Every Student A Citizen: Creating the Democratic Self

A Forum — October 18, 2000

"We have forgotten that [democracy] has be enacted anew in every generation, in every year, in every day in the living relations of person-to-person, in all social forms and institutions. Forgetting this we have been negligent in creating a school that should be the constant nurse of democracy." --John Dewey, 1940

Policymakers, educators, service-learning and youth development practitioners gathered on Capitol Hill to hear from and to participate in a discussion with members of the National Study Group for the Every Student a Citizen initiative. The National Study Group was convened in 1999 by the Education Commission of the States’ (ECS) service-learning initiative, the Compact for Learning and Citizenship, to focus on the specific issue of youth disengagement from civic literacy and experience. The Study Group consists of 21 members, including K-12 teachers and students, university faculty and students, representatives from national education associations, administrators of national civic education organizations, and education and service-learning consultants. The aim of the Every Student a Citizen initiative is to examine the role of schools in building students' democratic self, to design a plan to engage all students in active citizenship through service-learning, and to help education leaders meet schools' academic and civic mission. Service-learning is a teaching method that connects classroom academic studies to real world problems or issues. The focus of the presentations and discussion was on the issues relating to what it means to prepare young people to become actively engaged as citizens in a democratic society and the role and responsibility of schools in that process. Discussion leaders included Terry Pickeral, Director, Compact for Learning and Citizenship Every Student a Citizen; Rick Battistoni, Director, Feinstein Center, Providence College; Bernadette Chi, researcher at the University of California Berkeley; Joe Franco, student leader/activist, Lakewood, Colorado; and Dale Kinsley Superintendent of Schools in Bellingham, Washington.

Many Americans and their children are experiencing a disconnection between themselves and the directions in which society and the nation are moving. Youth, particularly, experience a moral dissonance between the traditional values of our society and the public behavior they see. The National Study Group contends that the educational process of service-learning can help young people define a "democratic self-understanding" that can provide them with two key capacities, 1) the ability to recognize their own self-worth and claim their self-interest in collective decision making at all levels of society, and 2) the ability to see themselves as members of society with a powerful stake in its future and the common good of all. The core objective of the Study Group is to foster support for service-learning, a teaching method that connects academics to real world problems and issues, as an effective way to help students reach these key capacities.

Preparing young people to become actively engaged as citizens in a democratic society is, in other words, educating young people for citizenship. This is not the same as civic education, which is concerned with helping student acquire content knowledge, such as how a bill becomes a law. Rather, education for citizenship is a moral enterprise. It is concerned with organizing schools in ways that give students opportunities to learn about citizenship and its importance, and acquire the needed skills and knowledge associated with it. It is based on the belief that it is just as important for young people to acquire a "democratic self" or "civic self-understanding" as it is to gain specific civic skills.

The National Study Group’s decision to focus on the role of schools was influenced by the fact that public education in the United States emerged in part from the goals of a democratic society -- to prepare people to become responsible citizens. Thus, some fundamental questions for this initiative are -- How do we define responsible citizenship? What kinds of schools are needed to create responsible citizens? What kinds of pedagogical approaches should schools use to help students become responsible citizens?

Moving toward a commonly understood definition of "citizenship in a democratic society " is central to the goals of this initiative. Bernadette Chi, who is researching the multi-dimensions of citizenship, helped to frame the issues related to defining citizenship. She explained that one approach called "classical liberalism" focuses on interests of the individual above that of others, i.e., citizenship as helper. Another approach is "classical republican" which focuses on the interest of others or the whole of society above those of the individual, i.e., citizenship for social change. In both approaches, citizenship is defined in terms of certain behaviors that a person exhibits. We become good citizens by continually walking the tightrope between self-interest and the interest of others.

