Though the institute is nonpartisan, its message, that schools should not only teach the facts of how American government works, but that they should nurture civic-mindedness, seems especially compatible with traditional ideas about patriotism.
In fact, as American schoolchildren were being taught the "fact" of evolution in schools, Italian fascist Benito Mussolini watched the killing of nearly half a million people at the Caporetto battlefront, while justifying war as a means of evolutionary progress.
But at some schools, like Boston University, where we teach, first-year medical students are taught the facts about malpractice litigation by lawyers and physicians together.
Biology teachers, and students too, of middle and high school know well the problems associated with (a) teaching the facts of biology without theme and (b) attempting to teach biology as a story.
That November at the Tivoli theatre, Lloyd performed "Johnny Jones", a ditty about a girl who is taught the facts of life by her best male friend.
While it is hard to know if a fictional character like Juno could have avoided her situation had she been taught the facts in health class, it's easy to see we are making getting information as hard as possible for her real life counterparts.
In the Witness Project core curriculum, lay health advisors develop the concepts and skills to provide health education by being taught the facts about breast and cervical cancer.
The song's subject matter ranges from lifestyle boats to revolutionary ideals: "Hood forever, I just act like I'm civilized / Really what's in my mind is organizing a billion Black muthafuckas / To take over JP and Morgan Goldman and Sachs / And teach the world facts and give Saudi they oil back".
They will learn and teach "The Ten Facts" through peer education activities that draw on art, theatre, sports and the Internet to convey ideas.
"We should teach children the fact that the assassination happened, but we should leave it to each individual to find their own interpretations for themselves," said Atija Masic.
