Fall 2003-Notebook

Everyday Celebrations To Spark Up Lessons
Breaking the sound barrier, the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. winning the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as Dwight D. Eisenhower’s birthday and a Lewis and Clark Bicentennial event--these all fall on October 14th. With the Teacher’s Calendar, each day offers an array of historical events, presidential proclamations, astronomical phenomena, and religious holidays to inspire a new lesson plan or just bring a fun fact to the classroom. While most entries in the calendar are a short paragraph, dozens of topics particularly relevant for K-8 classes--like Thomas Edison’s birthday, the anniversary of the Titanic sinking, the 1963 March on Washington, and Arbor Day—are explored in sidebars that offer a little more background information along with books and Web sites. If you purchase a Teacher’s Calendar, be sure to check out the resources in the back: facts about U.S. presidents, contact information for senators and governors, and even the 2003 American Library Association’s children’s books awards. To order a copy from the publisher, McGraw-Hill, go to http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/ or call 800-262-4729.

Let Tiger Woods Help Educate Your Students
Looking for a way to create an after-school program, expand academic and career counseling, offer parenting classes, or improve professional development? The Tiger Woods Foundation would like to help. The Foundation supports education, youth development, parenting, and health organizations or projects in urban areas. Grants are awarded four times a year, with proposals due by the first of November, May, August, and February. The main body of the proposal is limited to four pages, so this is a good opportunity for educators with little to no grant-writing experience. To get started, read the full description at www.twfound.org/grants/funding.sps?section=grants&sid=941&lid=1&gra=0.

Report on Civic Participation
Two hundred years ago, fostering an able, active citizenry was the central argument for establishing free common schools--and today it remains a key concern of our educational system: witness the theme of this issue of American Educator.

According to The Civic Mission of Schools, a report published by the Carnegie Corporation and The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), there are many signs that students aren’t taking to their civic roles with the enthusiasm we’d love to see. The report lays out strong evidence that student knowledge of history and civics is too low, that students have little interest in public affairs, and that they have little desire to vote. "Education for Democracy," in this issue of American Educator, draws on some of this evidence.

The report offers preliminary research suggesting that selected strategies, such as engaging students in debates of current issues and student government, may increase subsequent student participation in voting and other civic activities. The full report is online at www.civicmissionofschools.org/.

Display Freedom’s Spread in Your Classroom
Each year Freedom House tracks the spread of democracy throughout the world with a survey called Freedom in the World. Now in its 30th year, the annual reports reveal some remarkable accomplishments: Back in 1972, 35 percent of the world’s population lived in free countries; today 44 percent enjoy such freedom.

The survey designates countries as free if citizens have a broad range of political and civil rights, partly free if rights are somewhat limited, and not free if even the most basic rights are not recognized. Political and civil rights are rated on questions such as:

• Are the legislative representatives elected through free and fair elections?

• Do the people have the right to organize in different political parties or other competitive political groupings of their choice, and is the system open to the rise and fall of these competing parties or groupings?

• Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?

• Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free of extensive political indoctrination?

• Does the rule of law prevail in civil and criminal matters? Is the population treated equally under the law? Are police under direct civilian control?

• Are property rights secure? Do citizens have the right to establish private businesses? Is private business activity unduly influenced by government officials, the security forces, or organized crime?

Since 1972, the number of free countries rose from 43 to 89 while the partly free countries increased from 38 to 55 and, most importantly, the not free countries declined from 69 to 48. Today, almost 60 percent of the 2.2 billion people enduring the lack of freedom live in just one country--China. But today’s concerns are not just restricted to places like China. Nearly one-quarter of the world’s electoral democracies are on shaky ground, lacking stable rule of law and widespread respect for human rights. Nevertheless, the past 30 years established a general march toward respecting the inherent rights of all people.

To learn more about Freedom in the World, go to www.freedomhouse.org/research/survey2002.htm. And to order a free, poster-size Map of Freedom for your classroom, call (212) 514-8040.

Copyright 2003 Freedom House Due to the small size, this map omits the names of countries and bodies of water, as well as small places such as Chechnya and Monaco. For a complete map, see the Freedom House Web site.

Copyright by the American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO. All rights reserved. Photographs
and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFT.