« June 2009 | Main | March 2010 »
A bullet point list of the aspects of the civic learning spiral and outcomes was just added, under the Civic Engagement and Higher Education category (on the right-hand side of the page). We didn't have much time to discuss the civic learning spiral and outcomes on February 9th, but this is potentially a very helpful section for designing and assessing quality civic engagement opportunities.
I. What are faculty, staff, students, and community partners looking for?
Civic Engagement
• Resources and integration, want to see the pieces come together and consensus of where civic engagement is today
• Emphasis on the idea of public good
Glad to see to emphasis on local and global, beyond local
• Learn about myself more, learn about another culture, share these stories, role model, get the young people excited
• Positive social change emphasized
II. How should Civic Engagement be organized? What is needed?
Civic Engagement = very important to reflect on their own (the students') philosophies, why they are where they are (where we are)
• What are the histories?
• Why they affect us now?
Holistic - need to fix the source of problem
• Haiti example, pull people out of the rubble, five years down the line, have to go back to pull people out of the rubble again
Need a profound experience
Experience - allowed to have, what they're taking back from it, what learning applied to where they actually live
Experience the world, without leaving North America
• Get them out of their physical world
• Connections made at different places, depends where they're at
• Use social networking (classes co-taught through the internet across the world)
Need a framework for action, otherwise it could be dangerous
"Prepare now for lifelong civic engagement...never know who will be the next president, director..."
Need to take a step back
Page 62-63 Outcomes - are these equal?
• Need a pyramid of importance
• Want to do the right thing?
• Whose reality counts?
• Whose values count?
• How teach without imposing values
III. How can we make Civic Engagement campus-wide?
New Liberal Education Program - how to make sure implementation takes place?
What are the requirements?
Afterwards, pro-active, identify people
Need discipline specific
• Work on encouraging, help people make those connections better
We should just say "Do This"
Make civic engagement in the selection process
Work "with" not "at"
Crisis of what the university is after the Cold War
• What is the end product of the university?
• Hopefully, university takes leadership in sustainability
• A big opportunity, which we didn't choose
IV. How do we get students involved?
Students - concept of citizenship is changed
• Lots on p. 62-63, how to measure, give a common ground
Need to do follow-up with people
• Where were the students out there to support what they voted in?
• Stuff needs to keep coming
How to get them to participate? Need to give them a reason to go, to connect
Cynical = students are very
• No trust
• How are we socializing our young people?
• Must happen in families, communities, not just in high education
How to keep students excited all year round?
Herd mentality? Hallmark syndrome too?
Engage each of us in our own way...integrate this information into another scenario
• Need to scare them to get them out in their community?
• Get rid of the blinders
"Totally engaged exactly where they want to be unless they're pushed a little."
• They've got a constructed world, very skilled at keeping the door on...
Incredible motivator fear is...Is there good fear?
John Hart quote - Act out of fear, Act out of trust, freedom to act...changes what you're willing to do
Catastrophe fatigue currently
When the world isn't falling apart, people get cynical
Assumptions become givens, can't speak in any informed way
Opposed to fear, you want them to question (the students)
Empowerment - need to act, need to provide students with this
• How to show they can make a difference
• They feel overwhelmed
Tune into what you want to tune into...
If you don't know how, how will you be successful?
How to engage students in this context?
• Systems
• Critical analyze
• Long-term perspectives
Then it becomes complicated, might be harder, but they will like you at the end...
Something they can use in other places....
Maslow's hierarchy - need to focus lower, instead of self-actualization...need to fulfill basic needs of students first, self-focus
V. Skill Building
Teaching skills more productive than teaching philosophy
Skill Building - Opportunities for them
• Empowerment (do we need to teach this?) (Do they know what this means?) - how to relate to traditional UMD students?
• Micro-loan strategy? Work with UMD Students to fund experiences? UROP?
Need it to become intrinsic (inner drive)
• Want self-sustaining - how to develop this?
• Don't want to become the agency. Want to be the facilitator of learning
Skill Building
• Kirby Leadership Institute
• Need to believe it's benefiting them
• Need to really carefully choose where people go
• Worldview, connections