Every social studies educator should have their own advocacy plan. That might sound a bit crazy, but bear with me for a minute. We are all informal advocates for social studies, but to make long-term progress we each also need to use a strategic approach in thinking about advocacy. These individual plans may also intersect with those of more formal organizations, such as your state or local social studies council. 

I outlined some basic advocacy tips in my first message about the toolkit, but one of the next steps is understanding what you want/need to advocate for, specifically. The second module in the NCSS Advocacy Toolkit is all about building your message. One of my first mistakes in advocating for social studies was to not approach policy makers with a specific ask and messaging around that ask while building out a long term plan for how to achieve the ask. So, how do you know what to advocate for? The toolkit includes a tool entitled, Got Social Studies?. If you want to impact an issue at the state level check out the tool here or the district tool here.  

After uncovering the key issues that indicate “room for growth,” you will probably have a good idea of the kinds of things you need to advocate for. Next, you need to think about specific messaging for different audiences related to the things you are advocating for. There are several tools in the toolkit that might help with this:

• Creating an Effective Elevator Speech
• Evidence to Build Your Message
• Anticipating and Overcoming Objections

Now you want to start thinking about a comprehensive plan to address your issue(s). The reason a plan is so important is because it is highly unlikely any of these issues will change overnight. What does a strategy look like immediately versus three years from now? Who will you bring on board to advocate with you? How will you change your messaging or approach if things don’t work? These are all important questions to think about as part of building out your advocacy plan. 

Module three of the NCSS Advocacy Toolkit is about helping you create this plan. 

• First, take the Advocacy Plan Readiness Inventory. This will help you figure out if you have the pieces in place needed be successful once you create your plan.
• Then, start building out your Advocacy Plan using this template. You can use these example advocacy goals to help you as well as the other resources in module three.  

Once you create your plan you may want to share your plan with others- friends, colleagues, others who have experience with advocacy, etc. Does the plan make sense? What can be changed, etc.? As you put your plan into action, be ready to adjust it. The plan should be seen as a living, breathing document. 

As you begin your own advocacy journey, I hope the NCSS Advocacy Toolkit is helpful. I will focus on other aspects of the toolkit in future TSSP messages. Share your own advocacy story by tweeting me @srwteacher or NCSS @NCSSNetwork.