Five Ways to Increase Civic Engagement

September/October 2009 15

Social Studies and the Young Learner 22 (1), pp. 15–18

Five Ways to Increase

Civic Engagement

Jennifer Levin-Goldberg

In Brighton, Iowa, a few nights each month, children and teenagers come together to make food for starving children

in other countries, like Guatemala, Romania, and Ethiopia. They prepare the food themselves to insure nutritional

content.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, ﬁve Tennessee students donated 95 school desks, a commercial freezer, ﬁling

cabinets, lounge furniture, household appliances, and school supplies to Our Lady Academy, a school destroyed by

the destructive winds. Afterwards, they did $20,000 worth of labor to help rebuild one of the teacher’s homes that

was also devastated by the hurricane.—Make a Difference Day

hese anecdotes are awe-inspiring and powerful, and they

demonstrate how youth can make a difference. There

are numerous other stories, but this article is not about

them, it is about how you can create one of your own. The

question is, How? How can we inspire elementary students to

make a difference in the world? How can we encourage them

to become more civically engaged? Have you ever noticed

how many schools’ mission statements include a phrase about

creating productive and involved citizens? What are schools

doing to accomplish this?

This article describes ﬁve ways to contribute to the devel-

opment of civically engaged citizens based on activities that

have been widely used and described in detail over the last

ten years:

1. Service-Learning Projects

2. Extracurricular Activities

3. Class Discussions and Debates

4. Role Plays and Simulations

5. Home-School Connections

It is impossible to arrive at a formula or recipe for an educa-

tor to follow that will produce an ideal citizen; however, the

activities described in this article have been found to yield

positive results with young students in various settings across

the United States.

1. Service-Learning Projects

Many researchers have found that participation in service learn-

ing is a strong predictor of civic engagement in later years. It’s

motivating for students to take concrete action on a cause they

believe in.

Service-learning is an instructional strategy that

ties the study of academic objectives to community service.

For example, students can learn about the causes and effects

of famine, as well as how hunger can be prevented. Such

a topic links with several social studies curriculum themes,

including PRoDUCTIoN, DISTRIbUTIoN, AND CoNSUmPTIoN, as

well as GLobAL CoNNECTIoNS. “Students who donate time or

organize a community food drove” as part of such a unit of

study “report this as being the most satisfying activity of the

project.”

Students may decide to learn about the activities of

an international organization that aims to reduce hunger such

as Oxfam International or Heifer International and participate

in some of their volunteer activities for children.

1. Student Voice: Students want to be heard; they want their

thoughts and ideas to be respected. They want to know

that they can make a real difference and be involved in the

decision-making process. Studies have shown that teachers

permitting and including students in student action have

resulted in higher levels of civic behavior.

2. Collective Problem-solving: It is imperative that after stu-

dents discuss problems and challenges, they are afforded

the opportunity to collectively explore potential solutions

or ways to help remedy the situation. They need to hear the

ideas and solutions of others. They can build upon them,

generate fresh initiatives, learn from other perspectives, and

cultivate empathy, tolerance, and communication skills.

3. Adequate Time: If student action projects will be employed, it

is crucial that students have adequate time to explore, design,

implement, and reﬂect upon the project. In order to foster

more sustainable civic engagement, projects should be at

least a semester long.

16 Social Studies and the Young Learner

benefit. Studies have shown that

students will become more moti-

vated and engaged if it is relevant

and meaningful to them.

Allow

students to choose a goal for their

action project that means something

to them. You may need to facilitate

this because sometimes students can

get off course, aiming for a goal that

may be unattainable, or are simply

uncertain.

2. Extracurricular Activities

Four conditions were found to be the

most correlated to predicting civic

engagement:

1. Alignment to political knowledge or

skills: There are many prominent and

outstanding programs: National

History Day, Project Citizen, Model

UN, student activist projects, like

Students for a Free Tibet, Human Right

Activist Projects, Amnesty International

Student groups, Environmental Club

projects, student government, Habitat

for Humanity, and so forth. The key

to these before or after school programs

is that the students must learn more

than the background knowledge to their

concern; they must also acquire the

skills necessary to behaviorally solve

and assist their cause.