Chi added that we also defined citizenship in the terms of one's "status," and that sometimes there is a conflict between this particular definition and the other two approaches. For example, Chi’s father, who is an immigrant from Korea, has chosen not to become a United States citizen. However, he is actively involved in his community, donates to local charities, and displays all the behaviors of responsible citizenship. Rick Battistoni added to these definitions by asserting that citizenship involves the rights, responsibilities, and tasks associated with governing the various groups to which a person belongs. These groups include families, churches, schools, etc. As members of such groups, young people as well as adults should be involved in the tasks associated with group governance.

The National Study Group contends that service-learning is a viable strategy for fostering the development of responsible citizenship. As mentioned earlier, service-learning is a teaching method that connects classroom academic studies to real world problems or issues. Participating in high-quality, service-learning activities can help youth develop many of the skills and competencies associated with good citizenship. Service-learning can provide students with the opportunities to practice basic citizenship skills such as expressing opinions on social issues, speaking in public, organizing groups, and thinking critically about political issues. However, involvement in service-learning does not automatically result in the development of skills and competencies associated with good citizenship. Students cannot be civically literate without being well-versed in the issues of the day, reflecting on their own views, and understanding why they have adopted those views. Young people need to be guided in a structured method to make the connection between service-learning and citizenship. Also, in order for students to master the skills and competencies of the various dimensions of active citizenship, there has to be a conscious effort by educators to connect those activities to a civic education curriculum. The integration of service-learning into an academic and civic education curriculum is essential for developing the democratic self.

The role of schools is critical to this endeavor. According to Dale Kinsley, the mission of the K-12 education system is 1) academic learning, 2) preparation for work or postsecondary, and 3) preparation for citizenship and participation in the community. As stated earlier, one of the central missions of public education was to prepare young people for citizenship. Over the years, the focus of the mission and "work" of the K-12 system has shifted primarily to implementing standards-based education while the third mission, citizenship, has been diminished at the school, district and state levels.

The challenge for educators such as Dale Kinsley is to raise the visibility of citizenship and participation in the community. Kinsley believes that schools should have citizenship in their overall mission, and high-performing schools should be those schools that focus on all three missions equally. He asserted that schools need to become places where young people have the chance to practice the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for active and effective participation in their community. Following are his guidelines to help schools become more balanced in their mission to educate young citizens.

• Civic education/citizenship should be taught in all disciplines, not just in the social studies curriculum.
• Structural changes such as block scheduling should be in schools. This would allow for more discussion and feedback from students.
• Teachers need time to work and plan together to integrate citizenship concepts across the curriculum and link to the standards.
• Service-learning should be a standard activity as the bridge between classroom studies and real world experiences.

Joe Franco, a senior, shared his personal experience in high school developing the democratic self. Last year he managed the campaign for a mayoral candidate. His candidate received 62 percent of the votes and won the election. Joe’s role in this success did not go unnoticed, and he has been asked to manage the campaign of a current candidate for the Colorado State House of Representatives. His motivation to get involved in the first campaign was partially due to the lack of opportunities in school for students to become involved citizens. Joe believes that young people should be involved in the decision making process, especially on issues that directly affect them. Students need opportunities to become involved in their community while in school, not later after they graduate. Franco believes that if young people feel like they have a "voice" or power to influence decisions, they will become more engaged and active as citizens in their community. He offered the following recommendations for youth civic participation:

• Students should be included in PTAs as voting members.
• Service-learning experiences should be offered to all students in school.
• State legislators and local elected officials should visit schools regularly to meet with and talk to students about what they do, and listen to their needs.
• Democracy should be made tangible by giving students a voice in how schools are governed.

It is not uncommon for students who serve their school or community to undergo a personal transformation when they come to the realization that they really belong and that they can make a difference. Joe Franco's message to all youth is "get involved," participate in your community immediately, don't wait until you're an adult.

Schools themselves must embody and model the principles of democratic selfhood as they engage in civic education. As students see their teachers model what it means to be a democratic self, they will follow. But they must be given the opportunity to practice democratic decision making in all aspects of the school, including areas such as standards-setting. They, their views, and their decisions must be valued because it is only through the experience of being valued that they come to understand that their contributions have made a difference where it counts--in the real world.

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