Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility - Softcover

Colby, Anne; Ehrlich, Thomas; Beaumont, Elizabeth; Stephens, Jason

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470573821 ISBN 13: 9780470573822

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2010

Synopsis

There is increasing attention to the idea that colleges and universities should help students become more informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens who are prepared to navigate a complex world. These goals were central to American undergraduate education in its early years, but have been pushed aside by many institutions. Educating Citizens is a path-breaking book offering an instructive and inspiring vision of how such work can be undertaken.

What are important elements of moral and civic learning? How can higher education contribute to them effectively? What challenges do institutions face when they try to undertake efforts for moral and civic learning and how can these challenges be addressed?  These are the questions that spark this book, and they are also issues at the heart of democracy's future in America. Through a grand tour of American higher education, the authors show how institutions can equip students with the understanding, motivation, and skills of responsible and effective citizenship. The book describes general principles of moral and civic learning and uses rich examples from in-depth case studies and a range of programs and approaches to consider how these goals are approached in different educational contexts. Readers gain a new vantage on the fundamental importance of moral and civic learning, the educational and developmental goals and processes it involves, and how it operates in the landscapes of higher education.

Educating Citizens is essential reading for all who believe that higher education can play a critical role in the health of American democracy by helping students become responsible citizens of the nation, the world and their own communities.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Educating Citizens
Now with a new preface by the authors, Educating Citizens reports on how some American colleges and universities are preparing thoughtful, committed, and socially responsible graduates. Many institutions assert these ambitions, but too few act on them. The authors demonstrate the fundamental importance of moral and civic education, describe how the historical and contemporary landscapes of higher education have shaped it, and explain the educational and developmental goals and processes involved in educating citizens. They examine the challenges colleges and universities face when they dedicate themselves to this vital task and present concrete ways to overcome those challenges.

"[A] profoundly timely and enlightening book." 
- Eamonn Callan, Associate Dean and Professor of Education, Stanford University

Praise for Educating Citizens
"Educating Citizens contains much of value and interest to all of its intended audiences. . . . This volume provides what we need to understand the complex concepts of moral and civic learning and to consider what each of us can do to help students become the educated and motivated citizens who will ensure the future of democracy."
--Journal of College Student Development
"Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont, and Stephens. . . . stimulate reflection about what it requires to be intentional about preparing critically thinking, morally discerning, and engaged citizens."
--Teaching Theology and Religion

From the Inside Flap:

Educating Citizens reports on how some American colleges and universities are preparing thoughtful, committed, and socially responsible graduates. Many institutions assert these ambitions, but too few act on them. The authors demonstrate the fundamental importance of moral and civic education, describe how the historical and contemporary landscapes of higher education have shaped it, and explain the educational and developmental goals and processes involved in educating citizens. They examine the challenges colleges and universities face when they dedicate themselves to this vital task and present concrete ways to overcome those challenges.

Through a grand tour of American higher education, Educating Citizens shows how institutions can equip students with the understanding, motivation, and skills of responsible and effective citizenship. The book includes rich examples from in-depth studies at twelve institutions and from a wide range of effective programs and approaches on other campuses. The authors guidelines for implementing these programs can be applied in the full range of higher education institutions.

Educating Citizens is essential reading for all who believe that higher education can play a critical role in the health of American democracy by helping students become responsible citizens of the nation, the world, and their own communities.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0470573821
• ISBN 13: 9780470573822
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352