Generation Citizen, in partnership with The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), has launched The Action Civics Landscape, a digital, interactive visualization of Action Civics and Action Civics-adjacent organizations.
About the Map:
Action Civics is defined by the National Action Civics Collaborative as “a student-centered, project-based approach to civics education that develops the individual skills, knowledge, and dispositions necessary for 21st century democratic practice.” The concept is not new and in fact teachers, schools, and students across America are engaged in meaningful civic learning. However, too many students are deprived of the opportunity to engage in a laboratory for democracy or work on issues that affect their lives today. It is in this spirit that we seek to find organizations and resources to support and empower educators in delivering Action Civics to students across America through a landscape mapping. Understanding the organizations that support elements of Action Civics provides a greater understanding of how to collaborate and ensure students are empowered to be be engaged. This is a snapshot of the Action Civics landscape and adjacent sub-fields and does not claim to be exhaustive. Our hope is the project is iterative and ongoing.
Intended uses for the Map:
The landscape data exists for users in multiple forms to facilitate a variety of uses. The data can be viewed as a text list of organizations and programs, a geographic map, or an interactive, sortable visualization of similarities and differences. There will be diverse audiences and use-cases but three main potential audiences:
- Educators & School Leaders — These individuals may come to this landscape analysis to find Action Civics resources and opportunities for their school and students.
- Organizations using Action Civics Components — Organizations that evolve their programming may return to find like-minded organizations to share best practices, update their programming, and seek partnerships.
- Funders and other Field-Builders- Potential funders of civic learning may use this tool to understand where there may be gaps in offering high quality civic learning.
To see and use the Map, click here.
For information about the development of the map, and initial findings, see the About Page and watch the launch webinar.
The project was completed through a working group that was formed from the 2015 convening, “Educating for Democracy co-hosted by Generation Citizen and the Ford Foundation in partnership with CIRCLE, Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, the Spencer Foundation, and UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. It is a project of Generation Citizen. Research for the project was conducted by CIRCLE and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute. It was completed with the support of The Ford Foundation and the William and Hewlett Foundation.