We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution is a program of the Center for Civic Education, funded by a congressional appropriation. In Pennsylvania, it is coordinated by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, with assistance from Congressional district coordinators for each Congressional district in the state.

The primary goal of the program is to promote civic competence and responsibility among Pennsylvania elementary and secondary students. We the People is a PennCORD keystone program and has been endorsed by the First Lady of Pennsylvania, Judge Marjorie O. Rendell.

The instructional program enhances the students' understanding of government and American constitutional democracy. At the same time the students discover the contemporary relevance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The culminating activity is a simulated congressional hearing in which the students respond to a panel of judges, demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of constitutional principles. The students have the opportunity to evaluate, take, and defend positions on relevant historical and contemporary issues.

The foundation of the We the People program is the classroom curriculum. The texts are designed to be user-friendly to students with a wide range of abilities and may be used as a supplemental text for a full semester of study. Critical thinking exercises, problem solving activities and cooperative learning techniques help to develop the participatory skills, while increasing student knowledge of the institutions of American constitutional democracy.

Since the inception of the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program in 1987, more than 26 million students and 100,000 educators have participated in this innovate course of study. The largest civic education program in the country, We the People is focused on the history and principles of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The materials are easily integrated into a civics or U.S. History or U.S. Government class or as a stand-alone curriculum. The curriculum enhances student understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy as well as the contemporary relevance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Critical thinking exercises, problem-solving activities, cooperative learning and simulated legislative hearings help develop intellectual and participatory skills.

Independent studies reported that students who use the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution materials outperform other students on political knowledge and philosophy and are more politically tolerant than students who use traditional textbooks and teaching approaches.

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