Students as Place-Makers: A Case Study on Action Civics and Place-Consciousness

• In Event: Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to explore how students articulate their visions for civic life as they participate in an action civics curriculum focused on place-consciousness. We suggest that the relationship between place-consciousness and action civics helps students imagine themselves as place makers. Initial findings from this research highlight (1) the importance of local contexts and how they inform student conceptualizations of community responsibility and collective action, (2) how focusing on local issues can help students contextualize and begin to make sense of larger social issues, and (3) how working in solidarity with others helps students take action in their local communities and move past the ways students have been constructed as future citizens and passively engaged in their communities.

Authors

• Tori Smith, University of Alabama

• Kevin Russel Magill, Baylor University

• Brooke Blevins, Baylor University

• Kenley Bailey Ritter, Baylor University

• Nate Scholten, Baylor University