New social studies guidelines can help us learn to thrive together

How should we live together? In this time of intensifying partisan polarization, this is a core question facing our social studies teachers as they educate Illinois' future citizens. We must prepare our young people to move past the divides and distrust that plague us and learn to collaborate across party lines, cultural differences and generations to develop solutions to our most pressing problems.

But to get there, we need instructional standards that guide and support teachers in this critical work. This is why I joined a team of almost 50 educators from all corners of Illinois for weekly meetings from August through March to craft a revision to our current standards. The group was convened by the Illinois State Board of Education in response to the major social changes we've experienced since new standards were adopted in 2016.

In Illinois, standards do not specify what curriculum schools should use or how teachers should teach. Rather, they identify what students should know and be able to do at different grade levels. The present social science standards emphasize the inquiry process. That is, teaching students the skills necessary to look at our world and then pose questions, collect evidence, analyze that evidence and effectively communicate their findings. In some cases, students will go further and take action informed by their research, such as the Ball-Chatham sixth-grade students who connected their study of the Revolutionary War to making change in the present.

Taking an inquiry-based approach is a powerful way to prepare students to be the critical, independent thinkers that democracy relies on, and our team focused on strengthening this feature of the standards. For instance, we added new language asking students to seek out sources from multiple points of view and identify counter-arguments to make sure they don't only look for evidence that confirms their current beliefs.

But we also needed to ensure that our standards became more culturally responsive. This means outlining expectations that students understand their own history and culture as well as the histories and cultures of others across Illinois. Our state has a diverse student body: 48% White, 27% Hispanic, 17% Black, 5% Asian, 4% two or more races, as well as many Native American students. There is no single perspective on the past or present reflecting the varied experiences of all these people.

The future of our democracy relies on citizens who have studied each other and learned about the struggles, successes, major events and key contributions that mark the intertwined histories of Illinois' many communities. This is why we have included standards like, "Identify and analyze the role of individuals, groups and institutions in people's struggle for safety, freedom, equality and justice" (SS. H. 7.9-12.) and "Compare and connect significant diverse individuals, cultures and groups with events that changed history" (SS. H. 2.2). These ask teachers to create lessons that include the experiences of all Illinois' citizens so that students can appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities. That is a precondition for working together for a better future.

ISBE is taking public comments on the proposal by email until May 24 at rules@isbe.net. The Illinois Civic Mission Coalition has posted charts showing the current standards and the proposed revisions side-by-side for easy comparison. All feedback will receive a response and be reviewed by the board for possible changes to the proposal. A finalized version will be voted on by the state legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules later this summer, which is the last step before implementation in the 2022-2023 school year.

I encourage everyone to read the proposed changes and take the opportunity to provide feedback because this is a kind of democratic action we want students to take in the future. We need to hear all voices and consider a range of perspectives in order to do more than just live together, but thrive together as a state.

• Charles Tocci is an assistant professor of social studies education at Loyola University Chicago and the father of four Chicago Public Schools students. He was a member of the ISBE social studies standards revision team.