K-12 Community engagement

1. K-12 Community engagement Laura Conley & Marcela Peres Evans

2. K-12 Community Engagement • Case study: Hampton Youth Commission • Students  Community • Educational reform • Community services • Community  Students • Future Steps

3. 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/

4. Student involvement in educational reform • 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

5. 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. 

6. Student involvement in educational reform • 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.

7. 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

8. 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?

9. Student involvement in the community • 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

10. 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).”

11. 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

12. 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?

13. Community involvement in the school • 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

14. 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.

15. 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?

16. 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