Washington State Civics

Description

Author:

Oliver Miska – K–12 Educator and Political Organizer, Activist, and Community Lobbyist

Welcome to Washington State Civics. This is not a civics survey, but an Ethnic Studies Unit on Washington State Civics, with a focus on education policies, our schools, and student voice. 

 

Civics is a polarizing subject in our schools. Many claim that ethnic studies is divisive and politicizing, but we understand that our education system is already political. There is a need for a loving critique of the ways white supremacy and economic exploitation have enshrined themselves within systems of power, including our governments. Ethnic studies prepares students to engage in critical dialogue with multiple perspectives and does not promote partisan politics. 

 

Avoiding political questions facing our students in civics coursework is not only a disservice to students, but clear negligence in the effort to make civic engagement relevant and empowering to youth. Neglecting the core questions and issues that our students in our classrooms is a form of curricular harm, our hope in this unit is to provide some tools and a scaffolding to support your students in shaping their own advocacy campaign proposals. Whether it is school site reform, school board advocacy, or legislation at city hall or the state legislature, students should leave this unit with more tools to be empowered advocates in civics. 

 

In this unit, we will highlight a central question: “What does student centered civic education truly look like?” as to set the intentions of generating productive conversations that address not the prophetic “future” of our youth, but the youth of our present. 

 

There is decreasing civic engagement city-wide, not because of apathy, but because of the lack of relevant civic engagement opportunities and policy; our hope is to change the discourse with this Ethnic Studies Civics Unit.

 

In Seattle, some students are challenging that narrative, reclaiming the narrative to recenter students. At the time of the creation of this unit creation, students just launched this update to a city wide campaign to address the intersections of mental health, school safety, and student voice. 

 

This unit was the product of community organizing experience, legislative advocacy done to fight for Ethnic studies at the state legislature, school board, and city council, as well as many workshops in partnership with other states. There are two main sources of inspiration for its creation, to bring the Integrated Civic Action Framework to Washington and to provide a supplementary guide to our own state’s resources at Teach TVW, a good starting place for basic 101 videos, lesson plans, and opportunities for youth engagement. 

 

Using the Integrated Civic Action Framework, we developed our own Ethnic Studies civics roadmap that helps ground, pace, and direct informed civic education in your classroom. Both of these resources will be consistently drawn upon, as they do provide great tools, activities, and examples to ground your own adaptation of this unit. 

 

“Student voice” and “youth leadership opportunities” are buzzwords we hear from district leadership, state lawmakers, and educators, but students are rarely asked about their experience in these important roles. 

 

Youth from around the state hold new leadership positions in their schools (Student Unions and ASBs), at the school district (Student School Board Representatives), and in the state legislature (Legislative Youth Advisory Board), amongst a myriad of task forces, advisory boards, and committees. Student leadership and engagement opportunities are also expanding in community based organizations from formal fellowship and internships with University students to high school students engaging in political advocacy. The ecosystem of opportunities mirrors our society’s existing infrastructure and theories of change.  

 

Yet, the impact of how we have incorporated youth voice and leadership has yet to be determined. 

 

In this unit, we try to grapple with the countless student accounts saying that civic opportunities are often inaccessible, feel performative, or simply irrelevant to the issues they care about or are impacted by. Education has a relevancy issue, and the problem is our schools are not smart enough to keep up with our students. 

 

We will be focusing this civics unit on student voice within education policy specifically, as it is the most relevant political issue and policy landscape to our students. The vastness of education policy ranges from tax policy to violence prevention to mental health to curriculum and race, gender, and freedom of speech. This unit will highlight opportunities for you to engage your students in civic discourse on the very policy that impacts their daily lives. 

 

This unit was developed after years of advocacy with Washington Ethnic Studies Now at the State Legislature, and can be used as a template to adapt for your classroom campaigns. This unit serves as a supplement to the resources provided by IACP and Teach with TVW, and each educator should adapt these materials according to the needs of their school environment and students.