Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:28:31.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

20 - Action Civics

from Part VI - Education and Engaged Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2024

Brian D. Christens
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
Get access

Summary

Action civics is a model for civic education that offers youth opportunities to participate in authentic democratic activities. In this chapter, we trace the origins of action civics and explore the field’s defining features, strengths, and challenges. We frame our analysis through two case descriptions of action civics intermediary organizations: Generation Citizen and Design Your Neighborhood. We discuss action civics education as a psychologically empowering process, and we illustrate tensions that arise as youth develop psychological empowerment. Through these examples, we reveal features of the action civics process model that support community power in the situational, institutional, and systemic domains. We explore empowering characteristics of empowering settings that are present in Design Your Neighborhood and Generation Citizen. These include common belief systems, a relational environment that supports intergenerational partnerships, opportunity role structures, opportunities to develop local leadership, and external linkages to community stakeholders. Our chapter concludes with recommendations for practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders to consider as the field of action civics expands.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, M. J., Blinken, A., & Kuzmich, H. (2018). The Democracy Project final report. Freedom House. www.democracyprojectreport.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/FINAL_POLL_REPORT_Democracy_Project_2018_v5.pdfGoogle Scholar
Akiva, T., & Petrokubi, B. (2016). Growing with youth: A lifewide and lifelong perspective on youth–adult partnership in youth programs. Children and Youth Services Review, 14, 248258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andolina, M. W., & Conklin, H. G. (2018). Speaking with confidence and listening with empathy: The impact of Project Soapbox on high school students. Theory & Research in Social Education, 46(3), 374409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andolina, M. W., & Conklin, H. G. (2020). Fostering democratic and social-emotional learning in action civics programming: Factors that shape students’ learning from Project Soapbox. American Educational Research Journal, 57(3), 12031240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atwell, M. N., Bridgeland, J., & Levine, P. (2017, October 19–20). Civic deserts: America’s civic health challenge [Conference presentation]. 2017 National Conference on Citizenship, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.Google Scholar
Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M. S. (1962). Two faces of power. The American Political Science Review, 56(4), 947952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballard, P. J., & Cohen, A. K. (2023). Critical consciousness development in the context of a widespread school-based civics intervention. In Godfrey, E. B. & Rapa, L. J. (Eds.), Developing critical consciousness in youth: Contexts and settings (pp. 4159). Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballard, P. J., & Ozer, E. J. (2016). Implications of youth activism for health and well-being. In Conner, J. & Rosen, S. M. (Eds.), Contemporary youth activism: Advancing social justice in the United States (pp. 223244). Praeger.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballard, P. J., & Syme, S. (2016). Engaging youth in communities: A framework for promoting adolescent and community health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 70(2), 202206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ballard, P. J., Cohen, A. K., & Duarte, C. (2019a). Can a school-based civic empowerment intervention support adolescent health? Preventive Medicine Reports, 16, 100968.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ballard, P. J., Cohen, A. K., & Littenberg‐Tobias, J. (2016). Action civics for promoting civic development: Main effects of program participation and differences by project characteristics. American Journal of Community Psychology, 58(3–4), 377390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ballard, P. J., Suleiman, A. B., Hoyt, L. T., Cohen, A. K., Ayenekulu, M., & Ebuy, G. (2019b). Participatory approaches to youth civic development in multicultural societies. In Titzman, P. F. & Jugert, P. (Eds.), Youth in superdiverse societies: Growing up with globalization, diversity, and acculturation (pp. 251267). Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blevins, B., LeCompte, K. N., Riggers-Piehl, T., Scholten, N., & Magill, K. R. (2021). The impact of an action civics program on the community & political engagement of youth. The Social Studies, 112, 146160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camino, L., & Zeldin, S. (2002). From periphery to center: Pathways for youth civic engagement in the day-to-day life of communities. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 213220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cattaneo, L., Calton, J., & Brodsky, A. (2014). Status quo versus status quake: Putting the power back in empowerment. Journal of Community Psychology, 42(4), 433446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christens, B. D. (2011). Toward relational empowerment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50, 114128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christens, B. D. (2013). In search of powerful empowerment. Health Education Research, 28(3), 371374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christens, B. D. (2019). Community power and empowerment. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christens, B. D., & Kirshner, B. (2011). Taking stock of youth organizing: An interdisciplinary perspective. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 134, 2741.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christens, B. D., Byrd, K., Peterson, N., & Lardier, D. Jr. (2018). Critical hopefulness among urban high school students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(8), 16491662.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christens, B. D., Collura, J. J., & Tahir, F. (2013). Critical hopefulness: A person-centered analysis of the intersection of cognitive and emotional empowerment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 52(1–2), 170184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christens, B. D., Winn, L. T., & Duke, A. M. (2016). Empowerment and critical consciousness: A conceptual cross-fertilization. Adolescent Research Review, 1(1), 1527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CIRCLE. (2013, June). Civic learning through action: The case of Generation Citizen. Tufts University. https://circle.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/2019-12/civic_learning_action_generation_citizen_2013.pdfGoogle Scholar
