In the United States, advances in information technology and globalization present new social and political terrain for citizens to navigate. Preparing well-rounded young adults who are ready to meet the demands of citizenship in the 21st century--thinking critically, communicating, collaborating, and creating--is an imperative function of…

Civic culture is a term for how citizens actively live out, perform, and create public life through our habits, actions, words, and public work. A vital civic culture, with an engaged citizenry, is one of the measures of a healthy democratic republic. In this inquiry, we explore how civic education--holistically envisioned across disciplines and…

Grounded in theories that establish connections among democratic listening, relational dimensions of citizenship, and civic engagement, this mixed methods case study takes up preliminary findings from prior research and explores processes that allow for empathic listening in democratic education and the outcomes promoted by empathic listening. The…

Quality civic education is often understood as involving discussions of controversial social and political issues, a task made more difficult for teachers amidst the kind of political polarization that characterizes the current political climate. This study explores high school social studies teachers' thinking and sensemaking related to…

Drawing on a mixed methods study of a district-wide initiative to integrate civic learning practices into the high school humanities curriculum in an urban school district in Northern California, this article examines the relationship between face-to-face versus online civic learning opportunities and students' motivation for engaging in practices…

Currently, a knowledge gap exists at the intersection of immigration, citizenship, and education. We have little knowledge of how teachers teach about citizenship when they anticipate that some of their students are undocumented. Conceptually, we distinguish between formal and cultural citizenship and draw from immigrant political incorporation…

This case study investigates an action civics curriculum, "Project Soapbox", designed to foster key civic outcomes among high school students. Framed by research highlighting profound disparities in civic educational opportunities and the best practices of civic education programs, this article examines the democratic and literacy skills…

This mixed-methods study analyzed adolescents' evaluation of the trustworthiness of different kinds of evidence and their reasons for why they trusted (or did not trust) them. Specifically, we analyzed adolescents' rankings of seven kinds of evidence in the abstract and in the context of a settled historical event (school desegregation) and…

Social studies education is designed to provide a foundation for civic society. In this study we consider immigrant optimism theory within the context of U.S. secondary social studies to examine the civic potential of immigrant youth. Using a mixed-methods approach, we complement analyses of teacher and immigrant young adult interviews with…

While simulations and role-play have been staples in the civic classroom, little is known about how they work as best practices. This study explores the ways simulations and role-play may influence students' civic identities. Drawing from sociocultural theories, the article seeks to understand how students' practice-linked identities may be shaped…

Secondary civics and government courses are often framed as a content area in which students learn about processes of government and ways of participating in a democratic society, as opposed to a discipline in which students use specific tools and ways of thinking that mimic those used by professionals within that discipline. In this article, we…

It is imperative that schools and communities give students opportunities to participate in active citizenship and prepare them with the important skills and dispositions needed to become informed citizens. Action civics is a promising practice that puts students at the heart of civics learning by providing them with the opportunity to learn about…

This study examines how teachers in 4 urban newcomer high schools conceptualized and implemented social studies education for Latino/a newcomer youth through an emerging framework of culturally and linguistically relevant citizenship education. Through a multi-site, collective case study design, the perspectives and decision making of social…

One of the strongest predictors of political participation is political efficacy, the belief that individuals' action can influence governmental processes. Prior research indicates that political efficacy is higher for individuals who have had opportunities to discuss public issues (e.g., Hahn, 1999; Morrell, 2005) and participate in small-scale…

In a three-year study, the authors explore students' understandings and experiences of citizenship at two high school sites in Regina, Saskatchewan. Specifically, the authors consider the possibility that social location mediates the extent to which the official social studies curriculum is able to produce students as "good" citizens.…