Putting Our Mouth Where Our Money Is: A Response To Parker

In reading, Walter C. Parker’s essay, "Teaching Against Idiocy", I was forced to think more deeply about both the meaning of the word “citizen” and the role our schools play in fostering the development of one.

In explaining the arresting title of his piece, we learn that “idiocy” in this context, doesn’t define a “moron”, but rather one who is ignorant about the public world outside of themselves -- a phenomenon that exists perhaps more today than ever before, in spite of the plethora of resources that make up the Information Age. Perhaps it may even be a side effect of the Information Age, that allows us to be so informed and yet so insular, as if everything we see and hear in the media is a virtual game whose outcome doesn’t really have all that much to do with us.

Nevertheless, as Parker suggests, I agree that school seems a natural place to teach young people about their role as citizens in a democratic society, because it is essentially a mini-society, the first one to which children belong and learn to cooperate with others of diverse cultural backgrounds.

But treating each other fairly, and celebrating diversity are only part of the picture. Of equal importance, is the message that it is not enough to learn a trade, make a living, and pay our taxes. Each one of us has a moral and civic obligation to play an active role in our legislative and judicial processes, both on a local and national level. This sometimes includes the need to become politically/socially active by standing up for the things we feel need addressing.

This point of view is best reflected by the words of Daniel Kemmis, former mayor of Missoula, Montana in The Good City and the Good Life;

"People who customarily refer to themselves as taxpayers, are not even remotely related to democratic citizens. Yet, this is precisely the word that now regularly holds the place, which in a true democracy would be occupied by “citizens”…"

Mr. Kemmis goes on to comment that while people continue to pay taxes and expect services in return, what they fail to do is govern, or even make an attempt to feign an interest in the workings of government.

This statement resonated with me on a personal level as my only working experience with government took place as a resident in a large, self-governed condominium complex. Here I saw first-hand, that while people paid a considerable monthly dues to live there, for the most part they failed to attend any open Board meetings or volunteer their services to the Board. Yet when a meeting concerned the raising of the monthly dues, you can be assured that all the individuals previously missing in action, could be found complaining about the Board’s decisions. Point here – if you want to have any effect on the outcome, you have to be part of the process.

I relate the above to illustrate that just because people are “anteing up”, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily fulfilling their role as citizens. The strange dichotomy is that while on one hand taxpayers feel the have certain ‘inalienable” rights, on the other hand they are loathe to get involved or put in their political “two-cents” -- at least until an issue affects their wallets. Perhaps the majority of us need to learn to “put our mouths where our money is”, so to speak.

So what can schools do about all this?

I think Parker, while fairly idealistic gives us many practical suggestions for encouraging discussion and dialogue of democratic ideals both socially and across the curricula, but I suggest taking it a step further by turning ideals into action. Action projects could involve having students write their political representatives about an issue that’s important to them, or participate in a field trip to town hall to learn about how local politics work. Students can also hold mock trials and political debates based on either current events or issues at school. Learning about the electoral process and stressing the importance of voting, and not just every four years, is also key for encouraging citizen participation.

The bottom line is, that the possibilities for applying democratic ideals to real-life situations are endless, and for the creative teacher who is willing to go beyond mere dialogue, the opportunity to help mold an engaged citizenry of the future is both exciting and challenging and well worth the effort.