K-12 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Laura Conley & Marcela Peres Evans

K-12 Community Engagement

Case study: Hampton Youth Commission Students Community

Educational reform Community services

Community Students Future Steps

Youth Civic Engagement of Hampton, Virginia

Involving students in schools and community

YouTube Video “It means I have a voice in what

goes on in the community, I have a vote with the neighborhood association. Not as a kid, but as an adult, making decisions.”

http://www.hamptonyouth.com/

Working with students to reform their own schools and educational system

Fletcher, A. (2008). The Architecture of Ownership. Educational Leadership, 66(3). Dewey and Democracy and Education (1916) Four roles for students to take ownership of

learning Planners Teachers Professional Development Partners Decision Makers

Student involvement in educational reform

Student involvement in educational reform

VOYCE - http://www.voyceproject.org/ Chicago youth-led organizing collaborative Goal of impacting teaching and learning at

the high school level in order to keep students engaged in school and increase graduation and college enrollment rates. 

Model of participatory action research Student leaders undertook a year-long

study of the dropout crisis and ways to address the problem. 

American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards for the 21st Century Learner 1.2.1 Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and

investigating the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts.

1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community.

2.1.1 Continue an inquiry-based research process by applying critical-thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge in order to construct new understandings, draw conclusions and create new knowledge.

3.2.2 Show social responsibility by participating actively with others in learning situations and by contributing questions and ideas during group discussions.

3.3.3 Use knowledge and information skills and dispositions to engage in public conversation and debate around issues of common concern.

Student involvement in educational reform

Watts, R., & Flanagan, C. (2007). Pushing the envelope on youth civic engagement: A developmental and liberation psychology perspective. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(6), 779-792. “Although there is certainly value in the current

civic engagement literature, much of it focuses on the maintenance of social and political institutions rather than on action for social justice.”

“Adultism” Civic engagement in youth

Student involvement in educational reform

Discussion Questions Can students truly be influential in reforming

the educational system? What about their lack of experience and education?

How could programs such as VOYCE be implemented elsewhere? What may need to be adjusted or tailored to specific communities? Could you see this succeeding in your community?

How can the school library, school librarian or public library be a part of this reform?

Student involvement in educational reform

Service Learning: Pairing community service with learning in order to engage students with their community

Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) Transforming both providers and recipients Impacts of service learning on K-12

students Academic Civic/Citizenship Social/Personal

Student involvement in the community

Student involvement in the community

Henderson, A., Brown, S., Pancer, S., & Ellis-Hale, K. (2007, October). Mandated Community Service in High School and Subsequent Civic Engagement: The Case of the “Double Cohort” in Ontario, Canada. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 36(7), 849-860. Mandated vs. Non-mandated community service

Impacts on attitudes about community engagement Effects on subsequent community engagement

Study limitations “…the mandatory nature of the service is not nearly as

important as other aspects of the service experience, such as whether or not the service was of a sustained or short-term nature (Riedel 2002).”

Student involvement in the community

Duke, N., Skay, C., Pettingell, S., & Browsky, I. (2009). From Adolescent Connections to Social Capital: Predictors of Civic Engagement in Young Adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44(2009), 161-168. “Better connection in all family and community contexts in

adolescence predicted higher composite civic engagement scores in young adulthood.”

“The contribution of cohesive neighborhoods, along with family has been considered a ‘seed bed’ for the development of an active citizenry.”

Implications for fostering civic engagement in students Community members Parents and other family

Student involvement in the community

Discussion Questions According to Henderson, et al., mandated

community service has no effect on students’ subsequent civic engagement. The numerous studies listed on the Learn and Serve Clearinghouse website argue differently. With those in mind, should volunteerism be mandated in schools?

How else can we get students involved in the community without mandating volunteer hours?

How can the school library, school librarian or public library be a part of this reform?

Encouraging outside involvement in the school, the district, and the school library

Chutz, A. (2006, Winter). Home Is a Prison in the Global City: The Tragic Failure of School-Based Community Engagement Strategies. Review of Educational Research, 76(4), 691-743. Authentic engagement between schools and inner-

city communities School – Community Relationships

Funds of knowledge Community – School Relationships

Community organizing

Community involvement in the school

http://learningmatters.tv/blog/podcasts/podcast-community-engagement-and-public-school-reform/986/ Podcast on community engagement and

public school reform in Washington, D.C. Parent advocate Margot Berkey discusses

the lack of transparency on the part of D.C. school leaders. Without community input, she believes the reform that they want to take place will be unsuccessful.

Community involvement in the school

Discussion Questions How can we best engage the community in our

schools and school libraries? What positive and negative effects can we expect to see as a result of this engagement?

Chutz discusses the ways in which school-based community engagement strategies can function in an urban environment. Would these strategies also be applicable to a rural or suburban setting? What might need to be altered or adjusted?

Are you aware of any examples of communities and schools working together in your own life? What worked and what didn’t?

Community involvement in the school

Future steps – taking action

The Center for Communication & Civic Engagement’s Inventory of Online Youth Civic Engagement Resources

http://www.engagedyouth.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/digital_citizens_database_825.pdf

Corporation for National & Community Service 2008 Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey

Can video games increase teen civic engagement?

Pew Internet & American Life Project Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College