Troubling “active”: Elementary teacher candidates’ framing of active vs. passive citizenship

ABSTRACT

This instrumental case study examines how elementary teacher candidates (TCs) came to understand citizenship and civic engagement after participating in a news group project during the 2020 presidential election season. TCs formed a binary understanding of civic engagement as “passive” vs. “active,” viewing themselves as active citizens as they became more informed on policy issues, participating in dialogue with those who had opposing views, and using their vote to “help” others. However, their thinking remained rooted in an individual, intellectual space rather than one that calls for collective action. By troubling this active and passive binary, we recognize the work still needed to expand TCs’ understandings and knowledge of citizenship. We urge social studies teacher educators to center critical forms of citizenship that emphasize collective action needed to help dismantle systemic oppression for a more equitable and just society.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizenship education
• election news groups
• elementary teacher education
• political discussions

Acknowledgments

We extend gratitude for mentors and peers who have provided thoughtful feedback on this manuscript throughout the writing process, particularly Dr. Marilyn Johnston-Parsons, Dr. Jada Kohlmeier, and Dr. Jesús Tirado.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Following critical scholars such as Hawkman and Shear (2020) and Matias et al. (2014), we intentionally did not capitalize white to avoid centering whiteness and reifying its hegemonic status.