How Can Civic Education Enhances Civil Society Essay

Civic education is very essential to each and every citizen in a civil society. Therefore it must be noticeable. Civic education contributes to the well-being of society. This presentation is aimed at discussing how civic education can enhance civil society. The key concepts in this presentation are civic education and civil society. Therefore it is important to know the meaning of these two terms. Civic education is the field of study dealing with rights and responsibilities of citizenship as well as the responsibilities of the government. It deals with the commitment, assumptions, values and challenges of the national and civil society at large (Mwaipaya 1980). A Civil society is a public place between the states the market and the ordinary household, in which people debate and tackles action. Civic education enhances civil society in many ways, as one of the components is civic knowledge which it imparts in the citizen of the civil society. If the civil society are aware of their rights and if they know what to do it is very easy for them to participate in various activities of the civil society. Civic education imparts knowledge on democracy among the citizen of the civil society; democracy simply means a dialogue, a discussion, and a deliberative process in which citizen engage themselves in question about civic knowledge like what are the foundation of that particular civil society, and if the civil society will have knowledge on democracy issues it will improve. Hence this knowledge about democracy can only be imparted to the civil society through civic education and by doing so it is enhancing the needs of a civil society (Brookers etal 1980). Civic education also enhances civil society in terms of democracy because it is through civic education that we know and explain to others on how democracy acts and depends on certain basic values like respect for individual, the right to participate in the implementation of politics and development programmes, therefore if people in a civil society have knowledge about these rights and responsibilities, the civil society will be improved. Civic education can enhance the civil society because of its civic skills, if citizens are able to exercise their rights and discharge their responsibilities as members of self-governing communities, they are only need to acquire relevant intellectual and participatory skills, when we say intellectual skills these are essential for informed, effective and inseparable citizen from content, to be able to think critically about contemporary relevance as well as command of a set of an intellectual tools or considerations useful in dealing with such an issue. Hence if the society will have civic skills it will automatically be enhanced and there will be quick development in that particular civil society (Z.C.E.A, 2004). Another intellectual skill which good civic education fosters is that of describing. The ability to describe functions and processes such as legislative checks and balances or judicial review is indicative of understanding, describing trends like participation in civil lif e, immigration or employment helps the citizens fit current events into longer term pattern (Patterson, 2001). Civic education seeks to develop competence in explaining and analyzing issues, if citizen can explain how something should work, they will be able to analyze things as the components and consequences of ideals, social, political or economic processes and institutions. The ability to analyze enables one to distinguish between facts and opinion or between means and ends. It also helps the citizen to clarify responsibilities such as those between personal and public responsibilities or those between elected or appointed officials and citizens, therefore this can only happens if people in a civil society have civil skills and by having these skills in a civil society means that civic education is doing its job of enhancing the civil society (African Development Bank Achieving Millennium Development Goals in Global poverty, 2002). Furthermore, civic education enhances civil society through the component of civic skills, in such a way that education for citizenship in a democratic society focuses on civic skills that are required for informed, effective and responsible participation in the political process and in civil society, those skills can be categorized as interacting, monitoring and influencing. Interacting pertains to the skills citizen need to communicate and to work cooperatively with others. To interact is to be responsive to one’s fellow citizens, to interact is to question, to answer and to deliberate with civility, therefore if people be able to interact and question others toward certain common good the civil society will be enhanced. Monitoring politics and government simply refers to the skills citizens need to track the handling of issues by the political process and by the government. Monitoring also means the exercising of over sight functions on the part of citizens. Finally the participatory skill of influencing refers to the capacity to affect the process of politics and governance, both the formal processes of governance in the community (Mwaipaya, 1986). Civic education can improve and enhance our civil society through the component of civic dispositions essential traits of private and public character. This is important to the maintenance and improvement of constitutional democracy. Civic dispositions, like civic skills, develop slowly overtime and as a result of what one learns and experience in the home, school and organizations of civil society. These experiences should engender understanding that democracy requires the responsible self -governance of each individual worth and their dignity. One cannot exist without the other. Traits of private character such as moral responsibility, self -discipline and respect for the worth and human dignity of every individuals are no less consequential. Such traits as public spiritedness, civility, and respect for the rule of law, critical mindedness to listen, negotiate and compromise are indispensible to democracy success (Patterson, 2001). Civic education can enhance civil society due to civic dispositions that contribute to the political efficiency of the individual, the healthy functioning of the political system, a sense of dignity and worthy as well as the common good were identified in national standards for civics and government. In the interest of brevity, these dispositions are private and public character might be described as becoming an independent member of the society, assuming the personal, political and economic responsibilities of a citizen, respecting individual worth and human dignity (respecting others and listen to their opinions). Also participating in civil affairs in a thoughtful and effective manner as well as promoting the healthy functioning of constitutional democracy (Todaro etal 2009) Therefore, it can be noted that civic dispositions as a component or the habits of the heart , the traits of the public and private character that under-greed democracy are in the long run, probably of more consequence than the knowledge or skills a citizen may command (Z.C.E.A, 2004). In conclusion, civil society can be enhanced by civic education through its components (civic knowledge, civic skills and civic dispositions). Civic education is therefore very important to the lives of citizens in a civil society and it must be noticeable.