Civic perspective-taking: Examining how young children engage with locally relevant public issues

Abstract This manuscript examines the civic perspective-taking of second-grade students in three majority non-white classrooms as they participated in a civics unit with a perspective-taking focus. Specifically, this work examines student learning related to key concepts within the unit through analyses of individual student work samples and small group work and discussions. Based on these data, a rubric of learning civic perspective-taking and related concepts is presented. Patterns in student work are examined through three student exemplars that demonstrate advanced, developed and limited levels of understanding of key concepts throughout the unit. Larger patterns of student understandings from these three classrooms are also discussed.