BY: BEANIE GEOGHEGAN

Members of the Freedom In Education team recently returned from the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Conference in Boston, MA, which was a clarifying experience. First, it solidified why only thirteen percent of students in the U.S. performed at the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2022. Second, it affirmed the dire need for organizations like Freedom In Education to continue our efforts to restore content and rigor to the K-12 Social Studies curriculum. 

This year was the second NCSS conference members of our team attended, and for the second time, the lack of American flags visible throughout the exhibit hall was astounding. Obviously, social studies encompasses more than American history. Still, given that the original intent of education was to ensure that each generation had a solid understanding of the purpose of our founding and the function of our government, it was surprising. One would think our nation’s flag would be prominently displayed at a conference that drew thousands of teachers charged with this specific task. 

It seemed as if many of the exhibitors and attendees never read or had forgotten the words of George Washington when he stated, “A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country.”

Rather than “the education of our youth in the science of government,” many exhibitors were focused on entertaining our youth while encouraging them to be activists and social justice warriors. Many of the booths boasted about the use of “inquiry-based learning,” “culturally responsive curriculum,” “student engagement,” and “experiential learning.” Few mention the history, geography, civics, or economic content students need to learn to be self-governing, virtuous citizens of the United States. In fact, “global citizenship” was a more common theme than American citizenship. 

While there was little to encourage our team throughout the conference, there were a few bright spots. It was delightful to see our friends at The Woodson Center, who provide high-quality lesson plans to help teachers highlight black Americans who demonstrated excellence and have made tremendous contributions to our country. They have even created lovely animated videos for teachers to use with younger students. The best part is that all of their materials are free.

Since teachers can’t teach what they don’t know, it was also good to see The Jack Miller Center in attendance again. They provide teachers with the necessary training and knowledge about our nation’s founding principles so they can take that knowledge back to their classrooms. So far, their program has impacted over 2,400 teachers, which is tremendous news for their students. 

A new highlight from this year’s conference was the Medal of Honor Character Education Program. “Character education” has gotten a bad reputation in recent years as it has morphed into Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and become more like therapy than character development. This program is different because it teaches the values exemplified by The Medal of Honor recipients. Those six values are courage, commitment, integrity, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism. They offer lessons for elementary and secondary school and teacher training, and they do it all for free. With schools facing budget cuts in the years ahead, this would be a program to check out. 

Attending the NCSS conference won’t go on record as the most encouraging event we participated in this year, but it was motivating. It was clear that the goal our founding fathers envisioned, to cultivate well-informed, virtuous citizens, is no longer the goal of K-12 social studies education. It’s why Freedom In Education is striving and working with other organizations to provide and promote a restoration of history, civics, geography, and economics. The future of our nation depends on it.