The Teagle/American Studies and Double Discovery Freedom and Citizenship Seminar
The Freedom and Citizenship Seminar is a full-year program for college-bound New York City public high school students. Students enrolled in the program participate in an intensive summer seminar on the theme of “Freedom and Citizenship” that explores ancient, early modern, and contemporary writings drawn from the Columbia College Core Curriculum and the Introductory American Studies course.
This summer marked the launch of the program, attracting thirteen remarkable students from the New York City area. Having completed the intensive seminar portion of the program, the students are currently devising a public education campaign (a blog and radio program) on the relationship between local government, young voters, and public school curriculum.
The Teagle students are approaching this project with a set of pressing questions:
1. When students turn 18—often in their senior year of high school—they are allowed to vote in local elections. Yet very few students have a sense of what actually goes on in local politics, or a sense that their vote makes a difference. Why is this the case?
2. What do students learn about local politics and elections in New York City Public schools? *Should* they be learning about local politics in school?
3. The Board of Education has created a terrific curriculum about civic engagement and local politics—but few schools and teachers employ it. Why is this the case? How can we encourage more schools and teachers to use the curriculum in their classrooms?
To address these questions, the Teagle students have launched a multi-media study of the issues involved, interviewing teachers, fellow students, family members, Board of Education officials, and local politicians.
They hope to demonstrate the need for the Board of Education’s local politics curriculum in New York City schools—because if young people are going to be forces of change in this country, they need to be educated about how change happens.
This summer marked the launch of the program, attracting thirteen remarkable students from the New York City area. Having completed the intensive seminar portion of the program, the students are currently devising a public education campaign (a blog and radio program) on the relationship between local government, young voters, and public school curriculum.
The Teagle students are approaching this project with a set of questions:
1. When students turn 18—in their senior year of high school—they are allowed to vote in federal and local elections. Yet very few students have a sense of what actually goes on in local politics, or a sense that their vote makes a difference. Why is this the case?
2. What do students learn about local politics and elections in New York City Public schools? *Should* they be learning about local politics in school?
3. The Board of Education has created a terrific curriculum about civic engagement and local politics—but few schools and teachers employ it. Why is this the case? How can we encourage more schools and teachers to use the curriculum in their classrooms?
To address these questions, the Teagle students have launched a multi-media study of the issues involved—interviewing teachers, fellow students, family members, Board of Education officials, and local politicians. They hope to demonstrate a need for the Board of Education’s local politics curriculum in New York City schools—because if young people are going to be forces of change in this country, they should be educated about how change happens.
