In his research, Keith C. Barton, an education professor at Indiana University, argues that preservice teachers need to expand their understanding of their roles as teachers. He writes that teachers must model and teach civic engagement, and that while teacher-preparation programs can help inculcate those values and skills, most don’t.

As I’ve mentioned before, my teacher prep program is not like other programs. Because the focus is on urban education, we look at issues of poverty, race, gender, social justice, and society. It’s not something just the social studies people talk about - it’s important to everyone. And I think that’s what this article is saying, if I’m not reading too much into it: all preservice teachers should be learning about civics instruction, not just the social studies teachers. Because civics affects daily life. It’s kind of like literacy, for which I took the class Teaching Literacy in the Content Areas, where regardless of our concentration we had to learn reading and writing methods.

What are your thoughts on the state of civics education?