ABSTRACT

Civic education historically has focused primarily on preparing students to influence politics and government policy. Less attention has been paid to the curricular implications of civil society, even though it is a crucial site for deliberatively informed action and one of the primary ways in which students will enter the public sphere. This article highlights the importance of civil society as a component of civic education and critically examines why it has been neglected or disparaged by many civic educators. The article also emphasizes the role of formal curricula in systematically preparing students to critically engage in civil society as they work toward social justice; this preparation involves acquainting students with the knowledge necessary to evaluate the work of such organizations, as well providing students with experience in the kinds of collaborative deliberation that takes place there.

摘要

历史上，公民教育主要集中于培养学生影响政治和政府政策的能力。尽管公民社会是协商性知情行动的重要场所，也是学生进入公共领域的主要方式之一，但对公民社会的课程含义的关注却较少。本文强调了公民社会作为公民教育的组成部分的重要性，并批判性地考察了为什么许多公民教育者忽视或贬低了公民社会。文章还强调了正规课程在系统地准备学生在争取社会公正的过程中批判性地参与公民社会中的作用；这项准备工作包括使学生熟悉评估此类组织的工作所必需的知识，