Summary Findings from President’s Teaching & Learning Scholars Project

1. Literature review of “teaching” and “civic engagement”; 2. Review of post-secondary institutions with explicit civic engagement courses, programs and/or missions; 3. Focused conversations with civic engagement scholars, educators and program coordinators (incl. service learning based on a very targeted small sampling; and 4. Review of any survey or evaluation data on engagement activities as part of classroom requirements (Arts Cares). 5. Pedagogical experimentation

 Ehrlich (2000) Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.  He goes on to argue that: “... A morally and civically responsible individual recognizes himself or herself as a member of a larger social fabric and therefore considers social problems to be at least partly his or her own”  Key role for universities as pillars of civil society, key opportunity for liberal arts in critical thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration, community responsiveness Civic discourse Civic Action Civic Engagement

University (macro-level) PSCI Dept (micro) Pressure to shift to “skills-based knowledge” (jobs) Declining voter turnout Pressure on community based organizations/lo cal governments, Democratizati on of access to post- secondary Increased public & government scrutiny

For University Classrooms, Programs, Community & the Institution

 Q: Can civic engagement be taught?  A: No, but it can be modelled & encouraged: at micro levels (classes) & macro levels (institutional mission, curriculum support)  Q: Should civic engagement be an objective for courses, depts, Faculties, University?  A: Yes. Publicly funded institution, political- economic context. Liberal Arts: need to demonstrate value.  Q: What conditions/elements encourage civic engagement in classrooms?  A: See next slide  Q: How to best measure impact & communicate successes?  A: Next steps.

Principles:  Intentional  Coherence  Rooted in theories of human development/socialization & learning (mix of learning modalities)  Reflective of demographic & development of learners  Responsive to community, institutional, disciplinary/programmatic and individual needs (experiential, theoretical & community dialogue)  Interdisciplinarity & collaboration 5 components: 1. Student learning 2. Curriculum development/transformation 3. Community-defined priorities 4. Knowledge production 5. Impact Assessment: do students become “engaged” citizens & how do we know?

Classroom ElementsActivities  Theoretical grounding: text, lectures  “Real world” application: connection to issues happening in the news: focus area  Assignments to engage students to contribute to debate/solutions while critiquing theory  Social media for dialogue/narrative shaping  Community outreach/inreach: guest speakers/practitioners, community service learning.  2011 Sask Election: focus  Discussion of election, political parties, party systems, convergence debate  Examination of SP/NDP party campaigns vis-a-vis materials, media coverage, polling, campaign strategies  Election prediction exercise, mapping  Social media presence #URPSCI #skpoli  Student work at Global to “call” the election, post-election analysis: blogs, media, Op-Eds, Engaged learning on election campaigns

 47 programs across Canada have all been implemented within the last 5 years  Growth in knowledge production: CASL, publishing & academic conferences, research  Career & leadership links Key Drivers:  Professor initiative  Mission statement congruence  Institutional support(s)/formalizat ion, elevation of merit recognition of teaching  Curriculum Review  Political context

 Key role in instructional support  Single point of entry for community  Impact assessment  CRU surveys of students from who participated in week-long Arts Cares  Positive trends: appreciation for hands-on experience, development of networks, connections between theory and practice  Challenges: community preparedness, relevance of placements, pedagogically appropriate assignments, depth & length (Reading Week) limitations, limitations of impact assessment measures

“I felt useful” (2013 student comment)

 Vancouver: Campus City Collaborative, City Studio  Opportunity to collaborate on projects to assist the City in implementation of “Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 Action Plan”  Specific projects included: working with city planner on mini parks/natural environment initiatives, urban forestry management plan, abandoned spaces mapping, etc.  Project components included academic skills development, knowledge production sharing, relationship building, and specific action.

1.Piloting a local version of SFU’s “Semester in the City” 2.Developing impact assessment measures