This digest summarizes a full length report on preparing college students for citizenship responsibilities. The following questions are considered: What is citizenship and public life? What is higher education's role in educating for citizenship? and what are the skills for a renewed civic life?. The importance of citizens integrating their public…

Civic knowledge, skills, and the disposition to use them to achieve a vision of the community that is desired can be furthered through purposefully structured civic education. Informed judgment and action with regard to the public's affairs is the goal of adult civic education. The integral elements of adult civic education are information,…

An approach to citizenship preparation that might be called civic education for global understanding includes a renewed engagement with and dedication to the civic needs of the nation. A need exists for students not only to continue to study the basic concepts and values of democracy but also to gain a broader understanding of the complex and…

Undergraduate volunteerism work is discussed, noting volunteer service can be a vital part of an undergraduate education. This service has taken many forms over the years, from folding bandages for soldiers at war, to providing tutorial services for elementary and secondary school children, to staffing medical programs in Appalachia. It…

Many college mission statements convey the importance of citizenship education to prepare future leaders. However, values education often remains, at best, peripheral to the community college curriculum. This digest provides an examination of the classical and current approaches to community college values education. According to the digest,…

This ERIC digest discusses civic education in U.S. schools in terms of: (1) its meaning; (2) its place in the curriculum; (3) its effects on learners; and (4) suggested methods of improving it. Civic education involves the development of skills in making decisions about public issues and participating in public affairs and encompasses the…

This ERIC digest presents a rationale for teaching students about their rights and responsibilities as citizens under the U.S. Constitution. Social studies teachers have a special role in shaping the lives of young citizens and influencing whether students become politically involved adults. Specific constitutional rights such as the right of a…

Education for citizenship in a constitutional democracy has been a long-standing goal of schools in the United States. To achieve this goal, students must learn their civil rights and responsibilities in a free society. This ERIC Digest discusses: (1) the importance of teaching about the responsibilities of citizenship; (2) deficiencies in…

This digest summarizes a full length report of the same title (HE 024 794) which discusses contemporary college students' apparent lack of understanding of citizenship and how it relates to positive career pursuits. A proposal is made to make students more aware of both the need for and the benefit of socially responsible citizens, and for…

This digest suggests how outdoor education and experiential learning can develop in students a sense of community participation and set them on a path of strong participation and civic responsibility. Following definitions of outdoor education and experiential learning, various outdoor and experiential approaches are described. Adventure education…

This ERIC Digest reports on the origins, purposes, and methods of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study. In 1993, the General Assembly of the IEA decided to carry out a two phase study of civic education. The goal of the two phase study was to identify and examine in a comparative…

This digest addresses the decline in the willingness of U.S. youth to participate in service to the community or nation and suggests service learning as a possible remedy for the decline. There are long-term benefits of service learning: (1) helping to build community support for education; (2) facilitating a closer bond between school, community,…