Positive Psychology Promotes Civility

When students can self-regulate emotions, they are able to interact in a civil way with each other. Civility is best taught concurrently with the subject of civics. Civiilty is a lost art and civics is a lost subject so there is no better place to begin. Civics – the art and practice of good citizenship – to include the mechanics of shared governance and the meaning of shared history is not always a curricular priority in 21st century schools.

Civics includes teaching current events that help students understand and appreciate their past and consider and prepare for their future in meaningful and emotionally aware ways. So if you want to teach students to use their emotional strengths for the good of others and to contribute in a civil way to the democratic process, civics is most important to study. In 2009, former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor was so concerned by declining civic knowledge and participation that she founded iCivics.

ICivics prepares young Americans to become knowledgeable, engaged 21st century citizens by providing free and innovative educational materials. ICivics helps teachers to pass along the legacy of democracy to the next generation using 16 educational video games and other vibrant teaching materials. ICivics offers the most comprehensive standards-aligned civics curriculum available and it is free to all.

Curricular units such as the Bill of Rights and the three branches of government engage students in project learning. Each unit includes online games, interactive web quests, and fully prepared practical and interesting lessons. There is also a special impact competition where classrooms devise and execute a civics project that has positive impact in the community. Helping others builds empathy, optimism, and reslience while infusing learning with meaning: the pillars of positive psychology.

4^th to 12^th grade students - and some advanced 3^rd graders - learn civics from different parts of the ICivics curriculum. Teachers can easily expand, extend, and adapt lessons at all grade levels. The students also learn positive psychology lessons as a byproduct.

Lessons and games build understanding and empathy for immigrants. Students learn that empathy must morph into cooperation with others to solve international crises. Students learn to solve disputes through reasonable argument that requires self-regulation of emotion. Students learn how to leverage collective strengths to improve their communities through competitions and examples of civic heroism.

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Do you teach civics as a subject in your classroom? Do you teach civics lessons in your classroom? Do you play civics games? Do students read newspapers or magazines? Do students watch news clips or watch videos on civics topics? Do students discuss, debate, record, and write on the topics of civics practicing civility? Do you consider how to teach positive psychology lessons through civics? For example, what makes our democracy resilient? Were your grandparents immigrants and what strengths did they need to succeed?

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Notes

Web Resources

History Channel Road to Citizenship Quiz Game

http://www.history.com/interactives/the-road-to-citizenship-quiz-game

History Channel Citizenship Interactive Quiz

http://www.history.com/interactives/citizenship-quiz

U.S. Citizenship & Naturalization Teaching Materials

Great Online Resources for Teaching Current Events

http://res.hcpss.org/08492C81-0119EC4E.3/Student%20News%20Sites.pdf

PBS Current Events Teacher Center

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/

Annenberg Classroom Best Civics Sites for Teachers

http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/pages.aspx?name=best-civics-sites-for-teachers&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Edutopia Using Game Based Learning to Teach Civics

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/game-based-learning-civics-andrew-miller

ICivics http://www.icivics.org

Teaching Civics http://teachingcivics.org

Civics Unrest: On Teaching Children to Love Democracy

http://www.edutopia.org/dispatches-civics-unrest

Scholastics Teaching Civics Resources

Positive Psychology Essential Reads

The Untold Truth About the Origins of Positive Psychology

Enhancing the Well-Being of Groups Is Hard

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/search/teacher?query=civics

Available March 2013: Positive Psychology in the Elementary School Classroom and is the first in a series intended to help teachers build positive psychology classrooms. http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Author.aspx?id=23961

Author Page: www.pattyogrady.com