Civics with Dean - Class 2

 

Just short of a week after Constitution Day, we were already at class number two! 233 years ago, thirty-nine delegates met in secrecy in Philadelphia and signed a document establishing the basis of our government and way of life. But another story is the trust and “on a promise” that a bill of rights would be included into that document - after ratification and apprehension of those opposed.

My opening question to the class was, “Could you imagine in politics today either side trusting the other to carry out what was a mere agreement, a promise to include the Bill of Rights?" Suffice to say, the answers were a resounding, “NO WAY!"

So then, why were they included?

As students pondered that question, we spoke of the federalists and anti-federalists, the desire to design a central government, while also ensuring states’ rights. This list, or enumeration of these prescribed rights is really protection of those rights! As classroom discussion became more centered on how the Bill of Rights was meant to ensure that our newly formed central government WOULD NOT overstep its authority by violating them, we turned to current events (found in izzit.org archives – "Executive order to ban two social media platforms," August 2020) and pondered - what steps do you take to protect your online privacy? [Truth be told, I have a Union Leader reporter, Kim Haas, as a guest speaker next class. She will be discussing a NH case regarding social media and this was a perfect introduction for class 3.]

Realizing you start with number one sequentially; we began discussing the First Amendment. After a brief overview, students watched First Amendment, Why a Bill of Rights? izzit.org’s educational video from the minicourse, First Amendment. They were to think and respond to the following questions (From the First Amendment minicourse Discussion/Essay questions):

• Why did some of the Framers resist the idea of a bill of rights? Why did some insist it was needed? Which group do you agree with? Explain your position.
• Do you agree with the woman in the video that we often take our rights, especially our First Amendment rights, for granted? Why or why not?

Interestingly, students knew most of the Bill of Rights, perhaps not by exact number, but were truly unaware they were really protections of the rights within each amendment. In addition, reviewing the Declaration of Independence I had on the board showed students that many of the grievances against King George III (quartering of troops, excessive bail, speedy trial, etc.) could also be found in the Bill of Rights. This only solidified the passion and need to make sure these injustices would not be replicated in the new government of the United States.

The trust back then was solid. The Constitution passed on the promise that a Bill of Rights would be added. The Framers lived up to their word, and the United States got its protection of natural rights.

Next class, we'll be diving into Freedom of the Press with our reporter guest speaker!

Dean Graziano is the Vice-President of izzit.org. He is a multi-state, award-winning educator and former Curriculum Specialist Teacher grades 6-12 Social Studies, with over 25 years in education. He served on the Massachusetts MCAS Standard Setting Panel, and also selected by the College Board to be an Advanced Placement Reader for U.S. History. He worked on the historical inquiry model and a national presenter for ABC-Clio, a Social Studies data base company. 

In 2007, in a surprise visit to his school, he was awarded the United States Department of Educations' American Star of Teaching Award. Dean was selected as the 2017 State of New Hampshire's Extended Learning Opportunity Coordinator- of -the Year. Dean’s pilot program in Rochester, NH was singled out by NH Governor, Chris Sununu as the model for the State of N.H. Career Academies. In 2019, he developed and implemented a proposal to purchase a Mobile Classroom ( a new & remodeled 36’ RV, aka M.A.P.s) utilizing Perkins V funding, to bring CTE/WBL programming - leveling the playing field/equity for ALL NH students and spoke nationally at several ACTE Conferences on this model.

From the Homeschool Front by Colleen Hroncich...100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know

I’ve always been interested in law, history, economics, and politics. So when I saw a book titled An Introduction to Constitutional Law: 100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know, I was immediately intrigued. By a stroke of luck, I was in Washington, DC recently when the authors were giving speaking about their book and the multimedia platform behind it.

Randy Barnett, professor at Georgetown Law and Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, and Josh Blackman, professor at South Texas School of Law, developed An Introduction to Constitutional Law to innovate how constitutional law is studied.

Purchasing the book gives you access to an online library of 63 videos featuring photographs, maps, and even audio from the Supreme Court that bring the 100 cases to life. Blackman says he uses the platform to flip his classroom; the students read the chapters and watch the videos before coming to class. Then he can focus class time on discussing the importance of the decisions and really digging deep into the issues at play.

The book is roughly chronological, but it’s primarily organized around key constitutional principles, such as enumerated powers, federalism, equal protection, and specific constitutional rights. Since it includes background and supporting information for each case, the program also provides a great history and civics education.  

The authors emphasized that the book is meant to be widely accessible. While it is great for law students, it is equally valuable for high school and college students. Given our participation in speech and debate, I correctly assumed my kids would be pretty interested when I showed them the book and the video library. We’ve only just begun digging into it.

