In This Update:
Greetings from the Chairman
A Civic Renewal Movement?
Volunteerism on the Move
Work Hard. Go to College. Change the World! A School with a Civic Mission
What 10.6 million Youth Can Do
Greetings from the Chairman
Welcome. You are part of a civic engagement network of the National Conference on Citizenship that now includes 224 organizations around the country that want to work together to strengthen civic life. We will be sharing with you timely information that helps you in your work and helps connect your work to the larger network. We will be providing timely essays, information on the availability of federal and foundation grants for which you might apply, a calendar of the leading events around the country focusing on civic engagement, and more. But we want this to be a two way street and welcome input from you about the newsletter, your needs, and how the network can advance our common work, so please contact us at editor@ncoc.net with information about your organization’s newest initiatives and latest achievements. We will be happy to get the word out about the important work you are doing. As Carmen Sirianni points out in his essay below organizations that work together and not in segmented silos will be able to create greater civic change. We also are in the process of creating a press network to get increased coverage for these issues. Finally, we have assembled an outstanding team to work on the creation of national civic indicators and will be seeking your input on these important indicators as well.
Happy holidays to all and we look forward to working with you in the New Year.
John M. Bridgeland
Chairman, NCoC Advisory Board
Craig Turk
Chairman, NCoC
A Civic Renewal Movement?
Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland
Despite many worrisome signs in today's civic life and political culture, citizens across the U.S. have been busy reinventing everyday democracy through innovative forms of collaborative problem solving, community building, and democratic deliberation. New movements have emerged that share many themes and practices: the watershed movement, community youth development movement, service learning movement, faith-based community organizing and the assets-based community development movements, community forestry movement, and the movement to renew the civic mission of higher education, to name just a few. These movements have much in common not only because they are responding to some similar concerns - frustration with polarized advocacy, bureaucratic service delivery, or narrow professional practice, for instance - but also because they have been in active conversation, freely borrowing problem-solving methodologies and civic frames from each other, as well as from leading public intellectuals (e.g. Harry Boyte, Robert Putnam, John McKnight) grappling with the larger questions of renewing American democracy and community.
While these forms of democratic engagement certainly do not represent the full breadth of civic and political participation, they are especially important because they offer the promise of a much more productive politics where citizens do not simply mobilize, advocate, and attack each other as ardent partisans, but where they work through conflicts, build civic relationships and trust, form partnerships, and do the kind of everyday public work and complex problem solving that can sustain a self-governing, democratic commonwealth. In the overheated feeding frenzy that now dominates our national politics, this kind of civic action offers a beacon of hope that could become a cornerstone of a new governing philosophy, should political leaders awake to its potential.
In our recently published book, The Civic Renewal Movement: Community Building and Democracy in the U.S. (Kettering Foundation Press, 2005), we argue that the proliferation of these innovative civic models and movements in recent years represents the emergence of an interlinked civic renewal movement. But this movement is fragile and will need special nurturing if it is to grow. It is not like the familiar rights and justice movements, or fundamentalist values-based movements, of previous decades, and thus cannot rely on their typical action repertoires (protests, boycotts, court cases) to capture broad public attention. While there are many challenges ahead, let us focus on two here.
First, we need a common forum for making these innovative movements and collaborative models more visible. Organizations typically work in segmented silos that limit their impact on broader civic transformation. If we are to continue to leverage the work of innovative movements, we need a nonpartisan national forum that can help generate visibility, energy, ideas, networks, hope-and, indeed, relationships with lawmakers and other opinion leaders. In Civic Innovation in America (2001), we developed a proposal for a "national civic congress" convening regularly around the Fourth of July that could focus the nation's - and lawmakers' -- attention on the possibilities of productive engagement and creative partnerships across the civic, business, and public sectors. The details need not detain us here. But we think that the National Conference on Citizenship can very well play a similarly ambitious role.
