A recent report found that experiential learning and a focus on core civic knowledge are critical pillars of a comprehensive civic education. Experiential Civic Learning for American Democracy, produced by the Task Force on the Value of Experiential Civic Learning—composed of several CivxNow partners—defines experiential civic learning and identifies its goals, teaching practices, and barriers to participation and implementation:
- The Task Force’s definition of experiential civic learning emphasizes the need to “actively practice democracy through real or simulated civic action.”
- The goals of experiential civic learning align with the standard set for the field: building civic knowledge; developing civic skills; and fostering civic dispositions and virtues.
- Barriers include policies that marginalize and deprioritize civics and a culture of conscious disengagement from our body politic. Acknowledging that traditional standardized tests fail to measure the skills and dispositions cultivated by experiential civic learning, the report also sets forth parameters for program evaluation.
The report is a companion to the 2021 Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy, and highlights best practices that can unite practitioners across diverse ideological contexts, open access to experiential learning to more students, and contribute to depolarizing the nation.