The Practice of Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency

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The Practice of Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency

IDS schools know that students do not have to wait until the age of 18 to be active members of their community. K-12 students can have a positive impact on their community TODAY. As such , IDS schools provide an opportunity to be personally responsible, participatory, and justice-oriented citizens.

IDS Values	Educator Actions	School Leadership Actions	Student Engagement	School Engagement with Families & Community
Practice of Civic Skills	3TAa. PROVIDE students the opportunity to practice democratic skills in the classroom, school and extracurricular activities through co-creating success criteria, norms and options for civic engagement in and out of school.	3SLAa. PROVIDE students the opportunity to practice civic skills in the school community (e.g., participatory budgeting, student government, student voice committees, and student newspapers).	3SEa. SEEK opportunities to practice citizenship school wide to grow civic mindedness and capacity for civic engagement in and outside of school.	3EFCa. EDUCATE parents and community members on the importance of place-based learning to develop civic competencies in classroom practices and extracurricular activities.
Real World Civic Action (informed action/service learning)	3TAb. FACILITATE opportunities for students to take informed action aligned to content standards and course mandates in their communities, interacting with community leaders, initiatives, and issues.	3SLAb. UTILIZE concrete strategies and suggestions to design learning opportunities that enable all learners to engage in civic life in and out of school.	3SEb. ENGAGE with peers around current and societal issues facing the school and the community to take informed action aligned with classroom learning and extra curricular clubs.	3EFCb. PROVIDE authentic opportunities for school and community to engage in shared problem solving, intentionally inviting voices that have not been represented in past endeavors to participate.
Celebrating and Sharing Successes	3TAc. ENGAGE students in sharing successes with the larger community (in and out of school) to educate others and raise awareness of civic learning across the disciplines.	3SLAc. CELEBRATE classroom and extra-curricular success in practicing constitutional democracy and student agency through school newsletters, school board meetings, and social media.	3SEc. EDUCATE members of the community, both in and outside of school, with the outcomes of the practice of constitutional democracy.	3EFCc. CELEBRATE community-school partnerships in ways that highlight student contributions, as well as efforts of community members
Civil Discourse	3TAd. EMBED opportunities through a variety of discussion structures and protocols (dialogue, active listening, writing, and art as expression) for students to understand diverse perspectives, collaborate to solve challenges through productive disagreements and conflict-resolution in and out of school.	3SLAd. COLLABORATE with local government, community organizations, and extracurricular programs to increase equitable access to civic engagement opportunities in and out of school.	3SEd. CENTER student voice in creating norms and success criteria for civic engagement, both in and out of the classroom, with opportunties for reflection and revisions throughout the learning process.	3EFCd. IDENTIFY decision-making points where student, community and caregiver voices are not heard, and work to set up system to gather input and collaborate
Training and modeling	3TAe. DESIGN experiences to support student research skills including data collection, conducting interviews, and reporting findings.	3SLAe. PROVIDE professional development for both certified and non-certified teach staff on engaging students in constitutional democracy as content and practice.	3SEe. DESIGN, with guidance from teachers, inquires that explore issues that are central to students’ communities, local to global.	3EFCe. TRAIN AND ENGAGE students and caregivers to model civic friendship as they facilitate conversations in their peer groups to gather input from diverse community stakeholders.

Glossary of Terms

Civic Engagement: Taking part in your community and government. This can involve things like voting, volunteering, attending meetings, being a good neightor, or starting your own initiative.
Civic-mindedness: Having a strong concern for the well-being of your community and a willingness to contribute to its improvement.
Co-creating: Working together with others to make something new, like a project or solution to a community problem.
Democratic Classroom: A learning environment that encourages participation, discussion, and respect for diverse viewpoints.
Democratic Skills: The abilities needed to participate in a democracy, like critical thinking, public speaking, respectful listening and compromise.
Dialogue: A two-way conversation where everyone has a chance to be heard.
Extracurricular Activities: Activities outside of regular classes that allow one to pursue a special interest, meet new people, and develop a new skill set.
Informed Action: Taking action based on knowledge and understanding of the issue.
Norms for Individual Tasks: These are the unwritten rules or expectations for how to complete specific tasks or behave in certain situations. For example, the norm for taking a test might be to work quietly and independently.
Participatory Budgeting: This is a process where community members directly decide how to spend part of a budget. It allows people to have a say in how their tax dollars are used.
Place-based Learning: This approach to education connects what you learn in the classroom to the real world by using your local community as a context for learning.
Student Voice: Giving students opportunities to express their ideas, opinions, and concerns about their world.

Examples of Element in Practice

Sterling Morton West HS encourages students to collaborate with the school administration and the larger community to address issues relevant to self and peers. There is a student member on the school board. The student is elected by the student body to represent them for a term of one year. Their role is to voice student concerns to the school board. We also have a program for students to have breakfast with the principal on a regular basis with the goal of allowing them to express and communicate any concerns. One of the common themes amongst students was concern about the student uniform and as a result the administration and the school board looked into alternatives for the school uniform. (3SEd)
Sterling Morton West HS has a new position, the Work Based Learning Coordinator, who works closely with the College and Career Counselors to make partnerships with businesses in the community. This role creates a pathway for students not interested in college to get internships with local trade unions, job shadow with various businesses in the local community, and put on job fairs at the school for trades related jobs. This position has created many new learning avenues for students by providing authentic opportunities for school and community to engage in shared problem solving, and has helped fill vacancies in hard to fill positions for local companies. (3EFCb)