SAMPLE DIALOGUE FOUR

Topic: What is Civic Engagement?

Goal or Objective: Dialogue on the issue of defining Civic Engagement individually and as a group

Day, Date, Time, Duration: May 1, 2002 (approximately 2 hours)

Location: Guilick Black Box Theatre

Format:

Participants:

Other invited guests/experts:

Press/Public Relations:

Agenda:

Introduction: What is Civic Engagement?

Student Civic Engagement Campaign aims to increase civic engagement among America’s young people. This raises an initial question, however: What is civic engagement? Here are some definitions of “civic engagement” Project 540 says that civic engagement is:

• 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.

The University of Minnesota’s Task Force on Civic Engagement defines civic engagement as:

"Civic engagement means an institutional commitment to public purposes and responsibilities intended to strengthen a democratic way of life in the rapidly changing Information Age of the 21st century."

The Pew Charitable Trusts defines civic engagement as:

“Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic Engagement can take many forms, from individual volunteerism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. It can include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem or interact with the institutions of representative democracy. Civic Engagement encompasses a range of activities such as working in a soup kitchen, serving on a neighborhood association, writing a letter to an elected official or voting.”

Of course, these are general definitions.. Each participant may associate different actions and ideas with the words civic engagement. The following exercise is a good one to use as an opening dialogue to capture the different ways people view civic engagement.

Exercise: How do you define civic engagement? (for this dialogue)

• Make enough copies for everyone in the group.
• Have each participant spend 10 minutes individually with the worksheet, numbering each item from 1-15 according to how closely they fit her or his definition of civic engagement.
• After participants have completed filling out their sheets individually, have them get together in groups of 2-4, and share their top and bottom choices. Have them discuss why they ranked their choices as they did (approx. 15 minutes).

Whole Group Discussion (gather the groups back together—approx. 20 minutes)

• Were there differences between students in your group? What were they?
• Were certain items ranked high by all students in the group? Why? Were certain items ranked low? Why?
• What did you learn from each other about the reasons some actions were ranked as they were?
• What did this exercise teach you about people’s ideas concerning participation in civic life?
• Does a “continuum of engagement” exist? What are the underlying criteria that are used as we envision a continuum?

Action
Use this activity to initiate a “notch it up” campaign in which students are asked to take a on-line quiz which is used to develop their own continuum of engagement, then to place themselves on that continuum and see what types of actions might be important for them to consider as a “more engaged” student.

Handout – one copy for everyone

How do you define civic engagement?

People define civic engagement in many different ways. Represented below are items that people might cite as exemplary civic engagement. Place a “1" next to the action that most closely models your own idea of civic engagement. Place a “2" next to the action that is the second closest, etc., up to 15. (this form is also available from our Online Forms page.)

______ Joining the armed forces.

______ Helping to start an after-school program for children whose parents work.

______ Talking with a friend about a social issue of importance to you.

______ Working for a candidate in a local election.

______ Serving on a jury.

______ Picketing and protesting at a local corporation whose plant overseas employs child workers.

______ Giving to the United Way.

______ Leaving your car at home and biking or walking to work/school every day.

______ Tutoring a migrant worker.

______ Attending a neighborhood meeting.

______ Providing dinner once a week at a homeless shelter.

______ Visiting different houses of worship (churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.) every week to learn about different religions in the community.

______ Giving blood.

______ Stopping to assist a driver whose car has broken down on the side of the road.

______ Voting.

End Handout