The Civics Education Curriculum - Armenia School Connectivity

668 Pages·2005·18.68 MB·English

Civics Education Curriculum

A product of
Project Harmony

funded through a grant from the
U. S. Department of State
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Curriculum developed for Project Harmony by
Mary Ann Popec Gormley

Edited by
Bryan G. Wockley

Published by
Project Harmony
5197 Main Street, Unit 6
Waitsfield, Vermont 05673
[phone]

[email protected]
This curriculum is dedicated to all educators and their students, who in any manner, use these materials to
promote cross-cultural dialogue, understanding, tolerance, and respect.. Through the sharing of your
knowledge, ideas, questions, insights, beliefs, convictions, and cultural and religious perspectives, you share
the gift of yourself with others and pave the way for a world in which respect for the human dignity of every
individual becomes a reality.

Gratitude must be expressed to Project Harmony and the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs for making it possible for this curriculum to be developed and disseminated.

Thanks also must be expressed to my teachers, the educators with whom I have worked, and all of the
students that I have taught. You have enriched my life, taught, challenged, and inspired me.

In addition, special thanks must be expressed to Bryan Wockley of Project Harmony for his editorial
assistance, support, patience, and friendship. Lastly, I want to thank my family--Jim, my best friend and
husband, and Colleen, Shannon, Sean, our daughters and son—for your love and encouragement, for being
the source of my strength, and for giving meaning to my life.

M.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction, Overview, Guidelines for Use 1

Online Projects for Participating Schools 9
Theme I: Government, Civic Life, Politics 11
Theme II: Principles of Democracy 15
Theme III: Foundations of the Government and Political Systems 17
Theme IV: Citizenship: Rights, Roles, and Responsibilities 21
Theme V: Countries and World Affairs 27
Supplemental Instructional Activities and Projects
Gender Issues at School and in Society 35
Student Handouts 40
Things That Best Represent Our Last 60 Years 49
Boomtown Democracy 51
Tolerance and Respect for Diversity 55
Student Handouts 59

Guidelines for Presentations and Rubrics for Assessment of
Online Projects and Student Work 67
Guidelines for Making an Effective Oral Presentation and Rubric 69
Procedures for Conducting a Debate and Rubric 71
How to Conduct an Oral History Interview and Rubric 74
Rubric: Theme I, Option I: Philosopher’s Panel Discussion 77
Rubric: Theme II, Option II: Forming Our Government 78
Rubric: Theme I, Types of Government (Past and Present) Project 79
Rubric: Individual Student Evaluation 80
Rubric: Theme III, The Good of My Country 81
Rubric: Online Student Postings 81

Theme I: Government, Civic Life, Politics
Curriculum Map 83
Unit Plan A: Governments 87
Unit Plan B: Civic Life 93
Unit Plan C: Politics 96
Resources for Teachers 99
Handouts for Students 103
PowerPoint Presentation: Theories of Government 142
PowerPoint Presentation: 4 Types of Government 144

Theme II: Principles of Democracy
Curriculum Map 145
Unit Plan A: Purposes, Values, and Principles of Democracy 148
Unit Plan B: Power and Responsibility 152
Resources for Teachers 157
Handouts for Students 169
PowerPoint Presentation: Principles of Democracy 185
Theme III: Foundations of Government and Political Systems
Curriculum Map 189
Unit Plan A: Basic Values and Principles 193
Unit Plan B: Society and the Political System 197
Resources for Teachers 205
Handouts for Students 217
PowerPoint Presentation: Democracy in the United States 238

Theme IV: Citizenship: Rights, Roles, and Responsibilities
Curriculum Map 245
Unit Plan A: Citizenship 248
Unit Plan B: Rights 251
Unit Plan C: Responsibilities 256
Resources for Teachers 261
Handouts for Students 265
PowerPoint Presentation: Citizenship 289

Theme V: Countries and World Affairs
Curriculum Map 293
Unit Plan A: The Organization of the World 301
Unit Plan B: Cooperation and Conflict 313
Unit Plan C: Effects of Foreign and Domestic Policies on World Affairs 317
Resources for Teachers 325
Handouts for Students 327
PowerPoint Presentation: Countries and World Affairs 369

Glossary of Terms 375

Comprehensive Listing of Resources 393

Appendix
Primary Source Documents 1
People Who Dared to Make a Difference 84
Worksheets for Analyzing Primary Sources, Films, Artifacts 125
A Rationale and Guide to Instructional Activities and Strategies 135
Examples of Projects and Learning Activities 141

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PPRROOJJEECCTT HHAARRMMOONNYY
CIVICS EDUCATION
CURRICULUM

INTRODUCTION

The mission of Project Harmony is to build strong communities by fostering civic leadership, harnessing
Internet technology, and facilitating cross-cultural experiential learning. A consistent goal, throughout all
of Project Harmony’s endeavors, has been the desire to build understanding, mutual respect, and shared
experiences among cultures.

The Civics Education Curriculum is designed to be used by teachers in the United States and in other
countries linked through Project Harmony School Connectivity Programs. The Project Harmony School
Connectivity Programs are funded by the U. S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs. This Civics Education Curriculum is international in focus and themes but local in execution.
Although the curriculum is designed to be used as a semester or yearlong endeavor, its individual
components may also be used as stand alone lessons. It, in line with the mission and philosophy of
Project Harmony, employs the Internet as a tool for teachers and their students to: promote a cross-
cultural dialogue that fosters tolerance, respect, and a better understanding of the governments of their
respective countries; build strong communities through the sharing of ideas; and nurture the
development of knowledgeable, involved, and responsible citizens.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, dramatic changes in government and demands for freedom on the part
of people throughout the world have taken place. The people of the United States of America have
sustained a democratic government and live in the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. The ideals
and values that are the foundation of their political institutions have served as a model for aspiring
democracies throughout the world. Civics education, the understanding and acceptance of the rights and
responsibilities of citizens, is essential for a constitutional democracy to be developed, sustained, and
improved. Civic knowledge, intellectual and participatory skills, and civic dispositions must be acquired by
each new generation so that they may participate actively, knowledgeably, thoughtfully, responsibly, and
humanely in civic affairs. Word, study, example, and involvement must nurture this, for democracy is not
self-perpetuating but must be sustained.

Educational institutions play an essential role in the mission to prepare citizens who are informed,
rational, responsible, effective, and committed to the values and principles of democracy and its
preservation and improvement. Building and maintaining a strong, democratic, free nation is a
formidable and labor-intensive task. The founding fathers of the American government understood that
education for self-government must be a continuous process.

The French aristocrat, Alexis de Tocqueville, who viewed the United States as a model of democracy,
visited the country in 1831. He observed that education was necessary to sustain democracy. In 1835,
he wrote, “In the United States the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of the
democratic republic..." He also concluded that mere knowledge is not sufficient: “I am still further from
thinking…that men can be instantaneously made citizens by teaching…True information is mainly derived
from experience; and if the Americans had not been gradually accustomed to govern themselves, their
book-learning would not help them much…”1

The goal of this civics education curriculum is to provide lesson plans, instructional activities, resources,
materials, and online projects that teachers in the United States and in participating countries can use as
they prepare their students to be informed, responsible, effective and committed citizens.

Its five basic themes, the common core, are derived from and meet the standards of learning set forth in
the U.S. National Standards for Civics Education for secondary schools as developed by The Center for
Civics Education2. These five themes are: Civic Life, Politics, and Government; Foundations of the
Political System; Principles of Democracy; Other Nations and World Affairs; and Roles of the Citizen.

From the commencement of this curricular endeavor, every effort has been made to incorporate into this
document the results of contemporary research in cognitive development, best practices of pedagogy,
current developments in education, an understanding of multiple intelligences and individual student
learning styles, and knowledge gained from over twenty-five years of classroom experience. The aim of
this curriculum is not merely to provide content information about civics and government. Rather, the
curriculum is structured to provide the teacher with resources, instructional activities, strategies, and in
class and online projects that can be used to actively engage students in the learning process and to
provide students with the tools that they need to become the informed, responsible, and active citizens
that are essential to sustaining democracy. Its goal is also to empower the student to become a lifelong
learner, an individual who uses higher order thinking skills to understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate
information and make reasoned and humane decisions.

In addition, a broad range of international electronic and print resources dealing with civics education,
government, and political theory, and U.S. state frameworks for civics and government education, have
been used in the development of this curriculum. In each of the five themes, civic knowledge,
intellectual and participatory skills, and civic dispositions are addressed. Internet and World Wide Web
resources are provided to complement the textbooks, print materials, and other resources available in the
schools using this curriculum.

1 Alexis de Tocqueville. Democracy in America, Vol. I. New York: Vintage Books, 1990, p. 317-318.
2 “The National Standards for Civics and Government” developed by The Center for Civics Education. 1994. 20 October 2004
<http://www.education-world.com/standards/national/soc_sci/civics/9_12.shtml>.
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OVERVIEW

The following are the five basic themes, the common core, of this civics education curriculum and their
guiding questions:

Theme I.
GOVERNMENT, CIVIC LIFE, POLITICS

A. Governments
1. What is government?
2. Why are governments formed?
3. What are function and purpose of government?
4. What are the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited government?
5. What are the nature and purposes of constitutions?
6. What are the different types of government that have been formed (past and
present)?
7. What types of government exist in our world today?

B. Civic Life
1. What is civic life?
2. What is citizenship?
3. What is the relationship among private, civic, and political life?

C. Politics
1. What is politics?
2. What role does politics play in government?
3. What are political systems and what forces shape them?

Theme II.
PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY

A. Purposes, Values, and Principles of Democracy
1. What is democracy?
2. Why do people choose a democratic form of government?
3. What are the values and principles of democracy?
4. How does the government established by the constitution embody the purposes,
values, and principles of democracy?
5. How does a democratic government protect the rights of the minority?
6. Is democracy a rigid, fixed system, or is it continually changing and growing?
7. What is the meaning and importance of these core concepts: representative
democracy, parliamentary democracy, direct democracy, rule of law, rights,
citizenship, civil society in a free and open social system, market economy of a
free and open economic system?

