The University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership is preparing to launch a three-year professional development program supporting middle and high school teachers and strengthening civic education across the region.
The Fundamental Principles Initiative is supported by a $866,372 American History and Civics Education — National Activities award through the U.S. Department of Education, supporting programs that promote innovative instruction, learning strategies and professional development in U.S. civics, history, government and geography.
Dr. Jonathan Culp, left, and Dr. Michael Gonzalez, director and senior associate director of the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership, speak with regional teachers during the Founding Civics Summer Institute in June.
Online applications are open now through Friday, Dec. 5, for the cohort of 25 teachers and five administrators who will participate in six weekend colloquia and a weeklong summer institute each year of the three-year Fundamental Principles Initiative. The programming is designed to not only deepen participants’ knowledge of the country’s history and civic tradition, but to explore ways to translate their insights and integrate primary texts into lesson plans.
“Citizens who are well informed and positively engaged are critical to a healthy democracy,” said Dr. Jonathan Culp, director of the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership. “As we look toward the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026, UToledo is uniquely positioned to support the formation of young citizens through our Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership. We’re grateful for the support from the U.S. Department of Education for our new Fundamental Principles Initiative, which will equip teachers with the knowledge, confidence and resources they need to bring our country’s founding principles to life in their classrooms.”
UToledo established the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership under the direction of the Ohio Legislature in 2023. The multidisciplinary center provides a space for diverse voices to discuss and debate key questions about society, history and politics, currently offering students a variety of courses as well as study abroad, scholarship and research opportunities and facilitating lectures, debates and other programming that is open to the public.
Its Fundamental Principles Initiative aligns with a core goal of supporting educators and administrators in Ohio, and the program builds on existing efforts to strengthen civics education by engaging regional primary, middle and high school educators.
The institute hosted its first program for middle and high school teachers in June, during which participants read, discussed and analyzed the U.S. Constitution and other primary texts related to the constitutional tradition of the United States. The institute plans to continue to offer similar programming to support educators who are unable to commit to the three-year Fundamental Principles Initiative.
The Fundamental Principles Initiative will engage a cohort of teachers and administrators working within a 100-mile radius of UToledo. Beginning in the spring, they will spend each year focusing on a major period of political development in the U.S., studying primary texts in a structured seminar format led by institute faculty during weekend colloquia and institute faculty and experts from across the country during summer institutes.
The cohort also will participate in a one-day civics education summit featuring a keynote speaker and guest panelists each fall. These summits will be open to the public, and the first is scheduled to align with the country’s semiquincentennial in 2026.
“The Fundamental Principles Initiative is an exciting next step in the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership’s teacher development programs,” Culp said. “It will allow us to be deeply and regularly involved in helping teachers renew civic life in our region and our country through improved civic education.”
