Evaluating strategies to support an authentic and critical ‘activist’ citizenship curriculum

1. Dr Bronwyn Wood • Bronwyn.wood@vuw.ac.nz • Victoria University of Wellington, NEW ZEALAND • Youth activism, engagement and the development of new civic learning spaces Conference • Budapest 25-27 June 2019 Evaluating strategies to support an authentic and critical ‘activist’ citizenship curriculum

2. NZ context and citizenship education • Strong democratic traditions • Settler colonial society – Maori • Progressive child-centred curriculum • Very little prescription in curriculum

3. Pedagogical strategies for teaching CE

4. The Personal Social Action NCEA Achievement Standards

5. An ‘action civics’ curriculum • Level 1 (age 15-16): Report on personal involvement in a social justice and human rights action Comprehensively report on personal involvement in a social justice and human rights action involves: • using social studies concepts • identifying the issue and providing background information including the intended purpose of the action • a reflection on personal involvement that includes alternative and/or additional actions • an evaluation of the effectiveness of these alternative and/or additional actions. • [NOTE: By Year 13 – requirements for a campaign of action to influence policy].

6. Critical and transformative social action • Critical social action seeks to critique the very power structures upon which inequality, discrimination and injustice are founded in order to create a more humane, just, inclusive and less discriminatory society. Similarly, social action which is ‘transformative’ implies a commitment to work collectively against oppression in its many guises (such as those based on class, race, colonisation, gender etc. ) in order to create a better society (Dewey, 1916; Freire, 1973; Johnson & Morris, 2010; Westheimer & Kahne, 2002).

7. Lesson 1: Effective active citizenship was very rewarding. Yeah and it teaches you so much more about real life, than a lot of other subjects Kind of tests out your real life skills as well, like interviewing and email writing, … you have to be really professional especially with an MP or someone like that… So we actually probably put a lot more dedication into it because we know it's going to be useful in life, ... choosing what you wanted to do gives you more of a chance to focus on something that you care about and something that you want to see changes or implemented in this society.

8. Lesson 2: Longer-term change is less rewarding right now Student Year 13 (18 years): It’s kind of hard to measure what you have actually done. I feel like... like we got replies but they were kind of average replies from the MPs and you never get anything solid to say that you have achieved this [policy change] whereas last year we were able to say “we made this much money for this charity”...Whereas this year, it’s just like well I don’t even know, like they read our emails but did they even care? We don’t know really. Do they take into consideration the letters from six College students? Not really. (Y13 student) • Real change requires time + sustained collective relationships.

9. Lesson 3: That choice and agency are fundamental to civic engagement Student Yr 13, age 18: Yeah, definitely, like if it’s a thing that you feel more passionate about. Like this was kind of imposed on us, we didn’t get any choice this year whereas last year we got to choose our charity. Whereas this year we got a set one [social issue]. I mean it gives us all the substance of what we have to do but at the same time I feel don’t feel as emotionally charged about it. Student Y13, age 17: It’sobviously easier to teach if you just give a set topic in class with one issue but I think when you get to choose it yourself you get more [fired up about it]… Individual choice and agency are fundamental to civic engagement (Lerner et al in Metzger, 2016).

10. Lesson 4: Emotion and affect are integral to social action • Teacher 2: …you just don’t go “aw, I’m gonna have a social action just now.” It’s like a whole thing, the emotion that there’s an injustice or something that needs working on. • Teacher 3: ‘[I need to get my] students to identify/empathize with injustice, therefore become engaged in the context’. • Teacher 4: I will never impose my choice of social issue on them – I am willing for them to fail the assessment before I’d do that. • Student: [Our teachers want us to be] Empathetic. Not just know knowing how other people in less fortunate situations feel, but actually feeling it, like moving you to want to wanna do something. (Wood, & Taylor, 2017)

11. Tensions between teacher/student-led action and knowledge and engagement Wood, Taylor, Atkin & Johnston, 2018

12. Domains of active citizenship learning Wood, Taylor, Atkins & Johnston, 2018 Community engagement; Action civics Deliberative and civic knowledge approaches

13. References • Biesta, G. (2011). Learning democracy in school and society : Education, lifelong learning, and the politics of citizenship. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. • Brown, G., & Pickerill, J. (2009). Space for emotion in the spaces of activism. Emotion, Space and Society, 2(1), 24-35. • Wood, B. E., & Taylor, R. (2017). Caring citizens: Emotional engagement and social action in educational settings in New Zealand. In J. Horton & M. Pyer (Eds.), Children, young people and care (pp. 78-92). Oxon/NY: Routledge. • Wood, B. E., Taylor, R., Atkins, R., & Johnston, M. (2018). Pedagogies for active citizenship: Learning through affective and cognitive domains for deeper democratic engagement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 75, 259-267.