Building a Movement for Civic Education, with Michael Rebell (Teachers College, Columbia & Democracy Ready New York)

We all know that we could be doing a better job preparing young people for civic participation – and government officials and the public largely agree, but few organizations focus primarily on addressing this problem. Democracy Ready New York is one of the groups that’s taking action on this issue – advocating for government policies to better support civic education and broadening public engagement in the issue. This episode features the leader of Democracy Ready New York, Michael Rebell.

Since 2005, Michael has served as the Executive Director of the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University. Over the past few years, he and other staff at the Center have built a coalition of individuals and organizations with an interest in civic education. Today this coalition, Democracy Ready New York, is working to improve various aspects of civic education, including media literacy, classrooms discussions, equity, and more. In his conversation with Brett, Michael talks about the goals of the organization, the accomplishments of its various committees, and the group’s plans to diversity its efforts to improve civic education.


Resources Related to this Episode

Michael Rebell's Website

Democracy Ready New York Website

CivXNow (Civic Education Advocacy)


ESD Podcast Resources

Education for Sustainable Democracy Homepage

Brett Levy's Open-Access Research Articles (Free Downloads)

Education for Sustainable Democracy Facebook Page (Please Like!)

YouTube Channel for Education for Sustainable Democracy (Please Subscribe!)

Brett's Twitter Page for Handle @brettlmlevy


Related ESD Episodes

A Congressional Bill to Strengthen Civic Education, with Cat McDonald (DC Lobbyist for Civic Ed)

Responding to this Moment & Expanding Youth Civic Action, with Elizabeth Clay Roy (Generation Citizen)

Guiding Productive Political Discussions, with Diana Hess (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Engagement & Equity in Civic Education (with Prof. Jane Lo)