• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
The Iowa Torch
  • Home
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion
The Iowa Torch
The Iowa Torch
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Hendrickson & Randall: Restoring civic education in Iowa

John Hendrickson & David Randall: Iowans should urge the Iowa Department of Education to adopt American Birthright as the model for the state's social studies standards.

John HendricksonDavid RandallbyJohn HendricksonandDavid Randall
August 2, 2022
in Opinion
Reading Time: 4 mins read

Grimes State Building - Home of the Iowa Department of Education
Photo by Shane Vander Hart

If anything good has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic it is the growing awareness by parents across the nation about what is being taught in schools. This is especially true concerning civic education. For decades a crisis has existed over the decline of civic education. Numerous surveys and studies have shown that at all grade levels, including higher education, students do not have an adequate understanding of American history, American government, or Western civilization. Reform is needed to strengthen civic education in Iowa schools and the National Association of Scholars has issued social studies standards—a guide for curriculum in each classroom—that will help improve civic education in Iowa. American Birthright: The Civic Alliances Model K-12 Social Studies Standards is a guide to help improve standards in civic education.

RELATED POSTS

Hendrickson: Placing Iowa’s income tax on the road to elimination

Ingstad & Hendrickson: Iowa education reforms point to what’s next

Ernst: Investigation proves group that funneled tax dollars into Chinese labs can’t be trusted.

Jeffrey Sikkenga, Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center, described the crisis in civic education as a “civic illness.” “The results make clear that too many young people around the country don’t know the basic facts of U.S. history and government. More important, they also don’t adequately understand the fundamental principles that guide our country,” wrote Sikkenga.

Numerous reasons exist for the growing national unfamiliarity of American history. One reason is the focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. Over the last several years, education at all levels has been pushing STEM. Sikkenga notes that educational taxpayer funds and state and federal standards are focusing more on STEM. The argument being made is that STEM and technical education fields prepare students for today’s workforce. Our society needs more skilled workers, but we also need informed citizens.

Although STEM and technical education is valuable, education is more than just preparing an individual with the necessary skills to succeed in an occupation. Education must also be about character, citizenship, and liberty. “History isn’t just something that ought to be taught, read, or encouraged only because it will make us better citizens. It will make us a better citizen and it will make us more thoughtful and understanding human beings,” stated historian David McCullough.

Many schools are using radical curriculums that reflect a socialist interpretation of our nation’s history. Increasingly, students are displaying significant support for dangerous ideologies such as socialism. This politicization of civic education also includes critical race theory, political correctness, and multiculturalism, among other themes. Students are taught that they are global citizens rather than citizens of the United States. Many students are being exposed to “action civics,” which encourages activism and “hands on democracy.”

During the past few years many Americans were shocked at the reckless behavior of young people destroying and defacing historical statues and memorials. This, combined with an organized effort to destroy and replace American history with a new history such as the 1619 Project, is a dangerous development. A comprehensive review is needed to ensure that all students are learning American history, but also American government, and Western civilization.

The American Birthright social studies standards can serve as a model to improve Iowa’s social studies standards. The goal of American Birthright is to educate students “so they can know what freedom is, where America’s ideas of freedom come from in the long history of Western civilization, how our ancestors achieved their freedom, how our laws, republican institutions, and limitation of the scope of government preserve our freedom, and what they need to do to preserve their country’s liberty.”

Further, this standard serves to teach social studies so students “can learn why their country deserves to be loved, and to learn what we owe to our ancestors—the heroes of the American past who deserve our gratitude because they created a free and prosperous country and bequeathed it to us, their posterity.” This also includes learning about “America’s common language of liberty, patriotism, and national memory.”

The objective of education should not just be about obtaining skills for an occupation, but also to be a responsible and informed citizen. Therefore, we need to renew and strengthen civic education in Iowa. We have a responsibility to our ancestors and for future generations to preserve our great Republic and heritage.

ADVERTISEMENT

Citizens and state policymakers should get in touch with Iowa’s Department of Education to urge them to adopt American Birthright as the model for Iowa’s state social studies standards. Parents should get in touch with their school district, to urge it to adopt American Birthright as a guide for their social studies curriculum.

The decline of civic education is a moral crisis that we must resolve. In The Death of the West, Patrick J. Buchanan wrote: “How does one sever a people’s roots? Answer: Destroy its memory. Deny a people the knowledge of who they are and where they came from . . . Destroy the record of a people’s past, leave it in ignorance of who its ancestors were and what they did, and one can fill the empty vessels of their souls with a new history . . .”

Tags: American Birthrightcivic educationcivics educationIowa Academic StandardsIowa Department of EducationSocial Studies
ShareTweetShare
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Ernst: Biden’s tax and spend agenda has us climbing closer to the fiscal cliff.

Next Post

Hinson: My work for Iowa is just getting started.

John Hendrickson

John Hendrickson

John Hendrickson is the Policy Director for TEF Iowa.

David Randall

David Randall

David Randall, Ph.D. serves as Research Director at the National Association of Scholars

Related Posts

Miller-Meeks Asks If Feds Are Prepared to Support States, Cities Fight Cyber-Attacks
Opinion

Miller-Meeks: Reaffirming my commitment to school choice

September 23, 2022
two books beside two chalks
State Government

Ten Iowa school districts receive $2.3 million in grants for therapeutic classrooms

August 24, 2022
Hendrickson & Williams: Governor Reynolds’ Tax Reform Ideas are Pro-Growth
State Government

Iowa to allocate $100M in federal funding for school safety

June 16, 2022
State Government

Iowa House passes bill requiring parental access to K-12 instructional materials

March 30, 2022
student computer lab computer science
Education

Reynolds, Iowa Dept. of Education award over $500K to grow computer science teacher workforce

March 22, 2022
Iowa House Bill Prohibiting Activist Civics in Schools Tabled
State Government

Iowa House Bill Prohibiting Activist Civics in Schools Tabled

February 8, 2022
Next Post

Hinson: My work for Iowa is just getting started.

Reynolds announces new statewide broadband map, requests public input

Reynolds announces new statewide broadband map, requests public input

Sign-Up For Our Daily Updates

Get The Iowa Torch right in your inbox!

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Recommended Articles

Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Axne, and Feenstra Sworn Into 117th Congress

Iowa’s U.S. House Members Sound-Off on Impeaching Trump Following Capitol Riot

January 8, 2021
Ernst: Democrats’ Strange Multiverse of Madness

Ernst: Democrats’ Strange Multiverse of Madness

May 20, 2022
Miller Backs Biofuels Industry in Supreme Court Case

Grassley: Justice Breyer’s Replacement Should Be ‘Within Legal Mainstream’

January 28, 2022

Popular Stories

  • Hendrickson: Fiscal Conservatism Works

    Hendrickson: Placing Iowa’s income tax on the road to elimination

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ingstad & Hendrickson: Iowa education reforms point to what’s next

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • State of Iowa invites feedback about where to spend broadband funding

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ernst: Investigation proves group that funneled tax dollars into Chinese labs can’t be trusted.

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Iowa Dept. of Revenue Releases 2022 Individual Tax Brackets, Interest Rates, and Deductions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

The Iowa Torch

The Iowa Torch​ is a for-profit, news organization that focuses on political news as it relates to Iowans

Categories

  • Education
  • Federal Government
  • Iowa History
  • Local Government
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • State Government
  • Uncategorized
  • Uncategorized

Newsletter

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

© 2022 The Iowa Torch, a publication of 4:15 Communications, LLC.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion

© 2022 The Iowa Torch, a publication of 4:15 Communications, LLC.