Action civics is a modern and alternative form of civics education in the United States. Action civics is an applied civic education process in which participants learn about government by examining issues in their own community and then select a focus issue for action through a process of debate, research the issue and learn advocacy strategies, develop civic skills such as public speaking, formulate a plan, mobilize, educate, then evaluate, and reflect on their experience. Participants' voices are encouraged, valued and incorporated. Participants learn by doing, with a focus on collective action. Action civics can encompass a number of different actions from community service to electoral engagement and from talking about concerns with public officials to creating peer education campaigns.
In contrast to other more traditional forms of civic education that primarily focus on providing students with content knowledge about citizens' rights and responsibilities. This approach is often used to educate and empower young people to be active participants in their communities. There are many educational non-profit organizations that utilize action civics.
Overview
In June 2010, six organizations—The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, Earth Force, Generation Citizen, iEngage, Junior State of America, Mikva Challenge, and Youth On Board from Massachusetts, Illinois, Colorado, New York and California created the National Action Civics Collaborative (NACC) to share their research, evaluation methods, and to promote the concept of action civics nationally.
The Mikva Challenge, founded in 1997 by Abner Mikva and his wife now operates nationwide. The organization "raises money to encourage inner-city youths to become active in elective politics". An August 18, 2021 Chicago Sun-Times article described how Mikva Challenge youth—including seventh to twelfth graders—who had participated in a 6-week course, presented their proposals to city officials. The "Juvenile Justice Council under Mikva suggested a minimum age of 14 for detainment, in addition to alternatives to juvenile detention."
Action civics has been compared to service-learning, an educational approach in which students "enhance their sense of civic responsibility" by participating in an "organized service activity that meets identified community needs", then analyzing and reflecting on the experience. Service-learning emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, inspired by Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez, whose philosophical roots can be traced back to John Dewey (1859–1952) and Paulo Freire. The pedagogical contributions of Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner provided validity to "learning from out-of-classroom experiences".
In their 1996 publication, Building America: The Democratic Promise of Public Work, the authors raised concerns that the service-learning approach narrows the concept of citizenship by not adequately considering the potential "power and agency" relationship between "server and served". According to The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, in action civics, "participation involves "attending and participating in political meetings; organizing and running meetings, rallies, protests, fund drives; gathering signatures for bills, ballots, initiatives, recalls; serving on local elected and appointed boards; starting or participating in political clubs; deliberating with fellow citizens about social and political issues central to their lives; and pursuing careers that have public value." Other examples of action civics might include working on electoral and/or issue-based campaigns; testifying at city council or school board hearings; creating peer education campaigns (i.e. anti-bullying); serving as Student Election Judges / Poll workers; participating in debate and speech competitions; taking action on issues affecting youth in their communities; participating in mock (or real) elections; serving on boards and councils that present policy recommendations to elected and appointed officials with decision-making power; organizing and/or participating in a protest or rally in support of/against a particular issue or cause; donating directly to or running philanthropic campaigns to support a particular cause or community-based program or project; vote and/or registering voters; and/or advocating on behalf of a cause via news outlets (including social media);
Foundational organizations that formed the National Action Civics Collaborative (NACC)
Earth Force
Founded in 1994, Earth Force’s goal is to teach action civics through the lenses of STEM knowledge, civic skills, and environmental motivation.