Barnett describes the book as “an overarching story [constitutional law] about 100 individual stories [the cases].” He says the best way to understand the story, which starts at the founding and continues to the present, is to learn about them in the historical context in which they were decided. 

With most Americans lacking even basic knowledge about our constitution, this program could be an important step toward improving constitutional literacy. 

PS from izzit.org – Randy Barnett is one of the Constitutional experts in our new video, Becoming Equal Under the Law, which explores how the Constitution has changed over the years to give civil rights to more people. Watch it now!

Colleen Hroncich loves that homeschooling allows her to learn right alongside her children. A published author and former policy analyst, Colleen’s favorite subjects are economics/public policy and history. She has been active in several homeschool co-ops and is a speech and debate coach.

Barriers to Critical Thinking by Jim Triplett

I’ve taught at a number of colleges and universities, both online and in-person, in different locations in the eastern half of the United States.  Part of addressing challenging dilemmas found in critical thinking and ethics classes involves carefully selecting one's words, as the message one conveys should be clear, well-supported, and easy to understand for the intended audience.  A concern about offending others is a topic of debate these days on many college campuses:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/

Now consider a psychiatrist's perspective on the challenges of trigger warnings and microagressions as well as how critical thinking is one of a number of means to address them in this Psychology Today article.

Along with the failure of our education system to properly teach critical thinking, as Dr. Pomeroy suggested in the trigger warning article, one commonly finds defense mechanisms present in the outrage at others' perspectives with which one does not agree.  Defense mechanisms are a means of deceiving oneself in the presence of discomfort related to multiple competing perspectives, including one’s opinion on something that is countered by another equally or more valid perspective.  Splitting, a form of self-deceptions, is something common to politics.  Dr. Burton (2012) noted splitting “reinforces our sense of self as good and virtuous by effectively demonizing all those who do not share in our opinions and values” (para.  8).  He elaborates on splitting in this Psychology Today article.

Dr. Burton referenced groupthink as a potential problem with the limited thinking associated with splitting.  The challenges of groupthink also arise in environments where alternative perspectives are limited for fear of offending others.  While we want to consider how some topics may contain elements that are uncomfortable to some, it’s also important to learn from the uncomfortable elements as a means of making better decisions in the future.  Human history does not rhyme; however, there are quite a few similarities that with some critical thinking may be diminished.  As you reflect on microaggressions and splitting, consider some means to identify these in news broadcasts and school.

Burton, N.  (2012, March 13).  Hide and seek:  Understanding self-deception, self-sabotage, and more.  Psychology Today.  Retrieved from:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/self-deception-ii-splitting

Jim Triplett is an author, instructional designer, and instructor in the areas of finance, economics, ethics, and critical thinking. Jim holds Masters Degrees in Finance, Organizational Leadership, and Instructional Design Technology, is ABD / PhD in Organization and Management, and is currently completing a doctoral degree, Ed.D, in Educational Leadership with a focus on Educational Technology.

From the Homeschool Front...Frederic Bastiat by Colleen Hroncich

One of the perks of homeschooling is that I get to learn alongside my children. Not long ago we studied Frederic Bastiat, a French economist and statesman who lived from 1801-1850. He had a tremendous ability to use analogies from daily life to explain economic phenomena.

One of his most important essays was “That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen.” Here Bastiat explains that we must evaluate an action not just by looking at the immediate – or seen – effects. We must also examine the subsequent – or unseen – effects from the action.

This, he notes, is the difference between a good economist and a bad economist: “the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen and also of those which it is necessary to foresee.” We witness this frequently in the political world. Politicians love to gain votes by supporting laws that seem to be beneficial one group or another. They rarely worry about the future consequences of their actions, knowing they’ll be gone when it comes time to pay the piper.

Let’s face it, though, we can see the same thing right within our own homes. If we use a credit card to go on a fantastic family vacation, we might be paying for it for years to come. Every year millions of people take on a huge debt burden buying Christmas gifts for everyone on their lists. Some are probably still paying it off when the next Christmas comes around. It can be easy to whip out a credit card in the heat of the moment, but we need to look ahead and see what the long term effects of that swipe will be.

When it comes to raising children, the same principle applies. Sometimes it is easier for me to just clean up a mess than to corral my kids and get them to finish the job. The seen effect of me doing the work is that the mess gets cleaned up more quickly. The unseen effect is that I’ve missed the chance to teach my children to clean up after themselves … thus ensuring future messes left for me.


Whether dealing with economics, politics, or home life, considering the unseen effects of an action can save a lot of problems down the road.

Colleen Hroncich loves that homeschooling allows her to learn right alongside her children. A published author and former policy analyst, Colleen’s favorite subjects are economics/public policy and history. She has been active in several homeschool co-ops and is a speech and debate coach.