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.
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.
Professional Development in Your School
Select one or more 90-minute workshops from a menu of options, and work with our team to deliver them at your school, either virtually or on-site. Pick the workshop experiences that are most of interest to you and your colleagues.
Scheduled Live Online Workshops
Join us over Zoom for a 90-minute workshop about high-quality civic learning and teaching across the grade span, led by experienced educators. Choose the workshop topics that are most of interest to 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.
HarvardX: We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy
Ongoing Enrollment | Register on EdX
Gain a foundational knowledge of American constitutional democracy and understand how to encourage others to explore their own civic paths, while in parallel crafting your own civic voice and identity.
Difficult Conversations in the Classroom
Session 1 (asynchronous) opens Thursday, October 1
Session 2 (live Zoom session) Thursday, October 15, 7-9pm ET
Session 3 (asynchronous) opens Friday, October 16
Session 4 (live Zoom session) Thursday, October 29, 7-9pm ET
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Creating a classroom environment that allows for open, honest, respectful conversations about difficult and potentially sensitive topics can be challenging. And yet providing time and space to teach and model for students how to engage respectfully with one another’s ideas and opinions is more important than ever. Dialogue, including disagreement, is an essential part of a healthy democracy. In this course, we'll examine a case study that illustrates how teaching sensitive historical and current events can lead to difficult conversations with students, families, community members, school board members, and other stakeholders. We’ll share and model a variety of pedagogical strategies for facilitating civil discourse and supporting students in developing their capacity for reflective patriotism, a sense of voice and agency, and civic friendship.
Our Declaration: “We the People” and the Declaration of Independence
Session 1 (Live Zoom session) Wednesday, July 8, 7-9pm ET
Session 2 (asynchronous) opens Thursday, July 9
Session 3 (asynchronous) opens Thursday, July 22
Session 4 (Live Zoom session) Wednesday, August 5, 7-9pm ET
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“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and the right of the People to “alter or abolish” their government — the famous words of the Declaration of Independence — lay the foundations of our constitutional democracy. In this course, Danielle Allen helps us explore how the document took shape and what guiding principles we can find in it for our own lives today. Drawing on the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap, participants will work together to interpret the Declaration’s arguments for freedom and equality, its religious appeals, and later efforts to bring the United States closer to the ideals of the Declaration and to realize its vision of equality and liberty. You will develop ways to help your students reflect on both the importance of the Declaration in their current lives and also its significance for their ongoing engagement as civic participants.
Securing the "Blessings of Liberty": The U.S. Constitution
Session 1 (Live Zoom session) Thursday, October 8, 7-9pm ET
Session 2 (asynchronous) opens Friday, October 9
Session 3 (asynchronous) opens Thursday, October 22
Session 4 (Live Zoom session) Thursday, November 5, 7-9pm ET
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The United States Constitution has been in use longer than any other written constitution in the world, but when the framers wrote and revised its original text, they worried about whether it would be strong enough to survive the conflicts of their day. Could a country as large as the United States really function as a constitutional democracy? Could the Founders create a government strong enough to hold the union together? Ultimately, they created an enduring framework of checks and balances that enables our pluralistic society to come together, debate issues, and find consensus. In this course, we’ll think about the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and how it continues to structure our civic life today.
A New Birth of Freedom: The Gettysburg Address
Session 1 (Live Zoom session) Thursday, October 22, 7-9pm ET
Session 2 (asynchronous) opens Friday, October 23
Session 3 (asynchronous) opens Thursday, November 5
Session 4 (Live Zoom session) Thursday, November 19, 7-9pm ET
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Abraham Lincoln is often credited with having saved or re-founded the American Union by giving it a “new birth of freedom.” In this course, we will seek to understand Lincoln’s statecraft in conjunction with his literary craft. We will concentrate on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, examining it alongside the Declaration of Independence which it famously quotes. We will explore the character of American constitutional democracy, with a focus on the concepts of liberty and equality. We will inquire into the nature of self-government and the threats it faces. Why did we have a civil war? What was the status of slavery in the American constitutional order? Why was secession illegitimate? What does Lincoln suggest is needed to forge a new Union capable of achieving both racial and sectional reconciliation? What guidance can the Gettysburg Address offer to later generations? Is there still a “great task remaining before us”?
