Transcript Exploring Values Before Requiring Civic Engagement from Students

An Interdisciplinary
Exploration of Values: The
Foundation for Civic
Engagement
Randall E. Osborne, Ph.D. &
Paul Kriese, Ph.D.
Presented at Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities Conference, Honolulu, HI,
January 11-14, 2008
Positive Youth Development
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Thomsen (2004) suggests that Positive
Youth Development (PYD) is inherent in
good educational practice & prepares
students for life beyond the classroom.
As such, PYD can be built into existing
educational practices and provides core
skills that promote both academic
excellence and personal/social
development
Positive Youth Development
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PYD has 5 basic tenets (Thomsen, 2004)
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Connection
Confidence
Competence
Compassion
Character
Brain-based emotional intelligence
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Research (e.g., Thomsen, 2002) shows that teaching
students to cope effectively with their emotions frees
up working memory and enhances learning.
Positive Youth Development
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Connection – connecting self to community
Confidence – must have confidence that “real”
problems can be addressed and resolved
Competence – must believe that he/she has
the ability to be an effective part of the
solution
Compassion – must learn to care about others
Character – character traits must be modeled,
practiced and reinforced
Civic Engagement - Defined
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Adding one’s voice to community conversations. Advocacy on behalf
of others. Participation in public life. Encouraging other people to
participate in public life. Joining in common work that promotes the
well being of everyone.
Although we fervently agree with the above definition of civic
engagement, we are concerned about requiring students to become
actively involved in their broader community BEFORE they have
explored their own biases and values that are likely to affect the
interactions they have with others in that community. To address
this concern, we developed an Internet course on the Politics and
Psychology of Hatred specifically designed to assist students
in uncovering, exploring, analyzing and learning from their personal
biases and values. We developed a 4-step model (which we call the
"humanities model") to facilitate this uncovering process.
Preparing for Civic Engagement
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It is our belief that discussing social issues (such as prejudice or
racism) without requiring students to explore the roots of their
views, to understand the roots of other views, and to appreciate
the nature and importance of different views about those issues,
perpetuates ignorance.
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To raise the issue without using the humanities model (or to send
students out into the community without having explored their
biases and values) may simply reinforce prejudices by giving them
voice without question.
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Lastly, we believe that all that we do in these courses should
center on the theme of “civic engagement.” Although that is
sometimes defined as sending students out into the community via
service-learning, we believe that the themes in the course of: (1)
social justice, (2) having a voice through vote, (3) condoning
hatred through silence, (4) exploring image and stereotypical
views of others, (5) environmental hatred, and (6) self-referent
thinking (among others) assist students in exploring their role in
the broader community.
Examples of Assignments That
Facilitate Aspects of PYD
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Connection – Middle Class Mentality
Confidence – Phenomenal Woman
Competence – Immigration Reform
Compassion – Nuclear Shelter
Character – Diversity Philosophy
Connection
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Reach consensus on how to define "Middle
Class Mentality.“
post that group definition to the discussion list.
In your response, be sure and include answers
to the following questions:
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can anyone "become" middle class? Why or why not?
what all different aspects of society does the middle
class mentality permeate?
how is the concept of middle class mentality linked to
legal issues such as:
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immigration laws,
welfare policies, and
access to resources for higher education?
Confidence
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Read Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman”
What is she trying to say?
What are you using to reach this
conclusion?
How do her comments/points relate to the
content and focus of this course?
How does that make you feel & why?
Competence
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Immigration Reform Assignment
Locate a website that deals with the concept of
immigration (U.S. immigration)
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provide the URL for this website within the
assignment
describe the opinion of this site.
What are the pro's and con's to this site's perspective
on immigration?
in your opinion, what are the main points this group
is trying to make?
What are the linkages between the main points of this
site and immigration reform?
Compassion
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Nuclear Shelter Group Assignment –
Part A:
Students are told that nuclear warheads have
been launched toward the United States and that
they are responsible for a particular nuclear
shelter that will hold eight people.
Students are given a list of twelve people, asked
to decide who will get into the shelter, required to
state why they have chosen each individual that
will get in, and must explain why each person
they are leaving out is being left out.
Character - Diversity Philosophy
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What foundational premise best
guides your thoughts about race?
A. Race is a social construct.
B. It is not the color of their skin, but the content of
their character that matters.
C. Race is biologically based and needs to be used in
race definitions.
D. Respect for each race is important in building a
diverse society.
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A= Inclusiveness
C= Assimilation
B= Tolerance
D= Multicultural
Diversity Philosophy – Sample
Questions
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What foundational premise best guides
your thoughts about religion?
A.
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B.
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D.
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We are a nation built on Christian values. These are our
guiding principles
We should not condemn those who are not Christians.
We should actively utilize the values and insights from the
many different religions to enhance clarity and understanding.
We should acknowledge and respect many religions.
A= Assimilation
C= Inclusiveness
B= Tolerance
D= Multicultural
Assimilation
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The practice of categorizing a group based on
artificial social constructions that impart an
“essence” of that group, which homogenizes the
group and effaces individuality and differences.
The word implies that we are forming
conclusions, relationships, and other cultural ties
based only on the essential elements, as
determined by “us”. It also implies that there is
some minimal level of understanding that
applies to groups.
Diversity Philosophy
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Tolerance = acceptance and openmindedness of different practices, attitudes,
and cultures; does not necessarily mean
agreement with the differences. Implies an
acknowledgement, or an acceptance or
respect. Not necessarily an appreciation and
usually consists of only surface level
information.
Diversity Philosophy
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Multiculturalism = the practice of
acknowledging and respecting the various
cultures, religions, races, ethnicities, attitudes
and opinions within an environment. The
word does not imply that there is any
intentionality occurring and primarily works
from a group, versus individual, orientation.
Diversity Philosophy
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Inclusiveness = the practice of
emphasizing our uniqueness in promoting
the reality that each voice, when, valued,
respected and expected to, will provide
positive contribution to the community.
What Did We Learn?
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Tolerance is not enough!
Example from student
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“I always prided myself on being tolerant.
This exercise has made me ashamed of
myself. I realized that tolerance is not
enough. Tolerating someone does NOT
counter hate.”