Gauging Pre-Service Teacher Perceptions of Incorporating Project Citizen in School Curricula as a Vehicle for Civic Education

Abstract

This article considers undergraduate pre-service teachers’ perceptions and likelihood of integrating Project Citizen into future middle and high school curricula after completing Project Citizen as part of a required undergraduate “Programs in Social Education” course. The study further considers pre-service teachers’ own sense of their role as citizens in a democracy and examines whether and how these attitudes impact pre-service teachers’ desires and expectations of integrating civic education experiences into their social studies curricula. The results suggest that assigning Project Citizen to pre-service social studies teachers has limited benefits in impacting pre-service teachers’ plans to incorporate civic education in future classes and in how they perceive themselves as citizens in a democracy.