CIRCLE recently released two studies exploring the concept of “Action Civics.”
In 2010, six groups, including CIRCLE, came together to form the National Action Civics Collaborative (NACC). Connected by a common interest in promoting experiential civic learning, especially for underserved and marginalized youth, these groups launched a promising effort to expand the scope and prominence of their approach. One of their early steps was to coin the phrase “Action Civics.”
Civic Learning through Action
The recent CIRCLE report “Civic Learning through Action: The Case of Generation Citizen,” studies the work of NACC founding member Generation Citizen (GC). Written with support from the Spencer Foundation, this report looks at Generation Citizen’s theory of change and preliminary evidence from its program evaluations.
GC works with middle and high schools in diverse communities by offering a curriculum, coaching, and support. GC trains college students to visit classrooms twice a week, teaching civics through a standardized curriculum. The program aims to develop active citizens – engaging teenagers in direct political action and teaching them through experience how to work with local leaders to fix local problems.
A perennial debate in civic education is about the role of “action”: whether to involve students in political or civic activities in addition to simply asking them to discuss or study politics and civil society. This debate goes back at least to the early 1900s, when the great American philosopher John Dewey argued that civic education had to be experiential. Yet action-oriented civics programs have often been marginal, compared to curricula rooted in textbooks.
Building the Case for Action Civics
Additionally, CIRCLE recently released Working Paper #78, “Building an Evidence-Based Practice of Action Civics: The Current State of Assessments and Recommendations for the Future” by Jessica Gingold, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Gingold assembles evidence for “action civics” as a field and describes the organizations that engage youth in (or assess) action civics programs. She examines 27 evaluation tools that they use, uncovering their common framework and implicit theory of change, which includes six outcomes:
- Civic and cultural transformation
- 21st century positive youth leadership
- Active and informed citizenship
- Youth civic participation
- Youth civic creation
- An academically successful student
In addition to describing a theory of change and related outcomes, this report identifies assessment challenges that NACC members face and offers recommendations for strengthening assessment.
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Tisch College’s CIRCLE (The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) is the leading source of authoritative research on civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25.