Enliven Your Civics Course With Good Fiction or The Vision Thing

It is my impression that there is a huge coraltion between those who dream about life as it should be and those who have favorable effects on society. I believe President George Bush Sr. referred to it as "the vision thing." One of the most frustrating aspects of some civics and legal courses is that a student may feel that he is doing nothing more than memorizing a series of organizational structures. Earlier blog posts discussed the importance of empowerment. Does the student "feel" empowered to take the information learned and use it in real life. For instance, I once spoke with a seventh grader who discussed how her teacher was teaching the progressive movement of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The learning assignment featured only facts and figures and memorizing the definition of core concepts. The teacher was not interested in the students' reflection on the similarities and differences between the progressive movement of the time and various similar disputes occurring today. Hence, some exercises that come to mind that might help teachers get out of the face memorization pit:

1. The "King Ralph" question: A new nation is forming. This nation, like Australia, South Africa, the United States, and India, is a former British colony, and hence has a relatively civilized population. Like the United States when it split from England, there are different opinions about how best to create an organize a good government. Prior to coloniolization, the land was ruled by a royal family, of which you are the only living decendent,and you have just become aware of this fact. The leaders of the nation have called on you to assume your throne, at least temporarily, and draft a constitution for the new country. Assuming you don't turn down the job, what do you do to help this country organize itself?

2. You are amazing. As the result of ten years of your mayoral leadership, everyone believes that this city has achieved the perfect amount of civic engagement and democratic involvement/public discourse. It is now time to accept your Nobel prize. You are asked to write an essay describing what you have achieved for those not already aware. Please describe the nature of civic engagement in your town. What are people doing? How do they engage? Are they engaging in citizen groups, polticial parties or in different ways? Did you institute any new laws or regulations?

3. Following up to question 3 is the fact that they also believe that there is a perfect amount of government ocntrol versus personal liberty. Please descibe the extent to which human lives are governed byy this ideal government? In other words, what areas of life is one required to comply with government regulations and what areas is there no such regulation? What services are provided by the government and what services are provided by private businesses, and does the government assist individuals who can't afford certain services on their own?