Our Program
To fulfill our mission and promote democracy in low-income and under-represented youth populations. Generation Citizen implements a semester-long, weekly, action-based, standards-aligned civics curriculum in urban, lower-income high schools.
Standardized and vetted by civics experts, educators, and academics, our curriculum is taught by motivated college student volunteers, which adds a mentorship component to the program.
Our student-centered philosophy entails that each class will select an issue to work on that is a problem students deeply care about and want to change. Students have focused on gang violence because their friends had fallen victim to guns, addressed teenage unemployment when they couldn't find jobs, and investigated immigration policy after one of their parents had been deported. They met with legislators, wrote opinion articles, and filmed documentaries.
The class fulfills local and state civics regulations. College mentors work with secondary teachers to implement an action-oriented civic engagement program, tailored to the particular class and the community of which the students are residents. Mentors are chosen through a rigorous selection process based on their prior education experience and expertise in community organizing and civic engagement. They receive substantial training before entering the high school classroom, and ongoing support throughout the semester.
In addition to our primary standards-based action-civics class, GC is piloting the “Generation Citizen Leadership Team” in Providence in Spring 2010, which will be comprised of GC graduates from each participating school and will meet weekly, after school. The Team will take more intensive action on regional issues affecting youth, including district education policy and gang violence. Our ultimate long-term goal is to create community advocates, and our Team is one way to encourage continued civic activity after the semester ends.
Outcomes
Generation Citizen's program works with high school students to:
- Analyze the basic concept of American democracy and the ideals of individual and collective citizenship.
- Cultivate a sense of agency as students recognize their roles as catalysts for change.
- Develop an in-depth understanding of avenues for effective political action.
Generation Citizen's principal goal is to increase individual student agency, so that students recognize their ability to make a difference in their own lives. When students recognize their ability to participate in the political process and take effective action on community and social issues that they find important, they will create a personal belief in their ability to be change makers. This, in turn, can lead to increased agency, and an enhanced sense of importance that can extend to other aspects of their life, including academics.
In order to increase and measure individual student agency, Generation Citizen aims to impact and improve the following three main individual strands:
- Individual Civics Motivation: A student’s desire to actively participate in the political process and take action on issues they care about.
- Individual Civics Skills: A student’s ability to use acquired skills to effectively participate in the political process.
- Individual Civics Knowledge: A student’s ability to grasp basics civics knowledge, which is taught throughout the course.