Curriculum Deliberation Project

EDL 318A Teacher Leadership

Loveness Ngorosha, SPRING 2015

Voice in Democracy: Catalysts for Change

Jordan Carruthers, Kristin Condon, Sydney Larivey,
Morgan Nakon, & Fontaine Selby

Abstract: When there is an issue, youths need not stand and watch from the
sidelines in silence. Our integrated curriculum will equip students with skills for
identifying school and community issues and empower them with techniques to
critically and creatively address issues by exercising their voice and
responsibilities as democratic citizens.
Rationale

For our curriculum project, we want to address the fact that todays students seem to have
a blatant disregard for the important political and social issues faced by their schools,
communities, and consequently, the entire country. According to a study done at Stanford
University, community, civility, and democratic values are on the decline, while divisiveness,
hostility, and extreme forms of individualism are on the rise, (Malin, 2011, p. 111). We believe
that the reasons behind this are that students are not encouraged to develop his or her own values
early enough in their education and thus do not develop a strong sense of self. This lack of selfdevelopment, can lead to students not having strong opinions about the things that are happening
in the world and thus not acting to defend those opinions. We have seen this change in the
decrease number of young voters using the power of their voice to contribute to local and federal
elections. Considering that American democracy depends wholly on citizen participation, this
absence of opinion could potentially have detrimental effects on American democracy. Heather
Malin of Stanford University reinforces this idea in a study she conducted about youth
development, The need to understand and support youth development of American identity is
urgent. If we, as educators and developmental scientists, fail to inspire youth to sustain the
important ideas that American democracy depends on, then American society as we know it will
cease to exist, (2011, p. 111).
In order to combat this growing epidemic, we believe that providing students with the
necessary tools and knowledge to aid them in developing his or her own active voice in society is
the key to mending the larger issues. By developing student opinions as early as possible in
education, students will be more inclined to have unwavering beliefs about the things that he or
she holds dear and thus the way society should be run. This will lead to more students standing
up to defend these steadfast societal and political beliefs. For example, a student who has shown
a passion for the arts and has been encouraged to by teachers to stand up for his or her own
personal interests, would be more inclined to fight to keep art and music classes in schools. This
helps develop student awareness about the power of personal opinions in society, which is really
the heart of our democracy. The goal, is that these opinions will lead students to become more
involved in school, community, and eventually federal government. This student involvement
will be accomplished through a nine-week curriculum in which students will be provided with a
historical context of American democracy. Students will then use these historical contexts to
interpret their own life experiences and develop a strong sense of self. Through this curriculum,

we believe that students will be able to better foster their identity as an American citizen as well
as develop and defend their own informed opinions about the important issues that face our
society. This is objective is reinforced by political scientists who argue that attachment to
national identity is key to developing democratic citizenship and civic participation, (Malin,
2011, pg. 111). We believe that personal development is the key to achieving political
development, which will provide a necessary change for American democracy.

Description
The Voice in Democracy curriculum will be taught to high school freshman and
sophomore students as preparation for a potential follow-up curriculum geared towards juniors
and seniors which will prepare them for a college education or a career upon graduating high
school. This curriculum will be taught over a single quarter, 9 weeks, so that schools on both
quarter and semester schedules can easily implement the program into their own schedules.
Over this nine-week period, there will be three units which will extend over three weeks
each. The first unit will be an introduction of democracy and will introduce students to models of
texts and prominent voiceful men and women in history, science, and math who demonstrated
their rights as democratic citizens to pave the way for each of their professions. The second unit
will focus on students recognizing and developing their own voices and the different mediums
through which they can express their verbal, written, and artistic or musical (including
instrumental) voices; students will have practice in expressing their voices through as many
subjects as pertaining to their interests. The third unit will move the students from experimenting
with and developing their voices to actually practicing using them in real and intentional learning
experiences both in the school and in the community. The units progress in a way that moves
concentration or focus on three different levels: from practicing and seeing voice expressed in
the school and specific subjects, to practicing and using voice individually and personally across
the subjects, and finally to practicing and using voice in the community. Simply put, students
will spend the first half of the quarter learning the knowledge and looking at model texts and
model citizens and will spend the second half of the quarter applying their knowledge, voicing
their personally selected issues across a wide variety of mediums as participants and citizens in a
democratic society. Further descriptions of each of the units are provided below.