Second, we need to focus much more energy on policy design and invite lawmakers and innovative public administrators into the conversation. Government at all levels of the federal system can play a catalytic role in building civic capacity. This includes not just the Corporation for National and Community Service, as vital as this has been, but many types of agencies. Two quick examples: EPA's strategic investment in developing the field of volunteer water quality monitoring over a 20-year period - i.e. under both Republican and Democratic administrations -- has been indispensable to generating the kinds of "usable knowledge" that makes it ever more possible for state and local agencies, in partnership with several thousand watershed groups, to effectively protect and restore complex ecosystems across the country. The City of Hampton, Virginia, winner of the 2005 Innovations in Government Award, has invested in building a youth civic engagement system over the past decade that engages young people in robust problem solving from the schools and neighborhoods to the planning and parks departments. In a world of increasingly complex problems, we would argue, government not only can but also must play an energetic and strategic role in helping to build the capacity of civic networks and diverse partnerships.
Again, the National Conference on Citizenship perhaps has a special role to play in bringing the broad range of civic and policy innovators into productive conversation with lawmakers in Washington. This is not just about one segmented policy arena, such as national and community service or civic education, but how government in general can work in partnership with communities and diverse stakeholders, how it can enable effective civic problem solving. As Elizabeth Hollander, executive director of Campus Compact - now with 950 member campuses -- said at one of our youth civic engagement strategy conferences several years back, "Don't think small. The future of our democracy is at stake!"
Carmen Sirianni is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, Brandeis University. Lewis Friedland is Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Their new book, The Civic Renewal Movement: Community Building and Democracy in the U.S., can be ordered from the Kettering Foundation at ecruffolo@ec-ruffolo.com, call: 1-800-600-4060, FAX: 1-937-435-7367, or send check for $9.95 plus shipping and handling ($3.85) to Ruffolo, P.O. Box 41626, Dayton, OH 45441. Sirianni & Friedland, "A Civic Renewal Movement?"
Volunteerism on the Rise
About 65.4 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2004 and September 2005, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported in its latest Current Population Survey. This represents an increase of 5.7 million people since the BLS began its survey on volunteerism in 2001.
One-fourth of men and about one-third of women did volunteer work in the year ended in September 2005, about the same proportions as in the 2 prior years. Women volunteered at a higher rate than men across age groups, educational levels, and other major characteristics.
By age, persons age 35 to 44 were the most likely to volunteer (34.5 percent), closely followed by 45- to 54-year olds (32.7 percent). Teenagers also had a relatively high volunteer rate, 30.4 percent, perhaps reflecting an emphasis on volunteer activeties in schools. Volunteer rates were lowest among persons in their early twenties (19.5 percent) and among those age 65 and over (24.8 percent). Within the latter group, volunteer rates decreased as age increased.
For more information visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Work Hard, Go to College, Change the World!
Each month the NCoC wants to highlight the best practices in the field. By sharing your
innovative ideas and exciting new programs, we hope to get the word to others so they can learn
from your important work. If your organization
is doing something the field that our extensive
and diverse network of funders, policymakers, nonprofit and business leaders would benefit from
hearing, please email us at editor@ncoc.net. Below is our
first spotlight article on Democracy Prep,
a school with a mission that reaches beyond reading, writing and arithmetic.
Harlem New York has emerged a hotbed of social entrepreneurship and civic engagement being home to the Harlem Children's Zone and the William J. Clinton Foundation. The newest addition to the neighborhood is Democracy Prep, a charter school whose mission is to equip students with the tools to prepare them for college and to be active citizens.
The school will open its doors next fall, enrolling 135 students in its inaugural sixth grade class. While the school’s mission is to mold America’s next generation of active citizens, the school’s founder Seth Andrew points out that they will first have to overcome substantial challenges, since most students will enter the sixth grade reading at a third or fourth grade reading level.
“We must maintain incredibly high academic standards to get all students above or on grade level as soon as possible and prepared to thrive academically in high school. Lots of schools have done this, but it is a huge amount of work that requires amazing teaching and leadership,” Mr. Andrews said.
