Guardians of Democracy Teachers
Putting Proven Pedagogy Into Practice
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About Guardians of Democracy Teachers

A partnership for engaging civic learning.

Developed in partnership between the Lou Frey Institute at the University of Central Florida and IllinoisCivics.org, the Guardians of Democracy Program is an online professional development program with extended learning opportunities for interested 6-12 educators. Our goal is to support a national professional development program and establish a network of certified educators across disciplines that embrace the proven practices of civic education to equip young people for college, career, and civic life success.

This course is inspired by the landmark report, Guardian of Democracy: The Civic Mission of Schools published by The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools. This report outlines six proven practices of civic education.

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Our Courses

Hear from the experts. See it in action. Build your toolkit. Engage your students.

Current & Controversial Issue Discussion Strategies

Simulations of Democratic Processes


Informed Action Through Service Learning


Constitutional Democracy as Content and Practice

Book Feature

Guardians of Democracy Teachers Current and Controversial Issues Discussion Course highlighted in new book, Making Classroom Discussions Work, edited by Dr. Jane Lo. The chapter, written by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University and Illinois Civics Hub, discusses the effectiveness of the course in preparing teachers to hold current and controversial issue discussions with their students. To learn more about the book, click here.

Lo Book Cover

Course Evaluations

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) released its evaluation of the Guardians of Democracy online courses. To read about their key findings and takeaways, click the button below.

Read Course Evaluation

Graduate Credit

We are now offering Graduate Credits through the University of St. Francis (USF).
To read more about this opportunity, click the button below.

Graduate Credit Info
Request Information

Interested in learning more? Reach out to the team.

Email Christopher.Spinale@ucf.edu

Enroll Now!

Enrolling is easy! Simply use the link below to request enrollment.


Still didn't find what you are looking for? We can help! You can request additional information.

Meet the Team

Helping keep the Republic, one civic educator at a time.

Mary Ellen Daneels

Mary Ellen Daneels

MDaneels@illinoiscivics.org

Christopher Spinale

Christopher Spinale

Christopher.Spinale@ucf.edu