I started my teaching career in North-Central Florida just over 20 years ago. I remember my job interview well. Yes, I was nervous, and yes, I brought a folder stuffed with surely too many assets printed on thick parchment-style paper. But I digress.
Beyond the usual interview questions, the principal asked how I viewed my central mission as a high school history and civics teacher. I didn’t skip a beat:
My mission, my job, is to ensure my students have the knowledge and skills they need to be informed and engaged citizens in our democratic republic. And I’ll make sure they improve their reading and writing skills.
The second sentence is probably why I got the job. This was peak “No Child Left Behind” era, and Florida had one of the tougher accountability systems.
But the first sentence was as honest and authentic as can be. At least it was back then.
Today, if asked how I view my central mission as a history and civics educator, I would give this response:
My mission, my job, is to ensure our nation’s students care. And I’ll make sure they improve their reading and writing skills.
I want students to care about community, including seeking to strengthen trust in people and institutions, feeling a sense of belonging, and feeling a responsibility to the common good.
I want them to care about accuracy, which requires intellectual humility and curiosity, valuing credible information, and striving for informed participation.
And I want them to care about pluralistic democracy, which shows up as respect for multiple perspectives, concern for others, belief in civic participation, dedication to democratic health, and civic confidence.
Sure, I still want today’s students to have the knowledge and skills they need to be informed and engaged citizens in our democratic republic. But first and foremost, I want them to care about living in a healthy democratic republic.
Let’s talk about how this caring shows up. Call them what you will: dispositions, habits, values, virtues, mindsets. At iCivics, we call them Attitudes, and they comprise the first pillar of our Learning Framework, joined, of course, by their co-equal counterparts: Skills and Knowledge.
I like to think of the three categories much like the three branches of our government. They are co-equal, sure. But the Legislative branch was given top billing, Article I, in the U.S. Constitution, and that was far from arbitrary. In the same way, while I believe that civic Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge all matter in equal measure, I wouldn’t hesitate to give Attitudes that same top billing.
Also, I love a good acronym, and ASK—Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge—is more perfect than I can say.
Here’s why: One of my favorite colleagues in civic education is Peter Levine, professor of citizenship and public affairs at Tufts University. According to Professor Levine, a citizen is someone who seriously asks, “What should we do?” I love this definition because it transcends legal status and gets to the heart of what it means to be a good person who cares about the common good: dialogue, collaboration, and action.
Every day, I work with the incredible team at iCivics and so many others in our field to answer this question. I am consistently challenged and sustained by this profound network of humans who care just as much as I do about “keeping the republic,” which is our democratic inheritance.
And that’s the inspiration behind the architecture of iCivics’ Learning Framework.
Written by Emma Humphries
Dr. Emma Humphries, iCivics’ Chief Education Officer, brings extensive classroom experience teaching government, history, and economics, where she discovered the impact of engaging learning tools. With a deep commitment to empowering educators, she continues to champion innovative civic education resources and strategies.
