Ensuring a Robust Civics Education for Montana Children
While summer is upon us, Montana teachers know that the learning hasn’t stopped. They are busy preparing for the new school year to begin, and planning lessons and activities for students across our state.
As we head toward the new year, teachers will have new content standards to begin reviewing. The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) works to ensure the eleven state standards regarding various course topics are current and applicable. These standards lay out what students should learn and what they should know. The local curriculum at their schools is informed by these state standards.
During my tenure as State Superintendent, the OPI has worked to revitalize or create five of the eleven categories of standards — Social Studies, Career and Technical Education, Technology Integration, Library Media, and the new Computer Science standards. They reflect updated information for each content area. Schools will have five years to fully implement and integrate these standards, after they just went into effect on July 1st.
There has been a lot of discussion recently about civics education in our society. What does it mean to be a citizen? What kinds of knowledge and information should students be taught during their K-12 school years to prepare them to participate proudly and robustly in our society?
The National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service released a detailed report in last year outlining steps to increase service to our country. This service can take many forms, but one of the central questions the Commission asked was, generally speaking, “what does it take to make more people want to serve?”
A key conclusion the Commission reached was that “high-quality civics education plays a critical role in creating informed and engaged citizens who are more likely to make a positive impact on the Nation and their communities by pursuing service throughout their lives.” While love of country starts at home with the family, understanding what makes our nation special and unique is an important part of our children’s education.
Here in Montana, our social studies content standards, which were last updated two decades ago, have been falling short. They haven’t inspired enough of our young people over that time to understand their government and seek ways to increase patriotism and promote service.
Over the last year and a half, I called together over 100 Montanans from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to review and revise these standards. In doing so, this group examined ways to ensure that our Montana students are prepared to be fully participating citizens in our state and nation.
The goal was to lay the foundation for a robust social studies education across each and every grade level. This team hit the mark. Our new state standards, which specifically include civics and government, economics, geography, and history, clearly delineate which topics correspond to each standard. They build upon each other year after year, so that our students are continually adding new knowledge that furthers their education in a comprehensive manner.
For instance, at the elementary level, children are introduced to the concepts of citizenship and participation, understanding what it means to be part of a society (such as a classroom). Before moving to high school, students will have knowledge of the structure and principles contained in our state and nation’s foundational documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Montana Constitution. They will then utilize that knowledge of our original documents in grades 9–12 to analyze the powers, responsibilities, and limits of our government. This is essential information for any student to become an informed and participatory citizen.
While we need our students to comprehend when our country has fallen short of its lofty goals, we also need to ensure they understand how ordinary citizens and leaders alike have come together to enact change and found solutions to complex problems. This can help guarantee we learn from our history and that the same mistakes are not repeated. Students should not simply memorize important dates or figures in our history, but understand why our leaders came to certain decisions, or the causes of different events they study. That way, students can identify problems, think critically, and resolve to do better in the future.
Some who don’t understand Montana or its education system will say that these social studies standards are not prescriptive enough. In Montana, we fiercely believe in local control. These standards set the stage, and the local school districts and educators set the curriculum. This strengthens trust in our Montana teachers to provide an education that objectively and factually presents students with what it means to be an American and a Montanan.
In that vein, the new standards provide a wealth of opportunities for all educators to boost their Indian Education for All teaching. The story of our First Montanans is varied, and deserves proper attention and care. As we teach all of Montana’s children about Tribal heritage and culture, we recognize the breadth and length of Native history — from the unspeakable tragedies to the tremendous achievements. My passion for Indian Education for All stems not from a mandate in the Constitution, but from a love of Montana and a desire to ensure all students, no matter their backgrounds, receive an honest, candid, and most importantly, accurate accounting of our state’s history.
At the end of the day, our children and grandchildren will determine what our state and nation look like long into the future. We want these future generations of citizens to be responsible, knowledgeable, and involved. With these new social studies standards, Montana educators have an opportunity to rededicate their efforts to examining their curricula, adopting the new content, and bringing our state and nation’s story to life for their students.
Montana represents the best that the American dream offers. Let’s work together to ensure our next generations are inspired to keep it that way.