Cohen, A. K., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Ridley-Kerr, A., Pope, A., Stolte, L. C., & Wong, K. K. (2018). Action civics education and civic outcomes for urban youth: An evaluation of the impact of Generation Citizen. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 13(3), 351368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crittenden, J., & Levine, P. (2018, August 31). Civic education. In E. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/civic-education/Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1923). The school and society and the child and the curriculum. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Duncan, A. (2012, January 10). Secretary Arne Duncan’s remarks at “For Democracy’s Future” forum at the White House [Speech]. www.ed.gov/news/speeches/secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-democracys-futureGoogle Scholar
Earth Force. (n.d.). Our Model. Earth Force. https://earthforce.org/caps/Google Scholar
Erickson, A. T. (2016). Making the unequal metropolis: School desegregation and its limits. University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzgerald, J. (2020). Civic thinking and public policy analysis: A comparative approach to political decision-making. Journal of International Social Studies, 10(2), 1236.Google Scholar
Flanagan, C., & Christens, B. (2011). Youth civic development: Historical context and emerging issues. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2011(134), 19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaby, S. (2017). The civic engagement gap: Youth participation and inequality from 1976 to 2009. Youth & Society, 49(7), 923946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaston, G., & Kreyling, K. (2015). Shaping the healthy community: The Nashville plan. Vanderbilt University Press.Google Scholar
Generation Citizen. (2019). 2019 Annual report. Generation Citizen. https://generationcitizen.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/GC-Report-2019-FINAL-WEB.pdfGoogle Scholar
Generation Citizen. (2020b). Generation Citizen strategic plan. Generation Citizen.Google Scholar
Generation Citizen. (n.d.a). Civics Day. Generation Citizen. https://generationcitizen.org/our-approach/civics-day/Google Scholar
Generation Citizen. (n.d.b). Framework for action. Generation Citizen. https://generationcitizen.org/our-approach/framework-for-action/Google Scholar
Generation Citizen. (n.d.c). Our curriculum. Generation Citizen. https://generationcitizen.org/our-programs/our-curriculum/Google Scholar
Gingold, J. (2013, August). Building an evidence-based practice of action civics: The current state of assessments and recommendations for the future (CIRCLE Working Paper No. 78). CIRCLE. https://circle.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/2019-12/WP78_BuildingCaseActionCivics_2013.pdfGoogle Scholar
Godfrey, E., & Grayman, J. (2014). Teaching citizens: The role of open classroom climate in fostering critical consciousness among youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(11), 18011817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gutmann, A. (1995). Civic education and social diversity. Ethics, 105(3), 557579.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, R. A. (1992). Children’s participation: From tokenism to citizenship. UNICEF Essays, 92(6), 112.Google Scholar
Hart, S., & Wandeler, C. (2018). The impact of action civics service-learning on eighth-grade students’ civic outcomes. International Journal of Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement, 6(1), 117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
iCivics (2021). iCivics FY21–25 strategic plan. iCivics. https://issuu.com/icivics0/docs/final_long_form_strategic_planGoogle Scholar
iEngage. (n.d.). Student projects. iEngage Summer Civics Institute. https://blogs.baylor.edu/iengage/2019-student-projects/Google Scholar
Itzhaky, H., & York, A. (2000). Sociopolitical control and empowerment: An extended replication. Journal of Community Psychology, 28(4), 407415.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirshner, B., & Ginwright, S. (2012). Youth organizing as a developmental context for African American and Latino adolescents. Child Development Perspectives, 6(3), 288294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohfeldt, D., Chhun, L., Grace, S., & Langhout, R. D. (2011). Youth empowerment in context: Exploring tensions in school-based yPAR. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47(1–2), 2845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kornbluh, M., Ozer, E. J., Allen, C. D., & Kirshner, B. (2015). Youth participatory action research as an approach to sociopolitical development and the new academic standards: Considerations for educators. The Urban Review, 47(5), 868892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreyling, K. (Ed.). (2005). The plan of Nashville: Avenues to a great city. Vanderbilt University Press.Google Scholar
Kurtz, S. (2021, January 26). “Action civics” replaces citizenship with partisanship. The American Mind: A Publication of the Claremont Institute. https://americanmind.org/memo/action-civics-replaces-citizenship-with-partisanship/Google Scholar