2. Accessibility: It is integral that any

extracurricular activity be accessible

to all students. Some students may want

to participate in a particular before or

after school program but cannot

because they have other responsibilities

or duties, such as babysitting siblings,

working another job, lack of transpor-

tation, or involvement in another activ-

ity like football or dance.

This is difﬁcult to rectify; however,

knowing your students and their inter-

ests is pivotal here. Before starting a

new club, project, or program, ﬁnd out

who is interested, when the most con-

venient time is for all students to meet,

and schedule accordingly. You could

schedule the extracurricular activity

4. Reflection: Research demonstrates

that ongoing and relevant reﬂection

in student action projects is another

potent predictor of civic engagement.

Ongoing reﬂection means that students

pause to consider what they are doing

before, during, and after the project.

For example, throughout the imple-

mentation of the student action project,

continually provide opportunity for

reﬂection. This allows the learner to

assess and reassess his or her thoughts,

emotions, and behaviors while partici-

pating in the student action project.

5. Meaningful Goals: Don’t do student

action projects just for the sake of

doing them; make the goal actually

produce something meaningful to

your students and whomever it will

continued on page 17

Students from Hot Springs, Arkansas, and a visiting delegation from Hanamaki, Japan,

participate in a carbon oﬀest program. Read more at www.cityhs.net and search on

“Sister City Program.”

September/October 2009 17

before and after school if some students would be able to par-

ticipate earlier rather than later in the day. If your school allows,

you could meet during lunch or study hall. These are all ideas

for ways to include as many interested parties as possible with-

out excluding them.

3. Student Interest: The extracurricular activities must be of inter-

est to the students if you want them to participate and be engaged

in the activity.

It only makes sense that if we are to encourage

civic engagement, forcing students to participate in a before or

after school program in which they have absolutely no real

interest is not going to cut it. Find out what the students’ interests

are via interviews, class discussions, or surveys.

4. Serving the Greater Good: If extracurricular activities aim to

engender civic engagement, then their purpose must beneﬁt the

whole group, not just the individual.

For example, students in

a Yearbook Club must all work together to produce a ﬁnished

product of which they are all proud and to which they have

shared equitably in contributing. A school newspaper or

Journalism Club must create an attention-grabbing, accurate,

infallible, and interesting newspaper. The Environmental Club

must serve the environmental interests of the community or

student population by selecting appropriate projects, such as

planting trees, picking up trash, painting grafﬁti-ridden walls,

collecting recyclables, and so forth. The point is that the goal

of the activity must be directed toward beneﬁting others, not

self-proﬁt.

3. Class Discussions and Debates

This is something many teachers employ; however, four ele-

ments should be incorporated if this strategy is to contribute

to civic engagement:

1. Connection to current events: Recent research links class debates

and discussions about current events to civic engagement.

2. There are no wrong answers; just appropriate responses: Students

need to be cognizant that the responses they give during class

discussions and debates will be respected and acknowledged.

There are not to be any right or wrong answers but appropriate

responses. Prepare students by informing them they must sub-

stantiate opinions, rationales, and thoughts with evidence and

facts, even if these same facts can be used for the opposing side

or individual.

3. Student-led: Students need to lead the debates and class discus-

sions because that will create stronger ownership, interest,

responsibility, and engagement. The teacher’s role should be

more of the facilitator than a director.

4. Open and Respectful Dialogue: Students should be mindful

and respectful toward the opinions and beliefs of others. This

should be nurtured from the inception of the school year. An

atmosphere of security, reassurance, and acceptance should

resonate from the classroom during class discussions and debates.

Role playing and practicing appropriate responses and behaviors

toward others who have an opposing view are essential to cul-

tivating an inviting academic environment.

