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The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), in its efforts to Revolutionize Education, has leaned into implementation of Educating for American Democracy (EAD) and address the initiative’s efforts to address the crisis of civics facing our nation. This engagement builds on past efforts the association has taken to recommit the field of education to ensuring our young people are informed, authentic, and engaged citizens.
Educating for American Democracy (EAD) is an unprecedented effort that convened a diverse and cross-ideological group of scholars and educators to create a Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy— guidance and an inquiry framework that states, local school districts, and educators can use to transform teaching of history and civics to meet the needs of a diverse 21st century K–12 student body. AACTE and other organizations have championed the goal to put these resources in the hands of 1 million teachers, 100,000 schools, and 60 million students.
Simply elevating the EAD Roadmap and corresponding Pedagogy Guide will not be sufficient to ensuring a democratically engaged citizenry. Historical tensions and the polarization of current topics deemed essential to a well-rounded, inclusive civic education has created hesitance for teachers, especially those just entering the classroom, to engage students in civic inquiry. Thus, AACTE and EAD propose incorporating these frameworks across all subject areas and grade levels as we know civic inquiry should be introduced early and often.
AACTE and EAD engaged members in a pilot professional development January 25-27, 2022. The pilot was the first of a set of initiatives AACTE is committed to scaling with EAD and other stakeholders to preserve democracy and increase civic engagement through education.
Forthcoming: Primer videos from EAD Champions will be available to AACTE members. Videos will address topics including the integration of the EAD Roadmap and Pedagogy guide across disciplines, engaging in honest conversations about race with P20 students, supporting learners who are multi-lingual, and the alignment of EAD with disability studies.
Read more about the AACTE and EAD Partnership Initiative and view a draft of the Pilot Report: Implementing Educating for American Democracy in Educator Preparation.
Assistant Director, Equity & Strategic Initiatives ndunn@aacte.org