The curriculum of the school is divided into three core stages of a student’s civic development. The first stage occurs during sixth and seventh grade, developing students basic civic skills of how government works. The second stage takes place during eighth and ninth grade, exploring topics such as what are the most effective methods to affect social change. Finally, in the tenth and eleventh grades, the school works to build a strong civic disposition in its students, cultivating the habits to make them want to be engaged citizens throughout their lives.
The school has been well received by parents in the community because of its focus on college preparation, rigorous academics and a safe strict school culture.
More information can be found at their website: www.democracyprep.org.
What a Million Youth Can Do
According to the new survey, Youth Helping America – Building Active Citizens, approximately 10.6 million youth – or 38 percent of the youth population -- have engaged in community service as part of a school activity. Of those, 65 percent have also participated in related activities typically associated with service-learning, such as planning the service project or writing about it in class. The survey found that only 5 percent of youth attributed their volunteer activities to a mandatory school requirement.
The survey conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector, found that the likelihood that young people will volunteer is directly related to their connections to the social institutions of family, religious congregations, and schools. Among other key findings, the survey found:
- 74 percent of youth who volunteer do so at least in part through a religious organization, a school-based group, or a youth leadership organization such as Scouts or 4H, while 64 percent do so primarily through one of those three institutions.
- Students who volunteer do better in school than their counterparts who don’t volunteer.
- A youth from a family where at least one parent volunteers is almost twice as likely to volunteer as a youth with no family members who volunteer, and nearly three times as likely to volunteer on a regular basis.
- Among youth who attend religious services regularly, 64 percent also volunteer.
Civic Engagement Events:
Martin Luther King Day of Service
January 16, 2006
Nationwide
As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, Americans across the country will celebrate by honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will remember and memorialize Dr. King by participating in service projects in their communities. Together, they will honor King’s legacy of tolerance, peace, and equality by meeting community needs and making the holiday “A day ON, not a day OFF.”
The Places We Live: Student Engagement in Diverse Communities
February 16-17
Flint, Michigan
More than 300 educators and students from across Michigan and the Midwestern states will gather to share ideas and best practices, and explore challenges, related to the successful development and implementation of service-learning. This year’s conference theme will encourage participants to examine service-learning through the lens of "place." Topics include key issues and opportunities faced by educators and students in rural or urban environments.
Hands On Network 2006 Leadership Conference
March 9-11
Boston, Massachusetts
The Hands On Network 2006 Leadership Conference is a gathering of some of America’s most dynamic leaders in the volunteer and community service sector. From cities and towns as diverse as Phoenix to Boston, executive directors, board members, program managers and volunteers will come together to exchange best practices and rejuvenate each other through a celebration of our work empowering communities through innovative service and civic engagement.
National Conference on Faith and Service
March 22
Washington, DC
The theme of the conference: “Building Bridges to Enhance Global Security in the 21st Century” will place increased focus on collaboration among top leaders of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim (“Abrahamic”) faiths, emphasizing common purposes shared by different religions.
In addition, the conference will mobilize youth from different religious traditions around the country to engage in meaningful service opportunities.
National Service Learning Conference
March 22-25
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The National Service-Learning Conference is the largest gathering of youths and practitioners involved in the service-learning movement, drawing nearly 2,900 attendees from across the United States and 41 other countries.
It focuses on service-learning as a way of teaching and learning that builds academic skills and citizenship while addressing community needs in a real way. The conference convenes teachers and other service-learning practitioners, administrators, educators of pre-service teachers, researchers, policy-makers, youth leaders, parents, program coordinators, national service members, community-based organization staffs, and corporate and foundation officers.
National and Global Youth Service Day
April 21- 23
Worldwide
Youth Service America sponsors the largest service event in the world, mobilizes youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service and learning, supports youth on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement, and educates the public, the media, and policymakers about the year-round contributions of young people as community leaders. An active consortium of more than 200 National and Global Partners organizes thousands of projects each year in the United States and 150 countries.
“The National Conference on Citizenship perhaps has a special role to play in bringing the broad range of civic and policy innovators into productive conversation with lawmakers in Washington.”
~ Carmen Sirianni
