Public Achievement

Last updated

Public Achievement is an "initiative" of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg University. [1] It involves young people working in teams on a public works project of their choice. An adult coach, typically a teacher or university student trained in the process and concepts of Public Achievement, guides team members through the following stages: exploration and discovery; issue selection and development; problem research; designing a project; implementing the action plan and making the work visible; and celebrating. Throughout the process, the coach holds team members accountable, and creates space for reflection and opportunities for each team member to practice and refine their civic skills. The coach makes overt connections between the group’s work and civic and political concepts. Ideally, an experienced PA site coordinator provides mentoring and assists PA coaches in reflecting on their own learning.

Contents

Public Achievement was designed to give young people the opportunity to be producers and creators of their schools and their communities, not simply customers or clients. The goals of Public Achievement in its pilot project stage were to test whether young people could learn to influence problems in their schools and neighborhoods in a serious way, to define this work in political terms, and to integrate civic education, including a rich vocabulary of civic concepts such as “citizen teacher,” into institutions that work with young people.

Through communication with Public Achievement participants, the Center for Democracy and Citizenship identifies best practices and incorporates them into PA training and materials. The CDC produces training guides and instructional DVDs and maintains a Public Achievement web site [2] with a variety of materials to support PA teams, coaches, and site coordinators.

History

Public Achievement was created in 1990 by Harry Boyte, [3] co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, in partnership with several other collaborators. It grew out of a series of focus groups with more than 200 young people in which participants were asked about problems in their schools and communities, and about their views on politics and public life. These young people were capable of listing any number of problems, but saw themselves outside of the solutions and outside politics and public life.

A variety of evaluations have found that PA is successful in developing young people’s confidence, communications and problem-solving skills, and ability to work effectively with others. In 1997 it was featured as a model of youth civic education by the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, co-chaired by William Bennett and Sam Nunn. In 2005, it was cited as an approach to civic education in the Civic Mission of Schools report of the Carnegie Corporation and CIRCLE. In 2007, Public Achievement was a finalist for the prestigious Carl Bertelsmann prize, an international award for "innovative approaches and outstanding ideas that help shape and further develop democratic societies."

Public Achievement in the United States

The Center for Democracy and Citizenship has worked with partners to bring Public Achievement to 22 countries. In the United States, PA is well established in Minnesota, Colorado, Missouri and New Hampshire, where CDC staff have trained faculty in leadership and service learning programs who then train university students as PA coaches in their leadership or service learning courses; CDC staff have provided assistance to faculty in developing PA sites through partnerships with local K-12 schools. In 2008, the CDC began a collaboration with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities to promote PA in community partnerships and in college curricula across the country. A dozen state colleges and universities are now adopting PA in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Connecticut, Vermont, Florida, Oregon, North Carolina, and Indiana.

Expansion of Public Achievement internationally

In 2000, staff of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship trained Catholic and Protestant educators who launched Public Achievement as a method of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. In 2000 and 2003, a CDC staff person attended Salzburg Global seminars as a participant and speaker and initiated relationships with potential partners in Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Poland, and the Palestinian Territories.

In 2006, a staff member of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship was invited by the Educational Society for Malopolska (MTO) [ permanent dead link ] in Poland to lead Public Achievement training for educators and school administrators from the Balkans. Later that year, CDC staff conducted training and provided technical consultation at a regional conference organized by MTO for more than 200 educators and young people using Public Achievement in the Balkans, Turkey, and Poland. In 2008, MTO led training for trainers in the Kharkov and Odessa regions of Ukraine, where local partners want to make Ukraine a center of Public Achievement. MTO also led training for trainers in the Visegrád Group countries, where there are now 19 sites.

Through site visits to the United States by Polish, Turkish, and Palestinian partners, visits by center staff to Poland and Turkey, and in follow-up consultations, CDC staff have trained trainers and provided ongoing mentoring and technical assistance.

Public Achievement in the Middle East

In the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jordan, PA (“Popular Achievement”) has been supported by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) since 2003. As in Eastern and Central Europe, PA teams have addressed a wide range of issues such as treating drinking water, creating violence reduction programs, repairing a school, creating a handbook for disabled people, doing a village history, helping poor families, and creating a community library. An in-depth evaluation by the AFSC found that team participants learn to analyze local problems, communicate effectively, map and understand power, and build relationships with local organizations and authorities, while gaining confidence and civic identity in the process. In 2008, 756 young people from Gaza and the West Bank participated in PA.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YMCA Youth and Government</span>

YMCA Youth and Government (YaG), also known as Youth In Government, or Model Legislature and Court, is a program of the YMCA of the USA that allows high school students to serve in model governments at the local, state, national, and international levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizen journalism</span> Journalism genre

Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information." Similarly, Courtney C. Radsch defines citizen journalism "as an alternative and activist form of news gathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but is driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream journalism". Jay Rosen offers a simpler definition: "When the people formerly known as the audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another." The underlying principle of citizen journalism is that ordinary people, not professional journalists, can be the main creators and distributors of news. Citizen journalism should not be confused with community journalism or civic journalism, both of which are practiced by professional journalists; collaborative journalism, which is the practice of professional and non-professional journalists working together; and social journalism, which denotes a digital publication with a hybrid of professional and non-professional journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. David Mathews</span> American academic and official (born 1935)

Forrest David Mathews is an American politician who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare during the administration of President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977. He also served two nonconsecutive terms as the president of the University of Alabama. In 1983, Mathews was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He served as president and chief executive officer of the Kettering Foundation from 1981 to 2022. He is the author of several books on democratic practice and education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civic engagement</span> Individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern

Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coro (non-profit organization)</span> American nonprofit organization

Coro is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization best known for its fellowship program dedicated to teaching skills useful in leadership in public affairs to young adults.

