Citizen Education Historical Analysis: Final Report. Part A: Summary.

Overview & Synopsis

The document presents papers, critiques, and discussion from a colloquium in Philadelphia in April, 1978, dealing with citizen education in the United States from 1795 to 1975. The colloquium was the first stage of a project by Research for Better Schools (RBS) to formulate guidelines for citizen education. The document is presented in two major sections. Section I introduces the analysis; relates the purpose of the project; introduces colloquium procedure, topics, and participants; and summarizes recommendations and issues posed by colloquium participants. Section II presents three colloquium papers. In the first paper, entitled "What Should We Learn from the History of Citizenship Education in the United States?", R. Freeman Butts stresses the importance of political education and points out how educational environment influences students' values, knowledge, and political participation skills. In the second paper, "Education of the American Citizen: An Historical Critique," Clarence Karier surveys the dilemma posed by having to choose between education for human development and education to fulfill social needs and provides samples of citizenship programs. The final paper, "Education For Citizenship," by Marvin Lazerson, focuses on multicultural factors in citizen education. Topics discussed include Americanization and schooling, protestantism and patriotism, citizenship and work, and citizenship in a pluralist world. (Author/DB)