Upcoming Online Workshops
All scheduled online workshops last 90 minutes and will be held on Zoom at the times listed. Workshops will not be recorded; participants must attend live.
Note: These workshops are only open to educators based in the United States.
Using Thinking Routines to Deepen Civic Learning
July 29, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30pm ET
How can we help students think with (not just about) civic concepts in ways that are meaningful to their lives? How can we nurture thinking dispositions important for meaningful civic engagement? This workshop will consider how thinking routines from Project Zero can deepen understanding, engagement, and relevance for learners in civics classrooms and other civic learning contexts. You will have the opportunity to explore examples of practice and student work samples and begin to plan how you can apply the ideas and practices in your own context.
Managing Difficult Conversations, 6-12
August 4, 2026, 7:30 - 9:00pm ET
Engaging in conversations about difficult topics helps students develop important civic skills and dispositions, but such conversations require skillful facilitation by the teacher. This workshop presents a planning framework and usable tools and strategies to extend your skill at preparing for and facilitating discussions of difficult topics in your classroom. The workshop includes examples and strategies from grades K-12 and time for you to reflect on how to apply your learning to your context.
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.
FAQs
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The costs of CLI professional learning opportunities range in price dependent upon the type and number of experiences for which you register. All pricing is noted for each offering on corresponding registration forms. Note: Price discounts may occur dependent on our ability to subsidize course and learning costs.
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We may have the ability to offer a limited number of discounts or scholarships for attendees to our professional development workshops. Please contact us at civiclearning@gse.harvard.edu for more information.
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Registration for each type of learning opportunity is available through the link provided on the website page for that offering. The registration site is different from this website and will open in a separate window/tab.
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Each workshop is designed to involve participants for 90 minutes.
Groups or schools who are choosing by-request workshop options can bundle workshops for half-day (3.5 hours) or full-day (7 hours) professional learning.
Each online course is designed to be 4 weeks long and about 12 hours total. This includes two 2-hour live classes, and 2 asynchronous sessions of 3-4 hours of self-guided work and feedback each.
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No, live sessions are not recorded. You must be in attendance during the live session in order to participate.
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The professional learning experiences are focused on high-quality civic education.
Workshops focus on powerful civics teaching skills for educators in the classroom.
Online courses are extended learning experiences focused on foundational texts like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address; crucial periods of American history including the Vietnam War and the Jim Crow era; and pedagogical topics such as student-led civics projects, addressing difficult topics in social studies classrooms, digital competency, and the EAD Roadmap.
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Each professional learning opportunity is led by experienced facilitators.
Courses are instructed by leading scholars and practitioners who are experts in the topic of their course. Course coaches who interact with participants and provide feedback on their work are experienced educators.
Workshops are facilitated by experienced educators and scholars who are expert in the topic of the workshop.
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All participants who complete a workshop or course run by CLI will receive a certificate of completion from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, which documents participation hours. We are an accredited professional development provider in Massachusetts. Educators from across the country who have participated in our programs have been able to get their hours approved for credit in their home state.
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Yes! You will have the opportunity to put what you are learning into practice by designing (or revising) learning experiences for your students (if you are a classroom teacher) or your colleagues (if you are school leader/instructional coach) to support them in deepening their understanding of civics and history education.
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No! Whether or not you’ve studied or taught civics, social studies, or history before, all educators can learn something new from each learning experience. We will cover both the core content and how to teach that content effectively in K-12 and/or higher ed environments, depending on the focus of the offering.
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The online course, “We the People: Civic Engagement in Constitutional Democracy” is entirely self-paced. Visit the HarvardEx platform on which the course is offered in order to learn more and register: HarvardX: We the People: Civic Engagement in a Constitutional Democracy.