4. Role Plays and Simulations

Students participating in role plays and simulations of the

democratic process tend to become interested in civic behavior.

There are several programs and curricula that emulate this:

Project Citizen, Model UN, and The Game of Politics, for

example. These simulations require students to make real life

connections to the political process in a fun and engaging way.

Everyone in the classroom needs to be involved in this process,

not just the actors. Some students may need to serve as the jury

or audience. If they do, they are not to be passive participants,

but active contributors. Their role may be to take notes on

strong and weak points, describe what they observe, ask the

actors further questions, make judgments or predictions, and

if speciﬁc changes were made, discuss how outcomes were

modiﬁed.

5. Home-School Connections

Three activities in the home tended to invoke civic

engagement:

1. Discuss social issues of all sorts. Discussions at home regarding

politics and volunteering reﬂected future civic engagement for

youth.

2. Be a role model of citizenship. Children growing up in households

where adults served as committed agents emulating civic dispo-

sitions demonstrated higher levels of future civic engagement

than their disengaged counterparts.

3. Get involved in your immediate neighborhood. Students living

in a neighborhood that participates in the democratic process

are disposed to being more civically engaged.

How can we connect this invaluable information to the school?

We can encourage parents and other family members to dis-

cuss politics and current events with their children as well as

inspire students to discuss current events they learn in school

with their families. In an announcement or in a class newsletter,

we can furnish information on current events, news programs,

and television specials, while urging families to hold a discus-

sion about a covered topic. It might be beneﬁcial to include

question prompts for parents to use after viewing a program

or news broadcast. We can also invite parents and community

members to come into the school and inform students about what

CIVIL ENGAGEMENT from page 16

18 Social Studies and the Young Learner

is occurring in their local communities and what they can do to

help. Finally, we can design student action projects that center on

the community and involve their parents in the project.

Preserving Social Studies in the Curriculum

Sadly, the opportunity for educators to enact these activities is

threatened in many states. In the advent of the federal education

law known as NCLB, the time devoted to math and reading in

the curriculum has grown at the expense of social studies, the

arts, and science.

A 2008 report by the Center on Education

Policy claims that districts have increased their reading and math

instructional time by 43 percent and decreased instructional time

in other subjects by 32 percent.

This development is depressing

and dangerous.

Math and reading are essential, of course, but the Partnership

for 21st Century Skills includes among its core subjects economics,

geography, history, and government and civics.”

It is essential

that students have curricular opportunities to learn about the

political process and civic dispositions. Can we afford to have

civically unengaged and apathetic citizens? Educators, parents,

and all concerned adults can be petitioning their state and national

legislators to

1. Maintain or increase school hours toward social studies instruc-

tion.

2. Require mandatory service-learning hours for graduation.

3. Collaborate with colleagues (locally, nationally, or internation-

ally) and local government ofﬁcials to involve students in more

service-learning projects and curricular civic opportunities.

If we as educators want to inspire and instill civic attitudes

and behaviors toward our students, we need to model it our-

selves!

Conclusion

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can

be that generation.” —Nelson Mandela

There is no magical antidote to the problem of declining resources

for elementary social studies in many states. This article is not

promising a panacea, but we are recommending powerful tools

to engender a civically engaged citizenry. We have collected and

analyzed contemporary studies on civic engagement, and have

identiﬁed ﬁve strategies: student action projects, extracurricular

activities, class discussions and debates, role play and simulations,

and home-school connections. Let’s all become civic agents

ourselves and inspire the next generation to appreciate their

country, their world, and their fellow human beings, for this

should be our “service-learning project.”

Jennifer Levin-Goldberg teaches world history at Poston Butte High

School in Apache Junction, Arizona.

