What Constitutes Good Civics Education?

One author has an opinion:

One perceived upside of the Trump administration has been an increase in political and civic engagement, especially among liberals. This change has trickled down to schools: As The New York Times reported in June, there has been a revival in civics courses in middle and high school over the past year and a half. For someone passionate about civics education, this should be a source of optimism. But the subject matter of these civics courses is what matters, and a significant share of these new classes have been focused on increasing civic activism. “Getting out the vote” and engaging in activism should only come after students have weighed the arguments on every side of each issue.

In civics courses, once students have a basic understanding of how the U.S. political system works, the next step should be teaching them how to think about political issues, not how to act. Activism is meaningless if it’s not backed by a well-informed understanding of all sides of an issue. An ideal civics program would teach students the principles, facts, and proposed solutions associated with each issue, and then allow them to come to their own conclusions...

In order to train the next generation of citizens and voters, we need a serious approach to civics education that focuses on critical thinking before action.

And that means knowing something. As I've said so often, you can't think critically about something about which you don't know anything.