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by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Last week, the White House prohibited video and audio coverage of daily press briefings, plus photographs of Press Secretary Sean Spicer . While press access has been a recurring issue across several administrations, the degree and frequency of these limits have accelerated significantly during the early months of the Trump presidency. On the campaign trail and since he was sworn in, Trump has consistently heaped harsh criticism on the press, and this vitriol is shared among many of his supporters. In a conversation with regional television reporters at the Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference in Phoenix over the weekend, one revealed that she was told to return to Mexico (she’s Asian-American) as she walked along the rope line at a Trump rally. Another said that she’s regularly greeted as a member of the “fake news media” while covering local political events. And I need not remind you that a congressional candidate assault...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Last week, 36 Illinois Civics Teacher Mentors gathered in Springfield for a second summer of intensive professional development in alignment with the new high school course requirement . Mentors are prepared to work with teachers, schools, and districts in their assigned educational region. Illinois has 38 outside of the City of Chicago, and we currently have mentors in 37 of them, with one remaining opening in Rock Island County. Mentor Liaison Barb Laimins deserves strong accolades for supporting our initial cohort throughout the past school year, retaining the bulk of them, and filling vacancies with skilled, veteran educators. This year’s training, and the two-day regional workshops throughout the state that follow, are responsive to data we collected from last year’s inaugural efforts . Specifically, teachers told us they needed additional support in implementing the emerging state social studies standards , the service-learn...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Our Illinois Civics Teacher Mentors have gathered in Springfield this week for three days of training centered on news literacy , service-learning , and the emerging state social studies standards . This year’s summer workshops theme centers on engaging students in the public policy process, and my task was to first make the case for this , and then help define issues for further exploration and deliberation. Today’s post will center on the latter. I’ve had great success in beginning this process within the hearts and minds of students . If there is a law they could change, what would it be? Further, what’s the status quo with respect to this issue, and how do policies differ in other jurisdictions? Finally, what does research show works best? We can also pursue an outward-facing strategy, beginning with national polling data. According to Gallup, health care is the “top U.S. problem,” followed by dissatisfaction with government, im...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Since its smashing Broadway debut, I’ve longed to see the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton . But I balked at the price point for tickets on the secondary market, and being the armchair historian that I am, insisted on reading Ron Chernow’s Hamilton biography first. Last week, I cleared both hurdles, and write today not wanting to “waste my shot” to translate these experiences for civics teachers and classrooms. Having read many of the contemporary biographies of the American Founding Era, Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton ranks among the best. It’s much too lengthy for classroom use, but should be on every civics teacher’s summer reading list. Hamilton emerges as an unsung hero who never benefited from the privileges of the presidency or the opportunity to “tell his story” in retirement. Yet his contributions in the Revolutionary War, writing and ratifying the Constitution, and establishing the modern American economy cement his place a...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Last Tuesday, I had the honored of speaking at a community forum in Chicago’s 47th Ward sponsored by partner and grantee Facing History and Ourselves . It was titled “ How NOT to Avoid ‘Talking Politics ’,” and my remarks are excerpted below. According to Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms , a guide to writing and etiquette from 1879, we should “…not discuss politics or religion in general company. You probably would not convert your opponent, and he will not convert you. To discuss those topics is to arouse feeling without any good result.” Today’s program will test the wisdom of this time-honored adage. The truth is that most of us don’t discuss politics at all, and when we do it’s with people that share similar ideological views. These like-minded conversations can lead to ideological amplification, where there is even less diversity in political opinions on the issues of the day post-deliberation. Consider an experiment con...

by Shawn P. Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Today marks the end of a teaching career that has spanned 43 years and sparked the civic development of generations of students. Carmel Catholic High School Social Studies Teacher Sharon Smogor is set to retire, and it’s with mixed emotions that I write this tribute to her legacy in Illinois’ civic learning lore. Sharon’s involvement with the McCormick Foundation preceded my own. She was a member of the teacher advisory council convened by the Bill of Rights Institute to help develop the Freedom Museum and design a curriculum that complimented student visits. The Museum opened in 2006 and served thousands of students in its three years of operation. The exhibit was later adapted to a mobile museum, Freedom Express, that traveled to schools throughout Chicagoland, Carmel Catholic included. Since 2006, the McCormick Foundation has provided professional development opportunities for Illinois teachers , and Sharon was a staple in demonst...

by Shawn Healy, PhD, Democracy Program Director Thanks to our friends at the Chicago Community Trust , fellow supporters of the #CivicsIsBack Campaign , we were invited to a program featuring Eric Liu and his new book, You’re More Powerful Than You Think , at the Chicago Cultural Center last month. I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with Eric for the past several years through his leadership of the Civic Collaboratory, self-described as a national “trans-partisan” group broadly committed to civic empowerment. Civic education has long had a seat at the table, and Eric has lent his hand specifically to promoting “action civics,” best embodied locally by the Mikva Challenge. You’re More Powerful Than You Think contains a number of important lessons transferrable to the civics classroom. Power lies at its center, and is defined as “...the capacity to ensure that others do as you would want them to do.” Liu then pivots to three power axioms: “Power concentrates” “Power justif...