Civic Education Classroom

Civic Education classroom at University of Lampung, Sumatera, Indonesia

Civics open classroom climate

There are six-item scale assesses the degree to which students have been encouraged to express their own opinions, and to understand the opinions of others, in their civics, history, or social studies classroom. The items for the open classroom climate for discussion scale are

• Teachers respect our opinions and encourage us to express them during class.
• Students feel free to express opinions in class even when their opinions are different from most of the other students.
• Students are encouraged to make up their own minds about issues.
• Students feel free to disagree openly with teachers about political and social issues during class.
• Teachers encourage us to discuss political or social issues about which people have different opinions.
• Teachers present several sides of an issue when explaining it in class.

Paths to 21st Century Competencies Through Civic Education Classrooms.

(An Analysis of Survey Results from Ninth-Graders, Technical Assistance Bulletin)

Judith Torney Purta and Britt S. Wilkenfeld

Department of Human Development University of Maryland.

A report commissioned by the American Bar Association Division for Public Education and Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools Consortium, 2009.