Toward a More Perfect Pedagogy: Developing Constitution Week Activities to Support a Business Law and Ethics Curriculum

In a 2016 survey, just 26% of Americans were able to name all three branches of government, and 31% failed to name even one branch. In 2011, the American Bar Association's (ABA) Commission on Civic Education in the Nation's Schools called the progress of civic education "worrisome" and said, "there is reason to be alarmed at the state of Americans' civic knowledge." The good news is that educational institutions, and law professors in particular, can address this concern by planning activities for Constitution Day (September 17) and Constitution Week (September 17-23). The U.S. government has long encouraged its citizens to use these days, which commemorate the 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution, to discuss governance, civil rights, and civic engagement. In fact, federal law requires each U.S. educational institution receiving federal funds to offer a Constitution Day program. This mandate, supported by groups like the ABA, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and the American Democracy Project, is an opportunity for professors to connect their classroom material with current events and present a compelling program that gets students thinking about the U.S. government and their role in it. Part II of this article discusses the origins of Constitution Day and Constitution Week and the development of a federal mandate for educational institutions. Part III addresses the value of Constitution Week activities as cocurricular educational programming. In Part IV, the authors describe the best practices they have developed for planning Constitution Week activities that appeal to students and reinforce classroom learning. In Part V, they discuss the best practices they have developed for executing Constitution Week activities efficiently and with maximum educational benefits. In Part VI, they discuss how they assessed Constitution Week activities, using a survey instrument, to gauge student interest in each activity and the impact of each activity on educational goals. In Part VII, they present their conclusions and encourage other professors to develop their own Constitution Week curricula. The authors hope that professors of business law, ethics, and related fields can use this article as a roadmap for developing their own engaging and impactful Constitution Week activities. One appendix is included.