Generation Citizen’s action civics curriculum
is at the core of our work.
Our curriculum is action-based, aligned to Common Core and state standards, and academically rigorous. Our curriculum has received national acclaim, including the endorsement of the National Council on Social Studies. Over the course of the twice-weekly semester-long in-class program (approximately 20-25 classes), students learn to map their community’s assets and challenges, develop a focused, strategic plan to address an issue they care about, and then take real action on it.
Each semester culminates in Civics Day, in which student representatives from classes in each city present their work to other students, community members, and public officials, celebrating their work and gaining feedback to further their efforts. Civics Day is therefore a chance for students to explore ways to continue their civic engagement after the end of the program.
Below is our Curriculum Framework and a summary of each distinct unit:
Unit 1: Introduction to Generation Citizen and Community
Students meet Mentors, who introduce and get them invested in the overall program. Students learn how other young people have, through action civics, made change in their communities. Mentors offer the perspective of working on a local level and how local action fits into their own school, neighborhood, city, state, country, and world. Students then analyze their own communities, thinking about how they can employ local assets to solve pressing problems.
Unit 2: Learning to Take Effective Action
Students hold a dialogue on issues they care about, discussing what they would change if they were in charge of their school, city, state, and world. The students then research a narrowed-down list before democratically selecting one focus issue. Students review the basic concepts of the American governmental system, especially as it relates to taking action on their selected focus issue. They also learn about historical movements for change and how analyzing root causes is essential to any successful movement.
Unit 3: Taking Action
Students create an action plan and develop goals, objectives, and tactics to address their focus issue. Depending on their focus issue, students receive training on civic skills, such as writing an effective opinion article, lobbying an elected official, and mobilizing others. This unit includes intensive research, reading opinion articles and position papers, and writing individual editorials. With the support of Mentors and teachers, students enact their plans.
Unit 4: Taking the Next Step
Students successfully complete their projects and prepare for Civics Day. Civics Day gives students an opportunity to reflect on their efforts, including the design and implementation of their action plan. Mentors and teachers contextualize how such reflection is part of the process of engaged citizenship – not the end of their efforts.
How does Generation Citizen fit into your specific school and classroom? Click here for our guide.