Universities should do more to provide students with citizenship development: Opinion

Universities should do more to prepare their students with skills that will be useful for their civic lives, writes Loleen Berdahl (Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy). Berdahl writes that citizenship development—defined as the development of knowledge and skills for effective citizenship—gives students the tools to effectively participate in democratic society. Berdahl advises instructors to emphasize the importance of skills that are relevant to civic engagement and foster liberal democratic values in the classroom. At the university level, the author encourages administrators to consider implementing a citizenship mandate that crosses all disciplines. “A whole university approach to citizenship development would support students in all disciplines in becoming effective, engaged citizens,” concludes Berdahl.