How do young people develop into citizens who actively participate in a democracy? How can teachers engage young people in civil dialogue about U.S. foreign policy issues? How can teachers provide accurate, unbiased information about controversial issues such as immigration, global warming or climate change, and the threat of terrorism to the country’s security?
The Capitol Forum on America’s Future, an initiative of the Choices Education Program at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, provides social studies lessons and a venue for statewide student forums for such heady dialogue.
How Can High School Students Learn About U.S. Foreign Policy Issues
Through well-researched, student-centered, interactive curriculum materials, students learn about issues of foreign policy through a pedagogy that encourages students to question assumptions, research options, form their own opinions, and articulate them.
The curriculum materials created by the Choices Education Program are the heart of the Capitol Forum on America's Future. The lessons broaden students' knowledge and understanding of the issues, and can be easily integrated into the traditional social studies curriculum to support teachers' efforts to approach controversial issues in an impartial way.
At the end of the school year, students from participating states come together in their state capital to tackle the driving question of the Capitol Forum: “What role should the United States play in the changing international environment of the 21st Century?” In addressing this question, students create U.S. foreign policy “Futures” that are shared with elected Federal and State officials who have been invited to participate in the Capitol Forum to hear the students' ideas.
What States Participate in the Capitol Forum
Seven states across the United States are currently participating in statewide Capitol Forums sponsored by organizations with a commitment to education and civic engagement.
Here is a list of the Capitol Forum states and the sponsors:
- Illinois – Illinois Humanities Council and the Illinois Secretary of State
- Indiana – Center for the Study of Global Change at Indiana University/Bloomington
- Maryland – Maryland Center for Civic Education
- Nebraska – Nebraska Humanities Council and the Nebraska Secretary of State
- New Jersey – American Institute for History Education
- Rhode Island – Global Rhode Island and PlanUSA
- Washington – Washington State Coalition for International Education
Capitol Forum as a Regional or Local Program
In addition to statewide programs, smaller regional and local student forums have evolved over the last several years. Here is a list of sponsoring organizations and locations for regional student forums:
- HOBY – Washington DC
- High School Social Studies Teachers – Bellevue, Nebraska
- Student Congressional Council – University of Akron
- McLean County Diversity Project – Illinois
- KIDS Consortium – Portland, Maine
- Normal Community & Normal West High Schools – Normal, Illinois
- Sissonville High School – Sissonville, West Virginia
- ELNA (Education and Leadership for a Nonviolent Age) Collaborative – Hudson, Massachusetts
- Camden Council – Camden, Maine
- Omaha & Bellevue Public Schools – Omaha, Nebraska
Organizations That Endorse the Capitol Forum
The Capitol Forum provides the structure for high school students to begin to comprehend the complexities and inter-relatedness of very difficult foreign policy issues. It provides social studies teachers with scholarly research that is presented in lessons that engage high school students in study of, and substantive dialogue about, perplexing issues.
The Capitol Forum on America's Future is endorsed by:
- National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
- National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
- National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)
Choices Education Program at Brown University
In addition to the Capitol Forum on America's Future, the Choices Education Program also has free online “Teaching with the News” social studies lessons to support teachers as they explore current issues topics with their students. It can be a lifeline for teachers to be able to address what may be controversial issues in a well-researched, fact-based, non-partisan way that promotes student dialogue from all points of view.
The Choices Education Program has been in the forefront of creating well-researched, scholarly curricula and professional development programs for high school social studies and history teachers since 1982.
Barbara Shema - Barbara Shema is a freelance writer and artist from the USA currently living in Europe to teach English as a foreign language.
