Delivering civic engagement training to national service programs

Abstract

National service members who are committed to making a difference in the communities in which they serve may also be interested in politics and national affairs. Civic engagement training focusing on citizenship activities such as voting and knowledge of government helps prepare this next generation of civic leaders. This effective practice is excerpted from Elisa C. Diller's National Service Fellow's 2001 report, Citizens in Service: The Challenge of Delivering Civic Engagement Training to National Service Programs , published by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Issue

How to provide quality civic engagement training to members, so that service becomes a lifelong commitment.

Action

Civic engagement is the means by which an individual, through collective action, influences society. Although civic engagement encompasses broader action than traditional citizenship activities such as voting and knowledge of government, for the purposes of national service programs, training should focus on the following areas:

Encourage members to register to vote in local, state, and national elections.
Invite candidates to talk to members about what motivates them to run for office.
Provide a forum for a balanced discussion of policy issues related to the mission of the AmeriCorps program.
If members focus their service on education, invite representatives of school districts, the state education agency, and appropriate elected officials to discuss current issues in education and integrate these types of discussions throughout the service year.
Make time for reflection sessions.
Create and distribute civic engagement manuals.
Hold civic career fairs.
Show appropriate videos.
Utilize local or national newspaper articles dealing with this issue.
Use television and the Internet (as opposed to traditional print media) to facilitate trainings.
Invite speakers from the community to come and talk to corps members. Appropriate speakers might include those from the League of Women Voters, community Leaders, local elected officials, state legislators, local nonprofit staff members from organizations such as the YMCA and United Way, members of the local police department, past members, representatives from veterans groups, and other AmeriCorps program directors.
Integrate competencies into member training. These include knowledge of voting and of the electoral process; assessing community needs/asset mapping; conflict resolution; cultural awareness; knowledge of federal, state, and local legislative processes; and knowledge of collaborative efforts for community improvement, including the roles of advocacy and lobbying.
Assist the member in identifying possible post-service civic roles ("ethic of service"). These roles may include, but are not limited to positions such as volunteer service at a public or nonprofit agency; service as an elected official; nonprofit agency director; administrator of government agency, or member of a nonprofit or public board.
Ethic of service understanding includes time management; understanding of social issues that AmeriCorps members seek to address through service; understanding /discussion of why members engage in service; and conflict resolution skills.

Context

State commissions may provide civic engagement training information to program directors during staff orientations, in newsletters and other mailings, at conferences and monthly meetings and on e-mail lists, but generally it is the program director who has the task of imparting civic engagement training to members.

In September of 2002, the Corporation for National and Community Service began sponsoring several initiatives to enhance citizenship education. One of these calls for expanded civics training for those in AmeriCorps programs that will focus on the responsibilities of American citizenship as seen in classic works of American history. As part of the program, each AmeriCorps member will receive a selection of basic documents that set out the nation's democratic principles including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address. Members will reflect on these writings and discuss the principles that define the nation and the role that service to communities plays in achieving them.

The methodology employed for this National Service Fellow's report was a literature review and survey research. Four groups were surveyed: 58 Delaware AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA members, 285 self selected AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA members, Executive Directors or designated staff members from 23 State Commissions and 177 self-selected program directors. Surveys were delivered via group sessions, email and the Zoomerang Internet survey research site.

Citation

Diller, Elisa C, Ph.D. Citizens in Service: The Challenge of Delivering Civic Engagement Training to National Service Programs. Corporation for National and Community Service, 2001.

Outcome

Civic engagement training for national service members provides members with the tools they need to understand how to be involved in the public sphere, to understand the function of government, and to develop their own vision for civic engagement after leaving AmeriCorps.

Posted On

October 31, 2002

Resources

From The Resource Center library:

Citizens in Service:The Challenge of Delivering Civic Engagement Training to National Service Programs
Item number: R2091

By the People: Citizenship and National Service
Item Number: R1273

Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets
Item Number: M0026

Next Steps: Life After AmeriCorps
Item Number: R0426

Putting Idealism to Work
Item Number: M0162

Seek information from additional resources including:

Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time (Paul Loeb, St. Martin's Press, 1999)
Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life (Robert Neelly Bellah, ed. University of California Press, 1985)
At America's Service: How Your Company Can Join the Customer Service Revolution (Karl Albrecht, Time Warner)
Building Citizens (A training manual developed by Becky Blumer)
Democracy in America (first published in 1835 by Alexis de Tocqueville, ed. Richard Heffner, Signet)