Civic Education Among Historically Marginalized Youth in an Urban Setting

Download or read book Civic Education Among Historically Marginalized Youth in an Urban Setting written by Greer Burroughs and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many American citizens have remained outside of the political process and therefore have not been able to effectively advocate for the full rights, privileges and responsibilities that American citizenship makes possible. For youth from historically marginalized populations who are growing up in lower-income urban areas, the issue becomes complicated by structural and social forces that impact the community and the schools. Although education may be a vehicle to provide young people with the requisite elements for civic engagement, questions abound as to what "type" of civic education curricula and instruction may be successful amidst the complex context of low-performing schools and urban communities. This dissertation investigated a classroom and curriculum in-use to better understand the contextual factors that inhibit or advance learning in this environment. The sample class, eighth grade students at an urban middle school, was observed as they engaged in a study of the citizen's role in the public policy making process using the Center for Civic Education's Project Citizen Curriculum. Following a qualitative case study model multiple methods of data collection were employed that allowed for the students' experiences to be explored in depth. Findings from this study provide educators and policy-makers with crucial insights to: curriculum materials and teaching strategies that the students related well to; promising practices to increase student performance; and a greater understanding of the students' knowledge and skills beyond what standardized test scores can reveal. The findings also challenge traditional notions of citizenship education and consider practices that may have specific relevance to historically marginalized populations.