B. Power and Responsibility
1. How does democracy work?
2. How do democracies develop and emerge?
3. What conditions are necessary to support and sustain democracy?
4. Who governs in a democracy?
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5. How are power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in a democracy?
6. In what ways are democratic countries’ governments organized and what are their
major responsibilities?
7. What is the place of law in a democracy?
8. How does a democratic system provide for choice and opportunities for participation
in government?

Theme III.
FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS

A. Basic Values and Principles
1. What type of government does your country have?
2. What is your country’s idea of constitutional government?
3. What are the fundamental values and principles on which the government in your
country is based?
4. What values and principles are basic to your country’s constitution?
5. How are these values and principles incorporated in the political and civic life of your
country (e.g. the common good, justice, liberty, equality, tolerance, law and order,
individual rights, popular sovereignty, representative government, etc.)?
6. How are power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in your
government?
7. How is your national government organized? What are the major responsibilities of
each institution?
8. Is there a system of checks and balances and/or separation of powers (e.g.
executive, legislative, judicial)?
9. What are the major responsibilities of the local (e.g. state, district, county, city,
town) governments in your country?

B. Society and Political System
1. What are the distinctive characteristics of your country?
2. What is the demographic makeup of your country (population, ethnic groups,
religions, economy, etc.)?
3. What political parties does your country have?
4. What is the political culture in your country? What forces shape it?
5. What formal and informal institutions and processes influence your government (e.g.
political parties, interest groups, environment, media, etc.)?
6. How are your leaders chosen?
7. How are your laws made?
8. What is the role of organized groups in the political life of your society?
9. In regard to civic life, politics, and government, how are choice and opportunities
provided in your country?
10. How are conflicts prevented or managed?

Theme IV.
CITIZENSHIP: RIGHTS, ROLES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Citizenship
1. What is citizenship?
2. How does one become a citizen in your country?
3. What is the meaning of citizenship in your country?
4. How do citizens take part in the civic and political life in your country?
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5. What is the role of the following key components of civics education: civic
knowledge, cognitive civic skills, participatory civic skills, civic dispositions?

B. Rights
1. What is the difference between human rights and civil rights?
2. What rights do citizens have under your constitution? (Where are they listed,
enumerated, found?)
3. What are the personal, civil, political, and economic rights of citizens in your country?
4. How are citizens’ rights guaranteed and protected in your country?
5. In what ways do citizens exercise their rights in your country?

C. Responsibilities
1. What are the responsibilities of citizens in your country?
2. What is the relationship between politics and the attainment of individual and public
goals?
3. In what ways do citizens exercise their responsibilities, influence policy, and make
their interests known to key decision and policy makers?
4. What happens when citizens exercise their civic responsibilities?
5. What happens when citizens do not exercise their civic responsibilities?
6. What conditions, situations, knowledge, and skills are needed to foster, nurture, and
prompt citizens to exercise their civic responsibilities?

Theme V.
COUNTRIES AND WORLD AFFAIRS

A. The Organization of the World
1. How is the world organized (e.g. politically, economically, diplomatically, etc.)?
2. What functions does The United Nations play in world affairs?
3. What effect does democracy have in the world today (e.g. How does democracy
shape the world and how does the world shape democracy)?

B. Cooperation and Conflict
1. What factors affect the interaction between and among
countries?
2. What are some causes of cooperation among countries?
3. What are some causes for conflict among countries?

C. Effects of Foreign and Domestic Policies on World Affairs
1. What is the relationship of your country to other countries?
2. What is the relationship of other countries to your country?
3. At this time, in what conflicts is your country involved?
4. How does your country affect and impact world affairs?
5. How is your country affected and impacted by world affairs?
6. What are some of your country’s domestic and foreign policies and how have they
affected and do affect world affairs?
7. What political, demographic, economic, technological, and cultural issues currently
affect world affairs?

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STRUCTURAL OVERVIEW

The following elements are provided in this curriculum:

♦ Essential Questions for the Five Basic Themes, the Common Core
♦ Online projects and links to background resources and instructional activities
♦ Supplemental instructional activities and projects
♦ Presentation of each curricular theme that includes the following for each unit:
• Curriculum map (visual format of the unit’s contents, essential questions, skills, and
online projects)
• Suggested timeframes for completion
• Goals
• Objectives
• Essential questions
• Vocabulary list of key terms
• List of materials needed
• Suggested instructional activities
• Ideas for in-class lessons
• Teaching strategies
• Cooperative learning activities
• Handouts for students
• Assignments
• Resources for teachers
• Online project ideas
• Assessment and rubrics
• PowerPoint presentations
• Maps and charts
♦ Comprehensive list of resources for teachers
♦ Comprehensive glossary of terms
♦ Primary Source documents
♦ People Who Dared to Make a Difference readings
♦ Primary source analysis worksheets
♦ A rationale and guide to instructional activities and strategies
♦ Examples of projects and learning activities
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