iCivics hosts a successful National Forum during Civic Learning Week
Dame Louise Richardson DBE, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
Hanna Skandera, President and Chief Executive Officer, Daniels Fund speak on a panel moderated by Daniel Stid, Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute at the National Forum
For students, educators, policymakers and private sector leaders, March 10-14 is Civic Learning Week (CLW), a time to prioritize civic education to support a strong democracy. Across the United States, events are being held to underscore the importance of a well-educated populace, from trips for students to state capitols to an online chat with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. By highlighting the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that provide the foundation for an informed and engaged populace, CLW seeks to further energize the movement to prioritize civic education across the nation.
On Thursday, iCivics hosted the National Forum in partnership with Stanford’s Hoover Institute. A variety of panelists and speakers held forth on the importance of civic education. An overarching theme was the idea that people won’t protect what they don’t understand, and how greater civic education in K-12 spaces will create an informed populace ready to speak up for democracy. The theme, Civic Learning: Many Voices, One Nation, focuses on the value of pluralism and the different ways civic learning can bring us together as a nation. Forum plenary sessions will explore key topics related to the importance of a pluralistic civic education, what that looks like in practice, and the leadership needed to make high-quality civic education a nationwide priority. A particularly impactful panel convened four young adults to speak about the importance of creating spaces for difficult conversations with their peers. Far from shying away from controversial topics, they are teaching themselves to engage with differing opinions in a respectful way, ultimately seeking to build a greater understanding of different viewpoints.
Founded in 2009 by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civic learning by providing educators and students with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to embrace and engage in our civic life together. It empowers educators and leads the movement to make civic education a nationwide priority so all young people have the confidence to shape the world around them and believe in our country’s future.
Learn more about Civic Learning Week here.
