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I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. There were "world history" courses and thing

I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. There were "world history" courses and things in that vein, mostly focused on europe and asia, with a gloss over the other countries. (laughably so, looking back). There was a large course in american history, but it was almost all rote, and had nothing to do with how I would phrase "civics" in terms of pragmatic participation and impact. Similar statements could be made re: learning about "the economy" in history and "home finances" (writing a check) in home-ec but nothing about pragmatic long term planning, college loans, any of that stuff. I shouldn't sell it entirely short, if you took some more esoteric extracurriculars/AP courses you could get some exposure but it was still very academic and VERY niche. To stop beating around the bush, speaking at least for my school (even around when you graduated) had very little to prepare someone to actually be an informed participant in society. This likely varies heavily by school however, but polling my wife as well, she echos an even more bleak story. (private Jewish school)

dvtrn 8y ago
I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. Interesting contrasts we have here, eh? I went to a public HS in a hyper-rural area in the deep south. Law and Government I & II were classes required by juniors and then seniors respectively. My expectation was that city schools would definitely have these courses, it's interesting to learn in your case they didn't.
- Jtsummers 8y ago
  It's state-by-state, usually. The curriculum in GA and NV (both states I went to High School in) in the 90s required a US history course and a civics course. In NV it was "US Government", a senior course (typically). In GA it was, in my district, just "Civics" and was one semester, sharing the year with a baby Economics course (which was really more personal finance than economics). School districts have some leeway to add additional courses, or to alter the typical order of them. For instance, that civics course in GA could've been a one year senior level course in a neighboring district. But the civics course was required across the state at the time.
Retra 8y ago
It's hard to teach history if you're going to test people on it. There's too much history for anyone to really know even a tiny bit of it, so it's probably better to teach it through literature.

dvtrn 8y ago

I was at a pretty typical city public school ~>15 years ago. Even then we didn't really have "civics" as it were. Interesting contrasts we have here, eh? I went to a public HS in a hyper-rural area in the deep south. Law and Government I & II were classes required by juniors and then seniors respectively. My expectation was that city schools would definitely have these courses, it's interesting to learn in your case they didn't.

Jtsummers 8y ago
It's state-by-state, usually. The curriculum in GA and NV (both states I went to High School in) in the 90s required a US history course and a civics course. In NV it was "US Government", a senior course (typically). In GA it was, in my district, just "Civics" and was one semester, sharing the year with a baby Economics course (which was really more personal finance than economics). School districts have some leeway to add additional courses, or to alter the typical order of them. For instance, that civics course in GA could've been a one year senior level course in a neighboring district. But the civics course was required across the state at the time.

Retra 8y ago

It's hard to teach history if you're going to test people on it. There's too much history for anyone to really know even a tiny bit of it, so it's probably better to teach it through literature.