John Rogers: The Importance of a Civics Education
UCLA Professor of Education John Rogers was interviewed recently by KPCC on “The Importance of a Civics Education,” during an…
UCLA Professor of Education John Rogers was interviewed recently by KPCC on “The Importance of a Civics Education,” during an episode focused on the educational response to the uprising in the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6. and the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States.
Rogers, who recently published the report, “Reclaiming the Democratic Purpose of California’s Public Schools,” commented that, “We are all part of a collective process in a democracy. That entails us trying to understand with others, sometimes with others with whom we disagree, the events that are unfolding.”
Among the report’s key findings by Professor Rogers and his co-researchers are school districts’ currently marginal goals toward civic education; the absence of civic and democratic commitments in districts’ accountability plans; and a critical shortage of staffing and infrastructure to support a civic education agenda.
The report’s authors also say that, “The societal problems we face create an urgent need to prepare young people for thoughtful and informed civic action. Educators can respond by gaining input from youth and community members and by forging new initiatives in civics and social science, by partnering with organizations in California’s communities, and by integrating substantial attention to these issues into other aspects of the curriculum such as science education, English and Language Arts, ethnic studies, and social and emotional learning.”
In addition to Rogers, the report’s authors include Joe Kahne, a professor of education policy and politics at UC Riverside, and Erica Hodgin, co- director of the Civic Education Research Group at UC Riverside.
Ciceley Bingener (Urban Schooling) and Alexander Kwako (Social Research Methodology), PhD students in UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies, and UCLA alumna Rebecca Cooper Geller (’20, PhD, Urban Schooling), assistant professor in the School of Teacher Education in the College of Education, University of Wyoming, served on the research team for this report. Professor Rogers is the director of the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access.
To hear Professor John Rogers on KPCC’s “Take Two,” visit this link.
To learn more about, “Reclaiming the Democratic Purpose of California’s Public Schools,” and for a PDF of the full report, visit the UCLA Center X website.