I recently read an article from the Huffington Post Blog for education discussing civic responsibility, voting and history in American education. With the 2012 election in full force, author of the post, William E. White makes the argument that civic responsibility, a common theme with the presidential candidates, is not something students learn from studying the constitution but by studying American History. It is looking at how in the past, Americans upheld their communities and how history reminds Americans of their “fundamental ideals”.
After reading this post, I was reminded of a phone call I shared with my academic partner and good friend Jordan K, about Canadian politics and our Ontario High School curriculum. We both agreed that history was a missing component in our grade 10 Civic class and that the connection between history and current political affairs was something that was not presented to us as one of our civic responsibilities. Jordan, an admirer of J.S. Woodsworth and the CCF made a similar argument to White’s but in the context of Canadian politics. Jordan argued if Canadians were more engaged in political history and simply understood our past, it would create a more informed voter block and uphold White’s notion of civic responsibility. History allows us to gain a personal knowledge of past legislation, political changes and issues and gives us a personal responsibility over our government.
I think for White it is not just looking to history for knowledge, but to illustrate the passion and engagement that America once had. That the past for White holds a key to American prosperity and it is this prosperity Americans hope to regain someday.
Check out White’s article, Teaching Responsibility — Teach History at Huffington Post and please check out my blog every week at clevermice.wordpress.com!
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