Jeremy B. Landa
This unit is tailored for a civics class with some specific applications for any United States history class. I teach eleventh and twelfth-grade students at Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School in New Haven, CT. Coop High School serves a student population that is not only diverse ethnically and culturally, but draws students who are performance artists in music, dance, visual and performing arts. At such a place, there exists immense opportunity for the delivery of instruction to creative learners. 12
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grade students at Coop High School and New Haven Public Schools are required to study the election process. It is most important within this period for students to begin developing a serious understanding of their own roles within a democracy. My desire is for them to begin asking serious questions to discuss what criteria are needed for a democracy to be successful, on both a large and small scale. For example, asking themselves questions like the following will serve them well:
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What are your societal obligations as a consumer citizen?
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How is politics driven by how we consume, and how can presidential elections serve to inform me about the connections between consumption and power, citizenship and politics?
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By starting on the biggest stage, students are likely to be most interested in and familiar with presidential elections. This is not meant to dismiss the importance of state and local elections, which often have more immediate impacts upon students' lives. Rather, it is to focus the concept of a universe of obligation as it describes the responsibilities of being an American. That is, presidential elections should exemplify how voting influences neighbors in Connecticut and Alaska, Michigan and Texas. In doing this, students ultimately have the opportunity to approach voting as an obligation to maintain their consumer rights.
