Author: 3lane

In a recent blog post, education expert Diane Ravitch quotes a reader who avers that the purpose of public education is that “the job requirements of a citizen in a democratic society are far and away more demanding than the job qualifications of a serf in a feudal society… It [educating for democracy] is one… Continue reading Does Civics Ed = Ideology?

This past week, several members of the GC staff made our way to Philadelphia for two back-to-back conferences: the National Action Civics Collaborative (NACC) and the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC). Though the organizations differ markedly in terms of size and name recognition (NACC was co-founded by Scott Warren two years ago, and NCoC was… Continue reading Making Action Civics Salient

I recently finished Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, and experienced a mini-episode of catharsis. (You may have heard of Sandel before for the popular class called “Justice” he teaches at Harvard and the eponymous book.) Finally, a book that articulates well why so many of us experience a vague… Continue reading Have Markets Gone Too Far?

A new semester is almost underway – teachers are going through orientation, DCs are being recruited and trained, handbooks printed, t-shirts sorted. We’ve done a lot of work over the summer to make this term what is certain to be the best yet. We’ve revised and strengthened the curriculum. We’ve created a new portfolio assessment… Continue reading Who We Are

A few months ago, Meira Levinson, a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (and a member of GC’s advisory board), published No Citizen Left Behind, a must-read for anyone concerned with the Civic Engagement Gap and equity in our democracy. Meira has been an important influence on our thinking as an organization and our action… Continue reading Book Review: “No Citizen Left Behind”

Next Generation Perspectives: a discussion series showcasing the youth voice in the 2012 election This fall, Generation Citizen and GOOD want the country to hear what young people think. To do this, we will be hosting bi-weekly panels during the 2012 presidential race for 16- to 24-year-olds throughout the country to ask young people about their opinions on the… Continue reading Next Generation Perspectives

This summer I’ve been working with a few colleagues and consultants to revise GC’s action civics curriculum and the associated trainings. One of the major things we’ve wrestled with is how we teach enough basics of government so that students, Democracy Coaches (our college volunteers), and teachers can actually figure out how to address their… Continue reading So You Think You Can Self-Govern…

Hello everyone! My name is Tom Kerr-Vanderslice, and I’m joining Generation Citizen as the Providence Program Manager. While I am moving to Providence from Washington D.C., I grew up and went to school in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Before joining Generation Citizen, I was working to build the financial and volunteer infrastructure for a 2014… Continue reading Meet Tom, Providence Program Manager

As September rolls in, the entire GC community will say farewell to the former name for college student volunteers placed in high school classrooms. Acting on feedback from college leaders that “Mentor” wasn’t reflective of what their volunteers did, the GC staff came up with a list of potential names that would encapsulate the volunteers’… Continue reading Mentors, no more