This is a journey tool for my social studies methods class.

1. Political Science: Civics and Government
Purpose: To expose children to the American
values and traditions.
How:
 Course content
 School rules
 Holidays
 Mock votes and election activities
 Patriotism
 Learning communities
 Current event discussions
 Topics such as conflict resolution, law
education, or celebrating diversity
Children can understand that people need
governments to provide essentials that are
too big, complicated, or expensive for them to
provide for themselves (safety and
functioning in modern world).

2. What does political science teach us?:
 How to become a responsible citizen,
o Challenges:
1. Addressing enduring dilemmas while respecting
cultural diversity.
2. Fostering dispositions toward active political
participation without pushing your own political views
 Knowledge and skills to develop civic values and
dispositions to action.
What are the requirements for teaching political science?:
 Teaching of U.S. Constitution and core democratic values
o Life
o Liberty
o The pursuit of happiness
o Justice
o The common good
o Equality
o Truth
o Diversity
o Popular sovereignty
o Patriotism
o The rule of law
o Individual rights
(These are defined at varying levels of sophistication for
different grade levels.)

3. Student Knowledge of Government
-More known about students thinking of government than other
disciplines.
-Young children depict a benevolent world where political
leaders such as the president do all the work.
 Manage military
 World affairs
 Provide individuals assistance
-Children trust the government so they have a hard time
conceiving or approving of pressure groups, parties, conflict,
and so on.
-They are somewhat aware of big corporations but have no
understanding that rich people have more influence than average
people.
-Descriptions of president’s actions are vague and generic.
-They think all utility companies and television stations are part
of the government without realizing that mail carriers and most
teachers do work for the government as well.
-Children usually emphasize one or both of these main ideas:
1. Government is a source of authority and power over
peoples actions.
2. Government is a resource that protects us, solves
problems, and helps people in need.

4. Student Knowledge of Government
-Half of these students know that the president is elected; others
assume that the vice president moves up or that the new
president is appointed by the previous president.
-They compare monarchy to meritocracy by viewing kings and
queens as basking in the trappings of inherited luxury while
presidents work long hours for the good of the country
-Most children convey a positive view of laws
-Rarely speak of laws as securing people’s rights
-More aware of judges more today than in the past because of
the courtroom setting
-They do not normally think about where the money to pay for
government comes from
-Less than ¼ of the students said they would like to be president
because they associated the office with long hours, daunting
responsibilities, and “political stuff”.

5. Teaching Civics and Government
-Basic ideas for instruction:
 Governments provide facilities and services that people
need
 These are too big in scope, expense, and so on for
individuals or families to provide for themselves
-Facilities and services provided:
 National defense and armed forces
 Roads
 Airports and transportation infrastructures
 Education from pre-K through university levels
 Criminal justice system
 Police protection
 Parks and recreation
 Postal services
 Standards and regulations
 Safety net services for special needs people
-Preparation for developing appreciation of services and
facilities:
 Photo essay of events occurring in a typical day of life and
underscoring governments role in facilitating these
activities
 Contrasting our system of representative democracy with
systems in which leaders ascend to power in other means,
hold office indefinitely, and exercise totalitarian power.
o Use simulation or discussion about what this would
look like

6. Teaching Civics and Government
-Some ideas of how are system works are best addressed around
election time
-Kidsvotingusa.org website during election years
-Thoughtful discussion of civic issues within the classroom
climate.
-Share and lead discussion about own personal documents
involving taxes
-Then provide discussion about utility bills and what is being
provided
-Discuss that students are members of a classroom to
community to introduce their involvement in a larger
community.
-Community leaders have three jobs: make laws and plans, solve
problems, and make the community a pleasant place to live
-Include encouragement and opportunities for practicing good
citizenship

7. Reflective Thought
There’s been a consistent pattern of ensuring that we develop
children who will become responsible citizens throughout the
study of how social studies disciplines should be taught.
There’s also great consideration in the developmental age of
students. It’s important to consider the level of sophistication of
the content being presented because students cannot understand
content that is above their zone of proximal development. I love
all of the ideas given for how to teach government to students.
These strategies and activities provide great opportunity for
bringing the real world into the classroom. I will definitely have
a mock election as well as class debates when I am teaching
government. I also like the idea of using personal documents to
discuss taxes because I feel like this is a topic that students don’t
hear much about while they are in school. I found it very
interesting that less than ¼ of students said they would like to
become president one day. I also found it shocking that they
associate the president’s responsibilities with long hard hours at
the office with no time for much else. I felt like students would
view the president’s position as one of luxury much like a
celebrity.