207. Civic Storytelling

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In this episode, we’re reimagining civics education through a lens of storytelling and dialogue, drawing from Nicole Mirra and Antero Garcia’s book, Civics for the World to Come. 


In it, they discuss a five-part framework that educators can use in their classrooms to conduct meaningful civic discourse. Storytelling, lived experiences, and personal narratives are central to this approach, allowing students to engage meaningfully with what’s important to them and their community to help build a better future. 

Why? 

In today’s charged political climate, many students are embracing civic engagement and the fight for a better, more equitable future. However, the traditional modes of civic education tend to focus more on systems and institutions rather than personal stories and current societal issues. If educators can shift toward a problem-solving, student-led model, civic education can become both more engaging and impactful in addressing important societal challenges. 

What?

The authors of Civics for the World to Come introduce a framework with five world-building skills:

• Inquiry: Asking questions and getting curious; it’s the “engine of social change.” 
• Storytelling: Using personal stories and accounts to understand civics issues. 
• Imagination: Envisioning a better future, looking outside the constraints of what’s possible or realistic. 
• Networking: Community-asset mapping and connecting with others around you.
• Advocacy: Speaking up for change. 

Educators may find all elements of this framework useful in their civics curriculum, but this episode dives deeper into one element—storytelling. Here are some ways educators can take this principle and apply it to meaningful classroom discussion and student learning. 

Step 1: Interrogate your curriculum 

The first mindset shift for educators is looking at the current curriculum and how to design it in a way that engages with individual, interpersonal, and community stories. Is it centered on understanding, or does it rely only on regurgitating facts and getting it “right?” Research tells us that stories are just as likely to influence people as facts, so there needs to be a blend of using both to understand civic discussions. 

Step 2: Tell your story

Another key piece for educators and students alike is to contextualize personal experiences. The authors distinguish between an autobiography (i.e., what’s your story?) and an autoethnography (i.e., what’s the social context your story happened in?). This framework helps students think of their personal narratives plus the beliefs, values, ideas, and experiences they bring to the discussion.

Step 3: Choose activities and protocols to explore civic issues

Use some structured classroom activities to help students engage in discussion. Examples include: 

• Story-Stance-Argument: A three-column table to help organize their thinking on a specific topic. What’s the story? What’s your stance? Why? 
• 4-Cs Framework: Using values of curiosity, care, connection, and community to guide conversations and co-create discussion agreements. 

Step 4: Focus on critical literacy

As you move through different topics in your civics curricula, focus on developing the skill of critical literacy. This is looking at relevant media and uncovering biases, asking questions like—what is this piece of media telling about my topic? Where are the silences and gaps? What questions do I need to explore? 

Final Tip


To shift from facts-and-figures civics education to a relevant, real civic discourse on present topics that matter, we must always root it in students’ lived experiences. This makes it more engaging in the class but also helps students take positive, transformative action with problems that affect them and their community. 

To help you implement today’s takeaways, I’m sharing my 4-Part Series: How to Talk About Things That Matter with you for free. And, if you’re looking for more details on the ideas in this blog post, listen to episode 207 of the Time for Teachership podcast. If you’re unable to listen or you prefer to read the full episode, you can find the transcript below.

​If you enjoyed this episode, check out my YouTube channel where you can learn about more tips and resources like this one below: