Raising Our Democracy: From Schoolhouse Rock to Well-Versed!

As the United States enters a national election cycle, concerned experts and educators are calling for a renewed emphasis on civic education. We’re witnessing intense political polarization; it seems more urgent now than ever before to find civic values that unite our fellow citizens.  For older generations, educational media such as the iconic Schoolhouse Rock!, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, or Nick News’ Kids Pick the President series were important resources for learning about civics and democratic values. Who among us cannot recite parts of the song “I’m Just a Bill”?

Earlier this fall, a “Schoolhouse Rock” for the modern age called “Well Versed” launched at an exciting event at Independence Hall with two lifelong educators: first ladies Laura Bush and Dr. Jill Biden. The series was produced by Nickelodeon, Noggin and the social media production studio ATTN, with key advice and curriculum support from iCivics. Joining the event was a class of fourth graders from a local Philadelphia school. As the event started, the students were humming the tunes and swinging to the music, totally engaged. The catchiness of the music is what folks still remember from Schoolhouse Rock!. That is exactly what Well Versed seeks to achieve: to engage a new generation of young students with civic learning in order to build the foundation for civic preparation and participation.

The learning goals for Well Versed and iCivics are certainly ambitious: to advance the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions of young people so that we can heal our divisions and rebuild a healthy democracy all while advancing national standards that define what kids must know and be able to do, including knowledge of history, civic discourse and socialization. This is especially important because even iconic media series such as Schoolhouse Rock! are inadequate on their own in preparing students to retain and apply their new knowledge in action. For example, while this study has found that children can learn the words of the preamble to the Constitution, it has been suggested that they may still fail to transfer their understanding to real-life contexts without additional instruction. That is why our organizations are teaming up – ones that usually focus on kids learning separately inside and outside of school – to advance civic education in many youth spaces. Our bet is that anytime, anywhere engagement with civic education is essential as we enter a critical moment in this national experiment in democracy.

The founder of iCivics, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who passed away Dec. 1 at the age of 93, saw very early on how essential it is to invest in the development of our youngest citizens.

Justice O’Connor founded iCivics in 2009 to help close the gap between the civics of her youth – boring and didactic – and the civic learning that students need today to be civically engaged. Since then, iCivics is now used by 9 million students every year. Mostly known for their game-infused curriculum, iCivics now offers a full suite of curricular products. Their theory of change relies on teaching civic learning in a way that is engaging and sticky.

Making Civics Stick

Imagine a three-year-old chanting, “It’s not fair,” while marching around the living room wearing pants on her head. Picture a first-grader who is curious as to why there is so much road construction between his house and Grandma’s. Think of a tween whose planning of a pool party runs smack into competing priorities and new rules of conduct. These kids are already experiencing the concepts of justice, freedom, authority, compromise, and conflict on a daily basis. Might this be a good time to deliver a little foundational content to help them on their way?

Our teams created Well Versed for kids ages 4 to 12 who are young, but not inexperienced in the big ideas of civic life and learning. Each music video blends earwormy music, civics concepts, and our target audience’s natural curiosity about how the world around them works. We’ve pulled together a talented team of experts in civics and early childhood education, lyricists, musicians, and animators to deliver something educational that doesn’t feel like it. We selected civic topics that speak to the skills and knowledge for which kids are ready. The first four videos are for preschoolers, and focus on rules, differences, disagreements, and doing your part. The remaining eight videos are for elementary school students and cover everything from local government to our rights. Each video, performed by a team of talented youth, is supported by a viewing guide with short activities and conversation starters that can be used at home, in the classroom, or beyond.

The series takes kids through all kinds of fun scenarios:

• Ava and Johnny lend their hands to friends and neighbors in Do Your Part.
• We take the Three Branches to the basketball court.
• Max gets schooled on the Functions of Government by Jade… and some flossing Founders.
• An egg salad (!) teaches kids about the power of participation in Our Voices.

As a media and educational team, we recommend the production model used to develop the series, drawing on the expertise of civics educators, the creative power of songwriters and animators, and the distribution power of broadcasters and national teaching platforms. As our partners prepare for the wide use of Well Versed during the coming election year and beyond, we hope that this formula, first introduced by Joan Ganz Cooney in the design of Sesame Street, will become one that leaders use to create content to address other vital issues such as communicating to kids about climate change and supporting their emotional health. Working together, we can help raise our democracy as a strong and shining model for the world!

 

Louise Dube is CEO of iCivics. Carrie Ray-Hill is the Senior Director of Digital Learning at iCivics.  Michael H Levine, the Founding Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, is Senior Vice President for Learning and Impact at Noggin/Paramount.