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The Promise and Potential of Schools
Chapter 3
Before diving into action civics, it helps to define what we mean by a traditional approach to civic education. Most traditional educators tend to focus on systems and structures of government. In the United States, this comes with an in-depth study of the founding fathers, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments. Along with these topics, these teachers tend to revere the United States and its institutions, with a goal to promote a sense of unifying patriotism and civic responsibility (Levine & Kawashima-Ginsberg, 2015).
Although framing this as an either-or scenario oversimplifies it, there are key differences between a traditional approach and action civics. Educators who advocate for action civics tend to encourage students to identify societal problems and design public policy solutions to address them. This approach also encourages students to reach out to public officials and mobilize support for their public policy solutions.
Action civics has significant overlap with other concepts, such as service learning, project-based learning, experiential learning, and others. Despite the overlap, the idea of action civics has gained traction with civic education organizations in a way that weaves these concepts into a more comprehensive approach to teaching civic action (Levine & Kawashima-Ginsberg, 2017). Understanding the founding era, the U.S. Constitution, and other, more traditional concepts is still considered important, but
these are the background knowledge and context needed for more essential learning experiences involving civic action.
The idea behind action civics is to learn civics through experiential learning and collective action. Guided by an educator, students develop projects that aim to solve problems in their communities by advocating public policy changes to local leaders (Generation Citizen, n.d.d). A main focus of this approach is tapping into youth expertise and voice to empower students. To do this, action civics also forgoes the traditional focus on national government and instead has students engage on a local level.
Another difference between action civics and traditional approaches is that instead of promoting unity and reverence for democratic institutions, action civics encourages students to view these institutions in a way that can be improved and changed in ways to enhance society and bring people closer to realizing the nation’s founding ideals. Some examples of civic actions include engaging in community forums and events, advocating ideas to local officials, and participating in elections and town meetings. From a philosophical standpoint, this approach aligns with more progressive, experiential education (Levine & Kawashima-Ginsberg, 2015).
In this chapter, we unpack the why behind action civics and then explore the key components of effective action civics experiences that focus on authentic application of civic knowledge and skills. Following an examination of practical examples of action civics in the classroom, we discuss several key ways to leverage educational technologies to amplify the impact of action civics experiences.
The Why of Action Civics
The resurgence of civic education offers an opportunity to redesign traditional approaches that tend to teach students about the political process without providing experiences that help them develop the skills and dispositions to not only participate in but also change and improve the U.S. political system and public policies. As described by researchers Peter Levine and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg (2015), “Action civics is gaining recognition as an engaging pedagogy that enables students from diverse backgrounds to address relevant and serious community issues through action-oriented pedagogy” (p. 13).
For a variety of reasons, action civics has growing support from educators and civic organizations across the United States. This renewed interest in civic education is also coming during a time of increasing activism by young people across the country since 2016. Some of the core issues of interest to students in 2020 include climate change, immigration, gun regulation, and LGBTQ+ rights (Carney, 2020). Counter to the commonly held belief that youth activism is typically that of passive, online
support of issues, a 2018 study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement concludes that young people (eighteen to twenty-four years of age) are now three times more likely to attend a demonstration, march, or protest than in 2016 (Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 2018).
In 2019, a worldwide climate strike, led in part by youth activist Greta Thunberg, involved more than six million participants worldwide, including student-led school walkouts across the United States (Taylor, Watts, & Bartlett, 2019). In 2020, the Black Lives Matter and related protests reached new heights, which included activism on the part of youth across the United States and world (Bennett, 2020). Tapping into these important societal events through an action civics curriculum can help channel this energy and enthusiasm into a deeper understanding of civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
Having students practice engaging in this type of authentic civic learning is also aligned to many of the field’s proven practices and promising areas of research and classroom practice. Action civics incorporates elements of service learning, deliberation of current controversial issues, and student voice in schools. Students also undoubtedly have the opportunity to learn news media literacy through the action civics process. One of the more promising effects of these authentic experiences is tapping into student engagement and motivation. As discussed in The Republic Is (Still) at Risk—and Civics Is Part of the Solution (Levine & Kawashima-Ginsberg, 2017) report, students must do the following:
Develop an appetite for civic engagement and an identity as effective and engaged citizens. Civic action rarely brings immediate material rewards. Therefore, even if students learn civic knowledge in schools, they will not update, expand, and employ their knowledge as adults unless they want to do so. More than with subjects that bring immediate economic benefits, civics requires motivation. (p. 6)
Without motivation and engagement, it is difficult for students to learn anything, never mind the often-complex design and function of government and how to challenge the nature of effectively participating in representative democracy.
Action Civics and Deeper Learning
Looking beyond civic education, there has been an increasing advocacy across the education landscape for deeper learning experiences for students. One of the core deeper learning frameworks via the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (2013) includes competencies such as thinking critically to solve complex problems, working
