Real Life Problems=Real Life Skills=Real Achievement
Project Based Learning. This has been covered ad nauseaum here and all over Edutopia. So this isn’t a post about how great that is. I want to share a program that I am involved in called “Project Citizen.”
Project Citizen is a program where a class chooses a community issue and then works through a process to develop a public policy (or take an existing policy) and then develops a presentation that can be given to public decision makers. What’s cool about this project is that all students participate, regardless of ability, and they learn valuable civics skills that they can use when they are adults.
Most problems that people face are local problems, and knowing how to engage in the local public policy decision making process is an invaluable skill. This year my students increased their research, writing, teamwork, and public speaking ability through a project that addressed gangs and gang behavior.
Another great thing about Project Citizen is that the materials are free. They are developed and distributed by the Center for Civic Education and a class set of books is provided to teachers for free because Congress has again supported the Education for Democracy Act.
Kids of all ages can do this project. Although high schoolers can clearly handle this program, I have also heard of a 2nd grade class that decided its school was harming the environment by using styrofoam trays. They took this as their issue and after a lot of hard work, the school is now using biodegradeable trays. Their entire district may adopted the new trays.
This isn’t just for a civics class. This curriculum can be adapted to fit anything, and for younger grades where interdisciplinary ties are needed (read: NCLB math and reading) crossover is easy here. Graphing data, reading different types of information, science with some problems.
If you are interested in this program, click here to go to the Center for Civic Education’s Website.
