Policy Survey on Democratic Citizenship Education

1. Policy Survey on Democratic Citizenship Education III Meeting of the Inter-American Commission on Education October 26th and 27th, 2006. Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices, Department of Education and Culture, Organization of American States, Washington, DC

2. Objectives • To document current national, regional, or local policies in education for democratic citizenship, and related areas, throughout the Hemisphere. • To identify common challenges and priority needs which the Inter-American Program could help address.

3. Method • The Ministers of Education of the western hemisphere were sent a letter explaining the survey in June-July, 2006, and they were asked to designate a point of contact to answer it. • Their delegates, usually the national coordinators for these policies, answered the 23-question survey using our online tool.

4. Preliminary Results 14 Countries have filled out the Survey by Oct.18th, 2006: Antigua Argentina Commonwealth of the Bahamas Canada (4 provinces) Chile Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua St. Lucia Trinidad and Tobago The United States of America Partial responses (only contact information): Mexico, St.Kitts and Nevis.

5. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere • VII. Eleven countries reported having a national policy - in place or in construction - on the teaching of education for democratic citizenship or related areas. • Antigua did not report one. • Canada and USA did not report a national policy, although provinces/states may have one.

6. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere

7. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere

8. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere XI. Does this policy define and seek to apply national standards? (Standards are defined as what students are expected to know and be able to do at a given level of education)

9. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere XIII. To which age levels does the policy apply?

10. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere XIV. Is implementing this policy mandatory for the actors involved (such as schools and/or teachers)?

11. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere XVIII. Has the overall impact of the national policy been evaluated?

12. Preliminary ResultsPolicies in the Hemisphere Towards an Understanding of Common Challenges • Consolidating the existing policies in democratic citizenship education and related areas. “Necesitamos establecer una política mucho más amplia” (Nicaragua) ”Lograr una mayor articulación de la política al interior del Ministerio Nacional” (Argentina) • Lack of sufficient resources to make the ideal, real. “La falta de recursos humanos y económicos para educar a la ciudadanía en democracia” (Nicaragua). “Insufficient manpower to provide the in-service support for the effective implementation and monitoring of the social studies curriculum in general and the citizenship education component in particular.”(St. Lucia). Other challenges and priority information needs in final report.

13. Our Challenges • Effective communication with Ministries and points of contact. • Achieving commitment from Ministries and points of contact. • Ensuring follow through from points of contact. • Technical difficulties with online tool.

14. Next Steps • Continued follow-up of Countries which have not responded the questionnaire. CIE support. • Additional analysis and interpretation of the data obtained. • Dissemination of the report among Member Countries and at the 2007 Ministerial.

15. The Final Report will be available online at: www.educadem.oas.org My contact information: Adriana Cepeda acepeda@oas.org