On October 14, the AHA posted an action alert, developed in collaboration with the National Council for the Social Studies and the Organization of American Historians, urging members to oppose the Department of Education’s plans to prioritize patriotic education in its discretionary grant programs by submitting comments to the Federal Register. The AHA submitted a comment calling on the Department of Education to “avoid a narrow definition of patriotic education that excludes content, ideas, and perspectives necessary for a full and accurate understanding of the past.” “The founding generation of the United States did not have a shared understanding of their history, their symbols, or their heroes; nor have subsequent generations,” the comment reads. “US patriotism is diverse and multifaceted and it is capacious enough to include even those who are critical and skeptical about patriotism.”
The American Historical Association (AHA) recognizes the foundational importance of educational programs that help students understand the history of the United States and prepare them for a lifetime of informed civic engagement. The Department of Education has long funded projects and initiatives that support this broad goal. As it expands this investment, it can and should avoid a narrow definition of patriotic education that excludes content, ideas, and perspectives necessary for a full and accurate understanding of the past.
An investment in patriotic education is not new. In 2013, the AHA and fourteen other professional associations published the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, offering a clear statement of the overarching student learning goals that structure history and social studies education. This framework underscores the importance of helping students develop the skills and knowledge necessary for informed civic engagement, and it is quoted, referenced, or cited in academic standards for social studies in dozens of states across the country.
Many history and social studies educators already provide a strong foundation for reflective patriotism, including regular teaching of the founding documents. In 2024, the AHA published results from a survey of over 3,000 middle and high school US history educators. (https://www.historians.org/teaching-learning/k-12-education/mapping-the-landscape-of-secondary-us-history-education/) This research underscored the point that social studies and history teachers are professionals who are primarily concerned with helping their students learn central elements of our nation’s history. Nearly 100% of the teachers surveyed rated “developing informed citizens for participation in a democratic society” as a goal for their history courses, and 94% identified this as an important or very important outcome.
We do not need to think alike in order to find common purpose; the founders of the United States found common purpose amid multiple conflicts and divisions. The proposed Department of Education priority states that “a shared understanding of our political, economic, intellectual, and cultural history—including our national symbols and heroes” is a prerequisite for informed patriotism. The founding generation of the United States did not have a shared understanding of their history, their symbols, or their heroes; nor have subsequent generations. US patriotism is diverse and multifaceted and it is capacious enough to include even those who are critical and skeptical about patriotism.
The proposed rule narrows the concept of patriotism and patriotic education to a single intellectual tradition, with a disproportionate focus on the Founding Era. American history does not stop in 1800, and it should be presented in a way that allows students to explore multiple periods, consider various perspectives, place events in context, and draw their own informed conclusions. Students deserve opportunities to learn an honest and full account of the history of the United States and the world. We encourage the Department of Education to expand its definition of patriotic education to encompass both the ability to think historically and a more complete understanding of the past. Students must learn about the American political tradition within the context of the full history of our communities and institutions and the experiences of the many Americans who have struggled to achieve a more perfect union throughout our nation’s history.
With nearly 11,000 members, the AHA is the largest membership association of professional historians in the world. Founded in 1884, the Association provides leadership for the discipline, helps to sustain and enhance the work of historians, and promotes the imperative of historical thinking in public life.