Educating the Good Citizen: Political Choices and Pedagogical Goals

At the level of rhetoric, most educators, policymakers, and citizens agree that developing students\u27 capacities and commitments for effective and democratic citizenship is important. When we get specific about what democracy requires and about what kind of school curricula will best promote it, however, much of that consensus falls away. For some, a commitment to democracy is a promise to protect liberal notions of freedom, while. for others democracy is primarily about equality or equality of opportunity. For some, civil society is the key, while for ()!hers, free markets are a great hope for a democratic society. For some, good citizens in a democracy volunteer, while for others they take active parts in political processes by voting, protesting, and working on political campaigns

Service Learning as Democratic Action

It is often said that today\u27s youth will be called on to solve tomorrow\u27s problems. Schools provide essential preparation for this task. Despite the rhetoric, curriculum that considers the nature of social problems and ways youth might respond as citizens rarely gets center stage. Rather than focusing on ways youth might participate through democratic institutions to foster a better society, curricular discussions focus on the acquisition of academic and vocational skills. To the extent that the democratic purposes of education are raised, educators emphasize conveying knowledge regarding U.S. history and government structures and exercises in which students simulate the operations of various public institutions such as courts and legislatures

New Media and Youth Political Action

To rigorously consider the impact of new media on the political and civic behavior of young people, The MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP) developed and fielded one of the first large-scale, nationally representative studies of new media and politics among young people. The two principal researchers for the survey component of the YPP, Cathy J. Cohen of the University of Chicago and Joseph Kahne of Mills College, oversaw a research team that surveyed nearly 3,000 respondents between the ages of 15 and 25 years of age. Unlike any prior study of youth and new media, this study included large numbers of black, Latino, and Asian American respondents, which allows for unique and powerful statistical comparisons across race with a focus on young people.Until now there has been limited opportunity and data available to comprehensively explore the relationship between new media and the politics of young people. One of the few entities to engage in this type of rigorous analysis has been the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The YPP study expands on this field-leading work by including an extensive battery of items addressing participatory politics and adequate numbers of participants from different racial and ethnic groups, thus allowing for analysis of how different groups of young people were engaged with new media in the political realm.The YPP study findings suggest that fundamental changes in political expectations and practices may be occurring -- especially for youth. The analysis of the data collected reveals that youth are taking advantage of an expanded set of participatory practices in the political realm in ways that amplify their voice and sometimes their influence, thus increasing the ways young people participate in political life. The YPP researchers label this expanded set of opportunities and actions participatory politics

Teens, Video Games, and Civics

Analyzes survey findings on trends in teenagers' video gaming, the social context, the role of parents and monitoring, and the link between specific gaming experiences and civic activities. Explores gaming's potential as civic learning opportunities

The Civic Potential of Video Games

This report focuses on the civic aspects of video game play among youth. According to a 2006 survey, 58 percent of young people aged 15 to 25 were civically "disengaged," meaning that they participated in fewer than two types of either electoral activities (defined as voting, campaigning, etc.) or civic activities (for example, volunteering). Kahne and his coauthors are interested in what role video games may or may not play in this disengagement.Until now, most research in the field has considered how video games relate to children's aggression and to academic learning. Digital media scholars suggest, however, that other social outcomes also deserve attention. For example, as games become more social, some scholars argue that they can be important spheres in which to foster civic development. Others disagree, suggesting that games, along with other forms of Internet involvement, may in fact take time away from civic and political engagement. Drawing on data from the 2006 survey, the authors examine the relationship between video game play and civic development. They call for further research on teen gaming experiences so that we can understand and promote civic engagement through video games

BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR CIVIC AND POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT: THE POTENTIAL OF HIGH‐SCHOOL CIVICS COURSES

We employed a quasi‐experimental design using pre/post surveys and comparisons with control groups to examine the impact of the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s CityWorks (U.S.A.) curriculum. In particular, we assessed its ability to further democratic aims by supporting the development of three forms of social capital: norms of civic participation, social trust, and knowledge of social networks. Our evaluation indicates that this curriculum and several of its curricular features (use of simulations, role models, service learning, learning about problems in the community, learning how local government works, and personal relevance) have the potential to further the democratic purposes of education. Key words: democratic education, simulations, role models, service‐learning. Se servant d’un design quasi‐expérimental faisant appel à des sondages en prétest et post‐test et à des comparaisons avec des groupes‐contrôles, les auteurs analysent dans cet article l’impact du programme américain Constitutional Rights Foundation’s CityWorks. Ils se penchent notamment sur son aptitude à promouvoir davantage des objectifs démocratiques en appuyant le développement de trois formes de capital social : les normes de la participation citoyenne, la confiance sociale et la connaissance des réseaux sociaux. D’après les auteurs, ce programme et plusieurs de ses caractéristiques (recours à des simulations, modèles de comportement, apprentissage du service, analyse de problèmes communautaires, étude du mode de fonctionnement du gouvernement local et pertinence pour les élèves) sont susceptibles de promouvoir l’éducation à la démocratie. Mots clés: éducation à la démocratie, simulations, modèles de comportement, apprentissage du service.

CityWorks Evaluation Summary

This report summarizes findings from our study of the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) CityWorks curriculum. This high school government curriculum was designed to respond to growing recognition of the need to promote commitments and capacities associated with civic engagement. Our data consists of pre/post surveys from CityWorks classes and control classrooms. We also observed classrooms and collected interview data through focus groups

The Civic Potential of Video Games

This report draws from the 2008 Pew Teens, Video Games, and Civics Survey, a national survey of youth and their experiences with video games done in partnership with Amanda Lenhart at the Pew Internet and American Life Project, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. That survey led to the report, “Teens, Video Games, and Civics,” which examines the nature of young people’s video game play as well as the context and mechanics of their play. In addition to examining the relationship between gaming and youth civic engagement, “Teens, Video Games, and Civics” also provides a benchmark for video and online gaming among young people on a national level and the first broad, impartial look at the size and scope of young people’s general gaming habits

Do Politics in Our Democracy Prevent Schooling for Our Democracy? Civic Education in Highly Partisan Times

Amid hyper-partisanship, increasing critiques of civic education reform priorities from conservatives, and growing signs of democratic backsliding, can schools provide foundational support for democratic norms, commitments, and capacities? Drawing on a unique national survey of high school principals conducted in 2018, we examine how political context, district priorities, and principal beliefs and characteristics are related to support for civic education. We find that a school’s partisan context is unrelated to most supports for democratic education. Of note, however, support for the discussion of controversial issues is less common in conservative districts, raising important questions about why the discussion of controversial issues (a core building block of democratic societies) is less common in conservative settings. In addition, support for civic education at the school level is highest at schools led by principals who are civically active and in districts that are committed to democratic aims. At a time when school districts face highly contentious politics, these findings indicate that systemic district commitments can help strengthen our civic foundations and that principals and district leaders may be able to promote small-d democracy amid increasingly politicized school governance contexts

Decoupling catalytic activity from biological function of the ATPase that powers lipopolysaccharide transport

Gram-negative bacteria contain an unusual outer membrane that prevents the entry of most currently available antibiotics. This membrane contains a complex glycolipid, LPS, on the exterior. It is not understood how such a large molecule, which can contain hundreds of sugars and six fatty acyl chains, is transported across the cell envelope from its site of synthesis in the cytoplasmic membrane to the cell surface. Using a combination of genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology, we characterized residues in the protein that powers LPS transport to gain mechanistic insight into how ATP hydrolysis is coupled to the biological function of the transporter. These tools help us understand how to design antibiotics targeting this essential pathway.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog