Gain new insights and develop strategies to strengthen civics, social studies, and history education in your classroom, school, district, or organization!
The Civic Learning Institute (CLI), an initiative of the Democratic Knowledge Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, offers engaging, interactive professional learning for teachers and leaders in K-12 and higher education.
Professional Learning
Online Courses
Choose one of our upcoming four-week online courses focused on strengthening civics, history, and social studies education. Taught by leading scholars, coached by practicing educators, and mixed live and asynchronous learning.
Online Workshops
Choose one of our upcoming 90-minute workshops focused on high-impact civics, history, and social studies strategies. Led by expert facilitators, these live sessions offer practical, ready-to-use tools you can bring straight into your classroom.
Custom Workshops
Bring our team directly to your school or district. Custom Workshops vary in length and are tailored to your staff's specific needs, standards, and goals scheduled at a time that
works for you.
Our learning experiences will allow you to…
Deepen your understanding of important concepts and content in civics, social studies, and US history through professional learning designed by leading experts and practicing teachers.
Enhance your teaching skills by experiencing first-hand the powerful approaches to supporting learning that you can then use either in your classroom to support student learning or in your school or department to support the learning of colleagues.
Engage in discussions with other educators.
Begin to plan how you will apply the ideas and tools you explore to a learning experience for students or a professional learning experience for colleagues.
Receive feedback and support from experienced educators.
For high-quality civic education, learners of all ages need meaningful opportunities to develop what they know and can do as civic participants, in contexts from their everyday communities to the national and global stage. CLI professional learning supports educators in cultivating students’ civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions, whether through civics projects or everyday classroom routines. The goal is to help all students see themselves as contributors to civic life—curious, capable, and ready to engage in their communities.
Each CLI learning experience is aligned with the Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy. Developed by a cross-ideological group of 300 educators, scholars, and practitioners, the Roadmap provides guidance for creating powerful civic and history learning experiences to support students in becoming skilled, motivated, and responsible participants in US constitutional democracy.
Participants who engage with a professional learning session run by the Civic Learning Institute will receive a certificate of completion from the Harvard Graduate School of Education documenting their professional learning hours.
Sign up to learn more about any of our opportunities below and be notified when registration opens.
Upcoming Online Courses
All courses involve four sessions: two 2-hour live sessions, and two asynchronous sessions over about ten days each. The two live sessions are not recorded. To register for the course, you must be able to attend the live sessions as listed below in US Eastern time zone.
Note: These courses are only open to educators based in the United States.
October 1 - 29, 2026
Learn pedagogical strategies for facilitating civil discourse and creating a classroom environment that allows for open, honest, respectful conversations about difficult and potentially sensitive historical and contemporary topics.
October 8 - November 5, 2026
Delve into the Framers' concerns, the creation of checks and balances, and the Constitution's role in shaping our civic life today as we uncover its enduring principles and discuss how it has held our democracy together for centuries.
October 22 - November 19, 2026
Explore Lincoln’s impact on American democracy through both his statecraft and literary craft, examining themes of liberty, equality, and self-government to help engage students in compelling discussions about a critical figure and period of history.
Professional Development in Your School
Schedule a workshop with us in your school or district!
The Civic Learning Institute provides high-quality professional development on your schedule and targeted to the needs of your department, school, or district. Engage our staff of experienced facilitators to lead one or more virtual or in-person workshop(s) during your scheduled professional development time.
Our workshops emphasize civic education that honors pluralism in the classroom and equips students to navigate and shape the world around them. Drawing on research-based pedagogies and reflective practice, workshop participants strengthen their ability to foster students’ civic development through inquiry, dialogue, and hands-on projects. The workshops position civic learning not as an isolated subject, but as an integral element of all subjects which prepares young people to contribute to a healthy democracy.