At the end of 2021, the Pew Research Center conducted a study of 17 countries with first-world economies on how divided their citizens were along political, racial, and ethnic lines. Perhaps it’s no surprise that America ranked first. But perhaps American division has less to do with politics, race, and ethnicity, and more to do with how the U.S. education system has centered on those three categories that make up the subject of social studies.
Since the 1960s, social studies has been the rich soil in which to cultivate what is called New Civics. This New Civics is commonly referred to as “action civics” and has less to do with learning about what is required to be a good citizen of a republic and more to do with engaging in social issues, such as climate change or gun control….