Preparing College Students to Facilitate Action Civics Among K-12 Students

• In Event: Civic Engagement as Praxis for Community Involvement in Higher Education

Abstract

In an effort to prepare students for active citizenship, many colleges and universities are beginning to train college students to mentor K-12 students in action civics. This presentation explores common themes across three such training curricula in an effort to understand how such service-learning can be made most beneficial. Results from qualitative document analysis and interviews suggest that (1) intrinsic motivation development around action civics, (2) cultural and social competence development, (3) communication and dialogue facilitation skills, and (4) reflective practice training are key to preparing college students for such work. Ethical considerations must also be taken into account during such training. Beyond the content knowledge needed to mentor in action civics, non-cognitive and “soft skills” are vitally important.

Authors

• Jason C. Fitzgerald, Wagner College

• Alison Klebanoff Cohen, University of California - Berkeley

• Barbara Ferman, Temple University