Overview
The Center for Engagement and Community Development at Kansas State University is collaborating with the Kansas State Department of Education, the Kansas Volunteer Commission, the National Park Service, the Brown v. Board of Education Foundation, and Kansas Campus Compact to host the second annual Civics and Civility Summit. This year's summit will focus on service learning as a pathway for teaching citizenship in the 21st century.
Civic education and understanding are vital to citizens' understanding of our democracy and our place in the global community. Today, more than ever before, Americans need an understanding of our government as well as the capacity to engage in the moral and civic values necessary in a participatory democracy. A 2000 national Gallup Poll ranked “preparing people to become responsible citizens” as the number one purpose of our nation's schools. The 2006 Spellings Report on U.S. Higher Education spoke of the need to empower our citizens through education. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills identified civic literacy as central to student learning in the 21st Century. Consistently, the public has believed that students should be taught civic competence, values, dispositions, and the skills needed to participate in a democratic society. Other institutions—from business to faith-based communities to nongovernmental organizations—have also taken up this challenge to more fully develop responsible citizens.
The second annual Civics and Civility Summit addresses this important issue by highlighting the link between service and citizenship. The summit will focus on ways students—elementary through college—can learn about citizenship, community, and government while, at the same time, serving their communities. Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. In addition, the summit will highlight service to community in contexts beyond the traditional classroom.
Invited Keynote Speakers
- Dr. Alexa Posny, Kansas Commissioner of Education
- Dr. James Toole, author of Service Learning: The Essence of Pedagogy