PARENT & TEACHER TIPS CONTINUED
nascent friendship forged during the terrifying hours after a fight at a high school football game sparks a race riot.
Discuss with your kids the concept of patriotism, helping them distinguish between personal loyalty to individuals or institutions and civic loyalty to ideas and causes intended to increase the common good. Together identify examples of patriotic action. For prompts consider James Baldwin,“ I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for that reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually” or Charles Blow,“ Conservatism is rooted in preservation; progressivism advances alteration. These are different love languages. When you think of America, do you see a country struggling to be maintained or one striving to be made better?”
Commit to the necessity of teaching civics well. Harvard professor and director of the Safra Center for Ethics Danielle Allen has pointed to the current imbalance in investment in civic education— about $ 50 of federal funds per year per student on STEM compared to 5 cents on civics— noting that without civic strength at home we compete less successfully on the global stage. She has led development of an“ interactive roadmap” for civics education( https:// www. educatingforamericandemocracy. org). Some goals include: inspire K-12 students involvement in their democracy, tell a full narrative of our plural yet shared story, explore the need for compromise to make democracy work, and cultivate civic honesty.
This is a short list of efforts that can help us all continue the hard work toward a more perfect union. •
Julie Stevens is a parent, former school psychologist, and former independent school teacher. She has written numerous articles on parenting and moral growth that can be found on csee. org.
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• Provide opportunities for experiential learning. This is a great way to allow students to exercise citizenship in the real world. •
Hadley Zeavin is the Director of Service Learning and Experiential Education at La Jolla Country Day School in La Jolla, CA. Hadley works in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools, focusing on building empathy and relationships and using those skills to contribute to communities. With her colleague, Michelle Hirschy, she has co-developed a course taught to school leadership as well as the ninth-graders entitled Dignity which works to increase inclusive language and support diversity, equity, and inclusion through an experiential and neuroscientific approach.
CSEE Connections Summer 2021 Page 33