The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted unanimously yesterday to approve a compromise bill related to civics education in the commonwealth’s schools.
Former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville joined Boston Public Radio to explain why the commonwealth is one of eight states without a required course in civics education.
He explained that very high standards for English, math and STEM subjects without additional resources has made it nearly “difficult, almost impossible” for districts to focus on other subjects.
“We don’t expand time, we don’t allow more time in the school day,” he said. “Then, our emphasis on those topics drive out the other subjects.”
He stressed that English, math and science are “vital topics” and deserve attention, but also said people in the education field need more time and teachers to adequately cover civics.
“Civics education and having children aware of the history of our system... is very, very important,” said Reville.
He also explained that a civics requirement would be successful if it included a hands-on component that would “encourage students to come together and collaborate and work on, for example, changing local policies in their respective local communities.”
“A lot of history and civics education got a bad name fore being memorization driven,” said Reville.
Paul Reville is the former Secretary of Education, and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education where he also runs the Education Redesign Lab.