Community education, also known as community-based education or community learning & development, is an organization's programs to promote learning and social development work with individuals and groups in their communities using a range of formal and informal methods. A common defining feature is that programmes and activities are developed in dialogue with communities and participants. The purpose of community learning and development is to develop the capacity of individuals and groups of all ages through their actions, the capacity of communities, to improve their quality of life. Central to this is their ability to participate in democratic processes.

The Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC), founded in 1986, is a nonprofit organization that serves individuals, groups, and organizations in San Mateo County, California. As a neutral third party, PCRC assists people in conflict to develop mutually acceptable agreements. It offers mediation, facilitation, training, and community building services. It is the largest provider of community-based conflict management and prevention services in San Mateo County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malawi–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

The United States established diplomatic relations with Malawi in 1964 after Malawi gained independence from the United Kingdom. Malawi's transition from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy significantly strengthened the already cordial U.S. relationship with Malawi. Significant numbers of Malawians study in the United States. The United States has an active Peace Corps program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and an Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Malawi. Both countries have a common history and English language, as they were part of the British Empire.

Leader's Challenge was a Colorado, USA, based nonprofit organization that provided leadership training to high potential students through experiential education programs. Their mission was to create civic and service minded youth by developing leadership skills, inspiring purpose, and developing engagement in their communities. As of October 28, 2009, Leader's Challenge was shut down due to financial difficulties.

The Close Up Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic education organization in Washington, D.C. Established in 1971, Close Up offers programming to educate and encourage young people to participate in their civic affairs and government. About 850,000 students and teachers have participated in its programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital citizen</span> Person using IT to engage in society, politics, and government

The term digital citizen is used with different meanings. According to the definition provided by Karen Mossberger, one of the authors of Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation, digital citizens are "those who use the internet regularly and effectively." In this sense a digital citizen is a person using information technology (IT) in order to engage in society, politics, and government.

The Tyree Scott Freedom School is an educational program in Seattle, Washington, with a curriculum on social justice issues and anti-racist community organizing in Seattle. The project also holds a monthly gathering of anti-racist educators, whose goal is to end institutional racism in the education system.

The University of Virginia Center for Politics (CfP) is a nonpartisan institute at the University of Virginia. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the institute promotes the value of politics and the importance of civic engagement. It operates on the principle that 'government works better when politics works better, and politics works better when citizens are informed and involved participants'.

New Leaders is an American non-profit organization that aims to recruit and train school leaders who focus on improving education results for poor and minority students. It also aims to promote system-level policies and practices that provide support to these leaders. The organization was founded in 2000 as New Leaders for New Schools by Jonathan Schnur and a group of teachers and investors. Research from the Harvard Business School and RAND corporation has found that principals from the New Leaders program have "outperform[ed] their peers". As of 2016, the organization trains education leaders at all levels, in more than 20 cities across the United States.

The Alliance for Representative Democracy is a USA organization that is a partnership between the Trust for Representative Democracy at the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Center on Congress at Indiana University, and the Center for Civic Education. The Alliance launched the Representative Democracy in America: Voices of the People project to introduce citizens to the critical relationship between government and the people it serves. The project introduces citizens, particularly young people, to the representatives, institutions, and processes that serve to realize the goal of a government of, by, and for the people.

Action civics is a modern and alternative form of civics education in the United States. Action civics is an applied civic education process in which participants learn about government by examining issues in their own community and then select a focus issue for action through a process of debate, research the issue and learn advocacy strategies, develop civic skills such as public speaking, formulate a plan, mobilize, educate, then evaluate, and reflect on their experience. Participants' voices are encouraged, valued and incorporated. Participants learn by doing, with a focus on collective action. Action civics can encompass a number of different actions from community service to electoral engagement and from talking about concerns with public officials to creating peer education campaigns.

Citizenship education is taught in schools, as an academic subject similar to politics or sociology. It is known by different names in different countries - for example, ‘citizenship education’ in the UK, ‘civics’ in the US, and ‘education for democratic citizenship’ in parts of Europe. The different names for the subject is mirrored in the different approaches towards citizenship education adopted in different countries. These are often a consequence of the unique historical and political developments within different countries.

The World Forum for Democracy is a gathering each November in Strasbourg, France to debate the complex challenges facing democracies today and foster democratic innovation. The Forum is hosted by the Council of Europe and brings together members of civil society, political leaders and representatives of business, academia, media and professional groups. Past editions have revolved around themes such as "Bridging the gap: democracy between old models and new realities", "Re-wiring Democracy: connecting institutions and citizens in the digital age" and "From participation to influence: can youth revitalise democracy?".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Europe-Georgia Institute</span> Non-governmental organization in Georgia

Europe-Georgia Institute (EGI) – is a non-governmental organization in Georgia. The Europe-Georgia Institute was founded by George Melashvili, Shalva Chkheidze and Revaz Topuria in 2015.

Civic studies is an interdisciplinary field that empirically investigates civic engagement, civic education, and civil society. It also aims to influence the social sciences and humanities in general to take the perspective of intentional human actors—people who reason and work together to improve their worlds—in addition to institutions and impersonal social forces.

References