1) The first unit is an introduction to democracy and voice. While a lot of the
responsibility for providing knowledge on democracy and citizenship will be put on the social
studies teachers, it is important for all of the core and elective subject teachers to introduce their
students to democracy and voice as through their lenses. In English, students will read multiple
genres of text (by genres we mean different types of text, such as letters, essays, short films,
speeches, poems, etc.) and will practice writing in these multigenres once they have taken notes
and understand how the authors and speakers effectively develop and use their own unique
voices. Students will study author craft and practice using imitating exercises to experiment with
their own writing. In science and in math, the teachers will introduce students to the men and
women behind the equations and the theories and concepts they learn whose voices made a huge
difference in their respective fields. In physical education (PE), art, music, and any other elective
courses, students will also learn about important figures in their fields and how they used their
mediums to express their voices for things they believed in. Students will learn that voice is not
restricted to our vocal or spoken voices, but open to our voices we develop through art, creative
writing, music, foreign language, dance, performance, and even PE. Everything can be
interpreted as a choice and an argument or persuasive piece, whether intended or unintended.
2) The second unit is a recognition or identification and development of students
individual voices through the many different mediums which they can express their verbal,
written, gestural, athletic, and artistic or musical (including instrumental) voices. Students will
begin to practice expressing their voices through as many subjects as pertaining to their interests,
since they have had models to look at and have practiced writing, speaking, or performing in
different genres. They will choose an issue or belief for which they will express their voices
either individually or in small groups of 2-4, and then begin researching and collecting data
about the issue. The issue can be something in the school or in the community; if the student(s)
are passionate about a statewide, national, or global issue and are willing to put in the necessary
extra work, then this is fine, too. In each class, they will learn how to incorporate different
effective tools or skills into their final products so that their final presentations or projects are
comprehensive of more than one subject, which is usually English/Language Arts aspects. So for
example, the science teachers will teach students how to create graphs, tables in the program
Excel in order to store and present their data and observations; the math teachers will teach
students how to do equations dealing with percentages and other statistics the students come up

with in their observations and data collecting; the social studies teachers will teach students how
to act and participate as citizens while they are out in their communities; the English teachers
will help students select the best modes of writing or other form of expression for their projects
and teach them how to publish their work in public venues, as well as teach them basic research
skills; and the art and music (band/choir/theatre) teachers will help students create art and music
pieces that are related to their projects, such as posters, pamphlets, lyrics, skits, and
performances. All teachers will help students establish their own views on worldly matters and
situate themselves among their own cultures, as well as teach students to be aware and tolerant of
others views, cultures, and beliefs.
3) The third unit is the application of the students knowledge, skill, and practice into a
finished project and/or presentation. This unit will move the students from experimenting with
and developing their voices to actually practicing using them in real and intentional learning
experiences both in the school and in the community. Real and intentional learning experiences
refers to not just practicing, for instance, writing prompted letters to editors or local and state
officials, but rather actually writing letters and sending them to appropriate audiences in hopes of
action in response. A final product might be a peaceful protest led by the students, a presentation
to the community at a council or town meeting, a play or skit, concert, or art show put on at the
school or at a town performance venue, a website created displaying an issue with possible
solutions or call to action, a video speech or documentary published online or sent directly to
government officials, or pamphlets and flyers that are spread throughout the school and the
community to raise awareness, the opportunities are limitless and include all ranges of student
ability and student interest.
We have developed a framework for our curriculum which includes learning objectives
that will enable students to discover and use their voices and roles as citizens in a democratic
society in order to ultimately catalyze change within their school and local communities.

Concept Map

Example in Practice

Since our curriculum is focusing on empowering and encouraging students to use their
voice, there would be numerous novels and speeches incorporated into the English classroom.
One novel that would be used to incorporate our curriculum theme of democracy and voice is
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book is a historical-fiction novel, but can also count as an
international novel, as it was originally published in Australia. The story is narrated by Death
who is in Nazi Germany during WWII, and he is reflecting upon the three times he had
encountered the Book Thief, Liesel (who is 9 at the start of the book). The story covers about 6
years of Liesels life during WWII. The story begins with the death of Liesels brother and her
mother sending her to a foster family because she cannot support her. Her foster parents hide a
Jewish man, which makes the entire family suspicious. Additionally, Liesel (who do not know
how to read at the start of the novel) is taught how to read by her foster dad, Hans. She keeps
books and takes books, regardless of the book burnings that are happening, which also makes her
foster family more suspicious. At the end of the novel, after losing numerous loved ones, Liesel
realizes the power in knowledge and writing and writes her story down. The story develops
strong themes of the power of words and knowledge, death, friendship, and doing the right thing
even when it is considered wrong.
Liesel is the perfect model for students in that she has all of these obstacles thrown at her,
but she ultimately is able to deal with them and do inspiring things. Liesel values her education
and throughout the novel, is constantly voicing her opinions regardless of whether or not they
agree with the majority. It is her attitude and courage that ultimately help her through her
difficult times and lead her to voice her story and opinions through writing a book. The Book
Thief allows students the opportunity to incorporate some of the struggles the students faced on a
daily basis into the classroom. Many of the struggles Liesel faces are some that everyone faces,
which allows students to recognize these problems and watch Liesel work to overcome them and
finding her voice. One of the main themes of The Book Thief is the idea that knowledge is power.
This book provides students with numerous examples of that, including Hitler. Adolf Hitler knew
that knowledge was power and used that power to take over. Liesel used her knowledge for the
betterment of others. This would allow students to see the difference between using ones voice
for good versus bad purposes.
In order to strongly connect our theme of democracy and voice to the novel, students
would participate in a Socratic Seminar at the end of the novel. Students would have gotten a

pre-reading worksheet at the before starting the novel that had a list of potential themes in the
book and would have been tracking these themes throughout the entire novel. In order to prepare
students for the seminar, the teacher would create a different Google Draw sheet for each theme.
Students would then complete an online chalk-talk in class to gather their thoughts about the
themes in order to prepare them for the Seminar. The sheet would have the theme written in the
center and then students would be split into groups of four. Each group would have 7 minutes to
write whatever they want about the theme, i.e. their opinions, quotes, pictures, other questions,
then switch to another groups theme. At the end of class, students would have a representation of
everyones thoughts about The Book Thief. The Socratic Seminar would directly follow the
chalk-talk. Students will be sitting in an inner and outer circle. The inner circle will be asked a
question or prompted with a statement, by the teacher, and then the students will talk. Inner circle
students are the only ones who will be talking, and students in the outer circle are respectively
listening and taking notes. After going through half of the themes, students will switch circles.
Each student has to talk at least once to pass the Seminar.
The Socratic Seminar is the perfect way to incorporate democracy and voice into a
classroom because it allows every student an opportunity to voice their opinions and beliefs. It
allows students to agree and disagree and questions others, which is something that is valued in
democracy. It shows students that it is okay to disagree, as long as it is done respectfully, and that
the school is a safe place to voice their opinions. Also, since the themes are ones that resonate
with the students, it will allow them to reflect on their own problems and how they would solve
them.
**Attached is a copy of the Pre-Reading activity sheet.**

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Pre-Reading Activity
Directions: Prior to starting The Book Thief, read through the following list of statements. In the
first column, mark whether you agree or disagree with the statement (A for agree, D for
disagree). In the second column, given what you already know about WWII, mark whether you
think the book will address this idea (A for agree, D for disagree). Be prepared to support your
answers.