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Educating for American Democracy is an ambitious, ongoing effort to provide students across our nation with access to high-quality history and civics learning opportunities, created by a cross-ideological group of educators, scholars, and practitioners who came together to re-design history and civics education. The resulting Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy synthesizes the work of experts from history, political science, law, and education to provide content guidance and instructional and implementation strategies for educators.
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Cancellation, Transfer, & Refund Policy: If your plans have changed and you are unable to participate in the experience(s) for which you registered and you request a cancellation, the Civic Learning Institute provides the following options.
For online courses:
Up to 10 business days prior to the start date of the course, you can receive a full refund.
Between 5-10 business days prior to the start date, you can transfer your registration to a future online course. You will have up to 10 business days to email us with your selections for the experience(s) for which you would like to register (space allowing).
Less than 5 business days prior to the start of the course, you will not receive a refund.
For participants who registered for live session only attendance: Up to 15 business days before the first live session, you will receive a full refund. No refunds beyond that date. Pricing is inclusive of attendance at both live sessions (sessions cannot be purchased separately). No partial refunds.
For workshops:
Online: Up to 15 business days in advance of scheduled date, refunds will be offered for cancellations .
In-Person: Up to 1 month prior to the date of the workshop(s), refunds will be offered for the price paid for the workshop experience, minus any costs incurred by the team that cannot be recouped (e.g., planning time, travel expenses).
Rescheduling: In the event of emergencies or unforeseen events (e.g., extreme weather, school cancellations), we will work with you to find a mutually agreeable alternative date within 3 months of the original date.
For correspondence about cancellation, transfer, and refund requests, please write directly to civiclearning@gse.harvard.edu. In your email, please provide the registration confirmation number and the full name and email address in which the registration was made. If there are extenuating circumstances, please describe these in the email. See the extenuating circumstances policy below.
Participant Substitution Policy for Online Courses or Online Scheduled Workshops: If you registered for a CLI learning experience and are no longer able to participate but have a colleague who would like to take your place, we will implement the substitution up to two days prior to the launch of the course. For correspondence about participant substitution requests, please write directly to civiclearning@gse.harvard.edu. -
Since CLI’s online courses include participants with many cultural backgrounds, we recognize that there are religious and national holidays that our offerings will fall on and/or include. Should there be a holiday that you celebrate, please work with your course coach to adjust dates as is best for the observance and your time away.
Extenuating Circumstances Policy
Extenuating circumstances are events or situations that are unexpected and serious, and cause enough disruption to participants’ lives that they are unable to participate in their learning for a period of time. Examples of extenuating circumstances include (but are not limited to):
medical/health emergencies
bereavement due to loss of a close family member
natural disasters
local, municipal, state or national political crises or other crises that prevent regular activity
If a participant experiences extenuating circumstances, we ask that the participant email civiclearning@gse.harvard.edu about the situation as soon as they reasonably can. We will work together with the participant to develop a plan that responds to the participant’s needs. Other events may also prevent participants from participating in the course, but CLI does not consider these extenuating in that, most often, these events are scheduled well in advance. Such events include (but are not limited to):
vacations (either personal or school)
accompanying students on a scheduled school field trip/camp trip
weddings and honeymoons
any other event that is planned in advance
CLI-HGSE's policy was created to be flexible enough that, in most cases, participants should still be able to make up the work and get credit for it for online courses. For example, session assignments for online courses may be submitted in advance or up to one session late and still earn credit toward a certificate (assuming the certificate is an important goal for the participant). For one-time or one-day workshops, we are not able to accommodate make-up work.
In online courses, if planned events will take participants away from their course work for more than a few days during the course term, we ask that participants communicate their schedule challenges to civiclearning@gse.harvard.edu as soon as they can (and before the absence takes place), so that we can work with the participant to determine how to submit assignments within a timeframe that will most effectively support the participant’s learning and ensure credit toward the certificate.