I have been teaching U.S. Government to seniors at Pattonville High School for over 6 years. An essential piece of the course, is for students to develop a more complex understanding of citizenship.In class, we go over the specific civic duties and responsibilities as outline in the Missouri educational standards.However, we then complicate the idea of a good citizen always follows the laws, by reading excerpts of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, in which he makes an argument for disobeying unjust laws.I am very intrigued by students’ moral development of citizenship.At what point would they consider breaking an unjust law?How do students view others who break the law for what they believe, especially if those students do share in the view point that the contested law is unjust?Students are asked to create a Padlet defining citizenship and finding a person either historic or contemporary, that lives up to their definition of citizenship.For the past couple of semesters that I have assigned this exercise, the usual examples show up on the student Padlet. The historic civil rights leaders,Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Representative John Lewis, make a predictable appearance.Modern political, entrepreneurial and entertainment figures also are prevalent, such as President Obama, Opera, George Clooney and Bill Gates.So, I was very curious to understand how Moroccan students view their role in civic society and what type of leaders they would choose as a role model of citizenship.
Prior to the Moroccan field experience, I made some assumptions about what the students would say.Learning about the political system of Morocco and its monarchy, I assumed students would say members of the royal family would exemplary citizens.I also assumed that the Moroccan independence movement would yield national icons similar to that of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
So, I was surprised at the blank stares I received when I asked high school students about their civic role models. I prompted them by saying things like, what about the royal family.To which many students laughed out loud and said no.I asked about independence leaders that would be similar to George Washington, to which students responded, we lost our war for independence, so we do not look up to them as revolutionary heroes.After more prompting, one student asked if it was okay to say the Prophet Mohamed was his role model and several students agreed.Another student identified German Chancellor Angela Merkel as her citizen of choice.
When the teacher cohort returned Rabat for debriefing we attended a panel session that included 3 Moroccan educators and 1 TGC alumni conducting research in Morocco.After the panel session, I was able to speak to the panel informally and asked questions about my observation in the classroom.As we discussed the importance of a national narrative and identifying national values, the group made several key points.The first point was that Moroccan core principles center around faith and Islam more than a government system.Where as many in the U.S. can agree upon Constitutional principles such as separation of powers, check and balances and federalism, many Moroccan people can agree upon on the central teachings of Islam. After all the population is 99% Sunni Muslim.This helped explain why one student identified the Prophet Mohamed as his ideal citizen and why several students supported his assertion.The idea that when in comes to Morocco, “the government is young but the culture is old,”was another interesting point.The group discussed that the U.S. government is old (240 years old) and thus had time to build up a national narrative to sustain the system.Creating and molding iconic legions such as Washington and Jefferson.Where as, in Morocco the current political system gain independence in 1956. Further more, the panelist describe a political system in which no party can control Parliament and that the Prime Minister needs to form an alliance between 33 parties.With a fractional Parliament, that leaves the King to have “real” power.Therefore, there can be a cynical attitude towards being able to effect change.I also experience this perception in the classroom.Students were discussing their desire to have more clubs and student groups in the high school but noted there was no funding to support the clubs.When I ask about writing to local representatives for help, I was met with eye rolling and a consensus that their voices would not be heard or valued, they “see through the performance,” of “democratic” exercises.
After my conversation with students and the panelists I am left with many questions.
Are there universal themes in citizenship?
How does education participate in creating a national historic and civic narrative?
Does that narrative tend to be singular or account for various experiences in the national framework?
What are some examples of Moroccan teachers using global competencies to help foster agency with their students?
My next steps are twofold.One, I will follow up on panelist Jennice McCafferty Wright and her research write up on civic education and social movement citizenship in Morocco.Luckily for me, Jennice lives in Missouri and teaches the University of Missouri, Columbia.Second, I have signed my classes up to participate in the BRIDGE program sponsored by the non-profit iEARN.The BRIDGE program will connect my students with their peers in North Africa and the Middle Easton the virtual global collaborative project called, “Got Power?”: The Future Citizen.In this project, my students and I will be able to explore concepts on citizenship, human rights and U. N. Sustainable Development Goals.I will be curious to see where these two avenues of learning take me and what new understandings I will have at the end of the year.