Agile in the Civics Classroom

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Over the past 20 years, social studies have diminished in traditional K-12 education. Initially, the priority was only math and reading. As STEM gained importance, the need for engineers to work with new emerging technology rocketed through schools. This neglect of social studies left a generation of people with no knowledge of their past, their government systems, and the incredibly diverse cultures around them. So lets talk about using Agile in the Civics Classroom.

In teaching about the past, teachers help students find the application to their lives when they struggle with the content: Why learn about the Mayflower Compact when there’s so much going on right now? And to their credit, they’re right to a degree. How will students get the knowledge they need as participating citizens who can recognize and understand the systems of power around them and navigate these systems in the future to advocate for themselves?

This is the value of Agile for a social studies classroom. Instead of teaching lessons by lecture and constructing isolated lessons on past eras, my curriculum shifted to answering: “How can the past help us navigate now?” 

Why is Agile important for Civics Classroom?

Civic engagement is essential for a functioning society, especially one that is based on the people wielding power. When civics is poorly understood, or people do not see its value, people lose their power to advocate for themselves. It is of utmost importance that civics and history are engaging, empowering, and rich in the skills necessary for people to apply to their lives.

Agile is a way for people to collaborate on diverse teams instead of shuttering in silos, share information, adapt to new challenges, communicate in real time, and creatively problem-solve to achieve a shared goal. Agile teams typically use Kanban boards to visually organize their workflow, be transparent, and keep communication open. To bring Agile into educational spaces means embedding these soft skills into a content-rich curriculum. 

Wide-Open Agile Questions

Great units always begin with a wide-open question. Open-ended questions open up a world of possibilities for students: They must explore all avenues of a question and settle on an answer that matters. Ideally, the question and the use of content mastery should intrigue students. Wide – Open Questions serve several purposes:

• Open-ended questions create student choice. Students feel like they are answering a question, not regurgitating their desired answer. 
• Critical thinking skills are developed because there is no right answer — only the answer that can be supported by evidence. 
• Students build connections from the mandated content to their world. It allows ownership of learning and answers the nagging question from middle school: “When will I ever use this information?” 
• They allow real-world applications in which students connect the content to their lives. Each student learns the same content and may have the same question but will apply that question differently. When you ask a group of students: “How should power be distributed in a stable society?” and you get drastically different answers, the content has been personalized. 

Content is Non-Negotiable, but Delivery Can Have Choice

Content should be delivered through different modalities to allow students more choices in their learning. Of course, there are certain documents that students must read and analyze, which are the non-negotiables in a given unit. For instance, students must read all of Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution and be able to discuss the powers of the legislative branch. Choice does not mean a free-for-all. Standards and skills must still be mastered, but there could be choices with other material: Can students choose which articles to annotate and what videos they take notes from?

Differentiation and choice are essential when teaching abstract ideas, such as the systems involved in government, like checks and balances. Not all students can “see” how the branches of government interact, so let them choose the means that make it clear to them. We know our students learn in different ways. Why not teach them to search for the best option for themselves, developing critical thinking skills and understanding the content rather than struggling through materials? There must be a way to reach kids where they are and present content in an appealing way. 

Student choice helps students develop metacognitive and executive functioning skills. They have to evaluate what piece they will read, if the video will hold their attention, or if they understand concepts better with graphics. In many ways, isn’t this how adults learn? Do you read long passages to see a new concept visually? Do you learn better with hands-on activities? These are incredibly important lessons that students can learn while mastering content. 

Collaborative Learning

Students are given their wide-open questions; then, they are provided with the non-negotiables. Students are also provided with rubrics and a timeframe. All measures of success are provided and discussed upfront. Students must achieve content, skill, and time goals like in a job. 

Now it is time to step back as the leader and become the guide. In an Agile classroom, students must use metacognitive skills to plan their projects. My students do this on their Kanban board: they take large tasks and break them into smaller steps.

They then have to negotiate who completes what and communicate the time frame based on the due date. When students begin the work, even more choices open up: How will this group choose to answer the open-ended essential questions? Can the group decide if a single government can represent the needs of all people? What ideals make revolutions successful? Students are stretched beyond the mandated content to draw connections to the real world. More choices open up: How will they justify their answer? Is everyone on the same page? This is where an Agile mindset is developed.

Agile For Content Mastery 

Students collaborate, build connections, and synthesize information. Solutions that groups initially thought would be a slam dunk may hit major roadblocks, and students must be flexible enough to creatively problem-solve a new solution. 

While all of this is happening, one may wonder what students are learning. They are mastering the content because they build connections and apply their knowledge to areas they care about. 

Civics must be taught engagingly, focusing on how people can get involved in the system. An overarching curriculum pushed from the front of the room is lost on middle and high school kids. Students must have an interactive space to explore what civics means to them and how it affects their daily lives. By introducing the fundamentals of an agile classroom, we can empower kids to have choices and bring the lessons of government into their lives. The lessons must be open-ended, purposeful, and collaborative. Students deserve to learn marketable skills embedded in the curriculum and develop a passion for learning.

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