Shaping citizenship in the administrative state: An exploratory study of the development of concepts of citizenship and public high school teachers as street -level bureaucrats

This dissertation analyzed the adequacy of citizenship education in the public schools and how it influences students' attitudes toward participation in the governance of the Administrative State. A triangulation analysis methodology was used in this qualitative exploratory research to answer the question: Is the current citizenship education sufficient for effective citizens in the Administrative State?.;The data sources researched were: First, Notions of Citizenship. Using secondary data, Ancient Greek and Roman views of citizenship, as well as perspectives of public administrators and other social science theorist were analyzed. Second, Education of Citizens will examine, The Ohio Academic Content Standards' requirements and educational theorists' recommendations of what ought to be taught in the public school social studies curriculum. Teachers affect the beliefs of students. What teachers think and their value systems determine what is actually taught in the classroom. Third, A survey, using a non-representative sample of descriptive data in an empirical study, sought to answer how social studies or government teachers in the public high schools in the Eleventh Congressional District, Ohio, view citizenship based upon the curriculum currently being taught. The survey analyzed three types of data: demographic to describe who the teacher, street-level bureaucrats were; a ranking to see what values were important to the teachers; and Likert scaling to examine what the teachers thought about their curriculum materials and expected instruction outcomes.;Based upon the finding of this research study it is argued: (1) Over time the meaning of words i.e. citizenship, justice, equality and property have changed. Citizens need to know the origin, history and current meaning of words in order to make them applicable to usage in the Administrative State. (2) While Ohio state curriculum standards may be adequate in a perfect world, they are not realistic for the today's real world. The ability of teachers and students to successfully achieve the goals of the standards will be conditioned upon many factors, including: students' social environment, community environment, and connecting the standards to their real worlds; administrators understanding that all must have equal educational opportunities and resources; legislators must carefully analyze and set workable goals related to the cost of education and testing, They must understand what students and teachers can accomplish in the allotted time frames, and set realistic standards for teachers certification. (3) Teachers may not have the experience to teach citizenship, and it is questionable that teachers have the political, social and civic involvement necessary to connect the past with the present in relationship to values. In addition, many social studies researchers have found that teachers do not have a common understanding of social studies or citizenship.;Based upon these findings it is doubtful that the citizenship education students receive in public high schools is sufficient to develop effective citizens in the Administrative State.