LeCompte, K., Blevins, B., & Riggers-Piehl, T. (2020). Developing civic competence through action civics: A longitudinal look at the data. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 44(1), 127137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, P., & Kawashima-Ginsberg, K. (2017). The republic is (still) at risk – And civics is part of the solution. Tufts University. www.civxnow.org/sites/default/files/resources/SummitWhitePaper.pdfGoogle Scholar
Levinson, M. (2010). The civic empowerment gap: Defining the problem and locating solutions. John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Levinson, M. (2012). No citizen left behind. Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukes, S. (2005). Power: A radical view (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magill, K. R., Davis Smith, V., Blevins, B., & LeCompte, K. N. (2020). Beyond the invisible barriers of the classroom: iEngage and civic praxis. Democracy and Education, 28(1), 111.Google Scholar
Maton, K. I. (2008). Empowering community settings: Agents of individual development, community betterment, and positive social change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41, 421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mikva Challenge. (2020). 2020 Annual report. Mikva Challenge. https://mikvachallenge.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2020-Annual-Report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Mikva Challenge. (n.d.a). Project Soapbox. Mikva Challenge. https://mikvachallenge.org/our-work/programs/project-soapbox/Google Scholar
Mikva Challenge. (n.d.b). Youth Led Advocacy. Mikva Challenge. https://mikvachallenge.org/our-work/programs/youth-led-advocacy/Google Scholar
Morgan, K. Y., & Christens, B. D. (2023). Critical consciousness development in place-based action civics. In Godfrey, E. B. & Rapa, L. J. (Eds.), Developing critical consciousness in youth: Contexts and settings (pp. 6082). Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, K. Y., Christens, B. D., & Gibson, M. (2022). Design Your Neighborhood: The evolution of a city-wide urban design learning initiative in Nashville, Tennessee. In Stoecker, R. & Falcón, A. (Eds.), Handbook on participatory action research and community development (pp. 282301). Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
NACC. (n.d.). History. National Action Civics Collaborative. https://actioncivicscollaborative.org/about-us/history/Google Scholar
Nasir, N. I., & Kirshner, B. (2003). The cultural construction of moral and civic identities. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 138-147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noguera, P. A. (2017). Introduction to “Racial inequality and education: Patterns and prospects for the future.” The Educational Forum, 81(2), 129135.Google Scholar
Ozer, E. J., Ritterman, M. L., & Wanis, M. G. (2010). Participatory action research (PAR) in middle school: Opportunities, constraints, and key processes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 46(1), 152166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pope, A., Stolte, L., & Cohen, A. (2011). Closing the civic engagement gap: The potential of action civics. Social Education, 75(5), 265268.Google Scholar
Rappaport, J. (1987). Terms of empowerment/exemplars of prevention: Toward a theory for community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 15(2), 121148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rebell, M. A. (2018). Flunking democracy: Schools, courts, and civic participation. University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubin, B., & Jones, C. (2007). “There’s still not justice”: Youth civic identity development amid distinct school and community contexts. Teachers College Record, 109(2), 449481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, S., & Brown, C. (2018, February 21). The state of civics education. Center for American Progress. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED586237.pdfGoogle Scholar
Speer, P. (2008). Social power and forms of change: Implications for psychopolitical validity. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(2), 199213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speer, P., Peterson, N., Christens, B., & Reid, R. (2019). Youth cognitive empowerment: Development and evaluation of an instrument. American Journal of Community Psychology, 64(3-4), 528540.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Street Law. (n.d.). About us. Street Law. www.streetlaw.org/who-we-are/officesGoogle Scholar
Swalwell, K., & Payne, K. A. (2019). Critical civic education for young children. Multicultural Perspectives, 21(2), 127132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
University Community Collaborative. (n.d.a). Leaders Corps. University Community Collaborative. www.uccollab.org/leaders-corpsGoogle Scholar
University Community Collaborative. (n.d.b). POPPYN. University Community Collaborative. www.uccollab.org/copy-of-programsGoogle Scholar
USAID. (n.d.) Youth impact. USAID. www.usaid.gov/youthimpactGoogle Scholar
Warren, S. (2019). Generation Citizen: The power of youth in our politics. Counterpoint Press.Google Scholar
Watts, R. J., & Flanagan, C. (2007). Pushing the envelope on youth civic engagement: A developmental and liberation psychology perspective. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(6), 779792.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, R. J., & Hipolito-Delgado, C. P. (2015). Thinking ourselves to liberation?: Advancing sociopolitical action in critical consciousness. The Urban Review, 47(5), 847867.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Youniss, J. (2011). Civic education: What schools can do to encourage civic identity and action. Applied Developmental Science, 15(2), 98103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Youth on Board. (n.d.). Our vision. Youth on Board. www.youthonboard.org/our-visionGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, M. A. (2000). Empowerment theory: Psychological, organizational, and community levels of analysis. In Rappaport, J. & Seidman, E. (Eds.), Handbook of community psychology (pp. 4363). Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, M. A., & Zahniser, J. (1991). Refinements of sphere‐specific measures of perceived control: Development of a sociopolitical control scale. Journal of Community Psychology, 19(2), 189204.3.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×