Your
Opinion:

Included
in Text?:

Possible Themes/Statements:
1. Friendship runs deeper than simply having fun
together.
2. The words of one person can move a nation.
3. Words are powerful weapons and knowledge is
power.
4. Death is scary and ugly.
5. Guilt and our conscience can lead us to do
things we wouldnt otherwise do.
6. Those that truly love us would never abandon
us.
7. Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words
will never hurt me.
8. Sometimes doing the right thing involves
breaking the rules, laws, etc.

**Feel free to elaborate on what you put on the back of this sheet.**
based off of Markus Zusaks worksheet: (http://novelinks.org/uploads/Novels/TheBookThief/Anticipation
%20Guide.pdf)

Assessing Student Progress & Experience with the Curriculum

Our course encourages students to use their voice and advocate for themselves and their
interests, and this is evident when they are assessed. Students will be assessed continuously
throughout the course and encouraged to play an active role in their evaluations by using their
individual voices. When completing major assignments students will have the opportunity to
self-assess their performance and have a hand in the evaluation process. While grades are
ultimately up to the instructors discretion, including students in evaluation allows them to
influence criteria and self-advocate.
On a daily basis, students will be evaluated on participation for a maximum of three
points per class session. Participation is vital to the course because it shows students are
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beginning to use their voice to raise ideas and influence their community. A goal of this course is
to teach students to form opinions and take interest in topics that impact their community, so
participation evaluation allows the instructor to encourage the practice of speaking up and
ensures student engagement. Each unit will include a significant assessment to track progress and
apply the information covered over the course of the three weeks. In the first unit, for example,
Social Studies classes will take a multiple choice and short answer test on the American political
system. In English, after completing The Book Thief, students will engage in a socratic seminar
to reflect on and discuss the novel as a class and evaluate student engagement and
comprehension. These assessments will be complemented by smaller in-class or homework
assignments leading up to final evaluation to allow for rehearsal and discovery.
The course will culminate with a major project incorporating each subject area allowing
students to practice raising their voices and participating in democracy. Students will have the
opportunity to work in groups to select a project medium that best fits their talents and interests
and put democracy into action. Examples include writing and performing a play or skit, writing a
research paper on an issue applicable to the community and presenting their findings to
community members, holding a mock city council or town hall meeting, or staging a peaceful
protest.

Resources
Dundar, H. (2013). How Should a Democratic School Be? International Journal Of Academic
Research, 257-262. Retrieved April 8, 2015, from Miami University Libraries.
Education Services Australia. (2005). Living in a Democratic Society. Retrieved April 8, 2015.

Fletcher, A. (2005). Meaningful Student Involvement: Guide to Students as Partners in School

Change. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
From Back Seat to Driver: Motivational Perspectives of What One Can Achieve Despite
a Disability. (2010). Exceptional Parent, 40(11), 22-23.
Harris, T. (2013, July 13). Breakfast, lunch and hugs at Tim's Place. Albuquerque, New Mexico,
US.

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Kahne, J., Chi, B., & Middaugh, E. (2006). Building Social Capital for Civic and Political
Engagement: The Potential of High-School Civics Courses. Canadian Journal of
Education / Revue canadienne de l'ducation, (2). 387.
Kleinert, J. O., Harrison, E. M., Fisher, T. L., & Kleinert, H. L. (2010). I Can and I Did
Self-Advocacy for Young Students With Developmental Disabilities. Teaching
Exceptional Children, 43(2), 16-26.
Malin, H. (2011). American Identity Development and Citizenship Education: A Summary of
Perspectives and Call for New Research. Psychology Press, 15(2), 111-116.

O'Brien, J., Responsive Systems Associates, L. G., & Syracuse Univ., N. P. (1999). Community
Engagement: A Necessary Condition for Self-Determination and Individual Funding.

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