American National Standards for civics as a factor in education for civic engagement

Russian Federal Educational Standards 2021 place high demands on schoolchildren as individuals with a number of traits and competencies necessary for an active citizen. It seems expedient to study not only domestic, but also international experience of civic education. The United States is an example of countries with high levels of civic engagement, which can be seen in the collective and individual participation in protests and picketing, volunteering and a developed network of various public organizations. The purpose of the research is to study the US National Standards for Civics and reveal how fully they cover all the components of civicism as a complex characteristic of a person. Component analysis of the concept of citizenship and civic engagement was used in the study of scientific and methodological literature on civic education. In the course of the study, a list of nine determinants (components) of a person’s civic engagement was compiled. It is shown that all nine components are reflected in the Standards to varying degrees. The most pronounced components are critical thinking, theoretical knowledge related to social and political literacy, as well as motivation to unite and participate in civil actions. To a large extent, the Standards are aimed at practice-oriented knowledge and skills and at ensuring that students understand their personal benefits from participating in socio-political processes. It has been determined that civic education in US schools is one of the basic factors influencing the high degree of civic engagement in American society, which can be seen in the first decades of the 21th century. The study can be used for subsequent comparative analyzes of education systems, as well as for a more detailed study of the entire system of factors of civil activity of the population.