nation’s story and help students develop the skills to consider other people’s perspectives so that today’s students are civically engaged and can work together to sustain our constitutional democracy in the future?
Passing on a clear-eyed understanding of American constitutional democracy to our youngest generations is an urgent civic necessity. They need this understanding in order to bring their own perspective and insight to bear on reconnecting our institutions to our need for problem-solving. Students are hungry for a deeper understanding of their country’s origins, triumphs, and struggles. To fuel this hunger, educators need quality professional development opportunities to help deepen their content knowledge and pedagogical skills to strengthen civic and history learning in their classrooms and schools.
Over the last few decades, our nation has under-invested in civic education, but this has begun to change. Three years ago, we invested about $50 per kid per year in federal resources in STEM education and only 5 cents per kid per year in Civics Education. As of this year, we are up to 50 cents per kid per year. Still not enough, but headed in the right direction. And just in time. National civics scores recently declined from levels that were already low for the first time since testing began in 1998.
Civic education isn’t just good for students — it’s good for our democracy too. Students who experience high-quality civic education are more likely to complete college and develop employable skills. They are also more likely to vote, discuss current issues at home, and be confident in speaking publicly and communicating with elected representatives.
Therefore, I’m thrilled to be able to share a path forward. The newly launched Civic Learning Institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education provides online professional development opportunities where teachers and educators can learn from some of the country’s leading scholars of American history and civics, and participate in group discussions with fellow K-12 and higher education colleagues from around the country.
Civic Learning Institute courses are developed based on the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, or EAD, created by more than 300 academics, historians, political scientists, K–12 teachers, school district and state administrators, civic leaders, and students from across the country. This cross-ideological group, which was diverse in all dimensions–demographic background, expertise, and viewpoint—worked together for more than a year to build consensus around high-quality history and civics content and pedagogy. This included their work to consider and address controversial and challenging tensions in American history and contemporary public life.
The Roadmap is an inquiry framework that lays out the history and civics questions that all students, K-12, should have the chance to encounter over the course of their educational journey. It is easily usable and aligns with state standards across all fifty states.
Through nine online Civic Learning Institute courses, educators will refine their own professional practice and develop learning experiences that can be used in their own context– classrooms, professional development workshops, and other contexts. Participants will also receive a certificate of completion.
The courses at the Civic Learning Institute are designed for all educators, whether you are a classroom teacher, instructional coach, school leader, professional developer, higher ed faculty, or work in a museum or cultural institution. There are nine virtual courses, about 10 hours each, with both synchronous and asynchronous sessions, that will be offered starting in early October through July 2025. Topics range from the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Gettysburg Address to the History of Jim Crow and the Vietnam War. There are also courses in implementing the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap and Digital Competence in the Age of AI, among others. I am excited to teach the inaugural course Our Declaration: “We the People” and the Declaration of Independence, which begins Monday, October 7. Registration is open now and closes Tuesday, October 1.
The original motto of the United States is e pluribus unum -– out of many, one. We need many educators to build a new foundation for excellence in history and civics education.