Sociopolitical Development in Five Days? How an Action Civics Camp Supports and Limits Complex Thinking

• In Event: Moral and Civic Development Through the Life Span

Abstract

The United States of America faces polarization and civic challenges across its communities. Impactful civics education needs to support complex thinking across multiple perspectives, but civics education increasingly operates within constraints that frustrate efforts to educate young people to think complexly about community issues. Using sociopolitical developmental theory and research on complex thinking and moral reasoning, we present findings from an exploratory case study of complex thinking across diverse perspectives at an action civics summer camp for middle school students. The action civics framework provided opportunities for some types of complex thinking and more limited experiences with perspective sharing and perspective taking. Findings are discussed in light of implications for researchers and practitioners working to support civic engagement among adolescents.

Authors

• Brandy P Quinn, Louisville High School

• Michelle Bauml, Texas Christian University