Notes

1. Make a Difference Day, www.usaweekend.com/diﬀday/aboutmadd.html.

2. Leotina Hormel, “Is It Possible to Learn Civic Engagement in the Classroom? A

Proposal for a Problem-Centered Group Project”(Paper presented at the annual

meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York City, August 11, 2007);

Joseph Kahne, Bernadette Chi, and Ellen Middaugh, “Building Social Capital for

Civic and Political Engagement: The Potential of High School Government Courses,”

Canadian Journal of Education 29, no. 2 (2006): 387-409; Edward C. Metz and

James Youniss, “Longitudinal Gains in Civic Development through School-Based

Required Service,” Political Psychology 26, no.3 (2005): 413-437.

3. Learn and Serve Clearinghouse, “What is Service-Learning?” www.servicelearning.

org.

4. Rahima C. Wade, ed., Building Bridges: Connecting Classroom and Community

through Service Learning in Social Studies (Washington, DC: NCSS, 2000): 54;

See also R. C. Wade, ed., Community Action Rooted in History: The CiviConnections

Model of Service-Learning (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2007).

5. Shelly H. Billig, “Unpacking What Works in Service-Learning,” in Growing to

Greatness 2007, www.nylc.org; Charlie Bradley, “Becoming Involved in School:

The Beneﬁts of Extracurricular Activities,” (May 17, 2007), article 229388 at www.

associatedcontent.com.

6. D. Harrington-Mackin, The Team Building Toolkit (New York: Amacon, 2007).

7. Kimberly Spring, Nathan Dietz, and Robert Grimm Jr., “Leveling the Path to

Participation: Volunteering and Civic Engagement Among Youth From Disadvantaged

Backgrounds,” in Youth Helping America (March 2007), www.nationalservice.gov.

8. Micki M. Caskey and Vincent A. Anfara Jr., “Research Summary: Young Adolescents’

Developmental Characteristics, 2007,” (National Middle School Association), www.

nmsa.org; M. Suzanne Donovan and John D. Bransford, eds. How Students Learn:

History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom (Washington, DC: National

Academic Press, 2005).

9. Etima Bowman, David. E. Harrington, and William A. Kristonis, “Seven Ways to

Increase At-Risk Student Participation in Extra-Curricular Activities,” National

Forum of Teacher Education Journal 18, no.3 (2008): 1-4; National Center for

Education Statistics, “Statistics in Brief: Student Interest in National News and its

Relation to School Courses” (July 1997), web.archive.org.

10. Mary Kirlin, “Promising Approaches for Strengthening Civic Education” (May 28,

2005), www.cms-ca.org.

11. Carnegie Corporation and CIRCLE, “The Civic Mission of Schools” (New York:

Carnegie Corp., 2003).

12. CIRCLE, “The 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation: A Detailed Look

at How Youth Participate in Politics and Communities” (October 2006), www.

civicyouth.org.

13. Myriah Hively, Lindsay Hoffman, and Tiffany Thomson, “Predicting Children’s

Political Efﬁcacy, Cynicism, and Participation: The Inﬂuence of Parents, Media,

and Knowledge” (Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for

Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, August 8, 2007).

14. Joseph Kahne, “Developing Citizens: A Longitudinal Study of School, Family, and

Community Inﬂuences on Students’ Commitments to Civic Participation” (Paper

presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association,

Chicago, IL, August 30, 2007).

15. Shayna Chabner, “Better Math and English Comes at the Expense of Other Subjects,”

North County Times (July 24, 2007); Frederick, M. Hess, “Why LBJ is Smiling:

NCLB and the Bush Legacy in Education,” Education Outlook (December 11,

2008), www.aei.org; Brian M. Stecher, “Revamp NCLB to Fulﬁll its Promise,”

Baltimore Sun (September 16, 2007), www.rand.org/commentary/2007/09/16/BS.

html.

16. Karl Kurtz, Alan Rosenthal and Cliff Zukin, “Citizenship: A Challenge for All

Generations,” National Conference of State Legislatures, September 2003,

www.

ncsl.org.

17. Partnership for 21st Century Skills, www.21stcenturyskills.org.