Reform, Resiliency, and Renewal: Kids in Action-Discovery, Research, Goals, Alternatives, Action, Stewardship

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 14 No. 2 (2004) ISSN: 1546-2250 Reform, Resiliency, and Renewal: Kids in ActionDiscovery , Research, Goals, Alternatives, Action, Stewardship Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, and Center for E, (1998). Westbrook, ME: KIDS Consortium and Authors; 103 pages. $6.95. ISBN 093956128X. Kids Involved Doing Service (KIDS) Consortium, anon-profit organization founded in 1990 specializing in promoting learning through community involvement, has published two process-driven books intended to provide a flexible servicelearning model for educators, administrators, students, planners, and community members. Anyone interested in empowering students to solve real-life issues while promoting community development and civic engagement will find these books worth reviewing. As illustrated by the quote below from the first book, Reform, Resiliency, and Renewal: Kids in Action- Discovery, Research, Goals, Alternatives, Action, Stewardship, at their core lies a fundamental belief that young people have the power to change the world. Some say that education is a subversive activity. I guess that’s true. KIDS [Kids Involved Doing Service] is about as subversive as you can get, because young people are learning not only to think, but to act. They’re learning that they, too, can have power and influence events (7). - Dan Porter, Center for Educational Media Because this model was created as a collaborative effort between Maine’s planning community and the public school system, much of the text is written for a community focus in a classroom setting; however the process and tools can be adapted for many other settings. The books, very different in format and experience, can be read independently of one another but I recommend them as a set. The first book provides inspirational, experiential, and political revelations of 315 the process, while the second book provides a more systematic model to initiate, cultivate, and evaluate the process. Culture makers and culture shakers are not new. In the early1900s John Dewey proposed that communal activities expand knowledge and cultural awareness. Proponents of experiential education, Kurt Lewin and John Dewey promoted internships, field trips, service-learning, decision-making, and outdoor education (Dewey 1916). Today we are revisiting this model as we try to teach children how to learn and how to succeed in a world full of unpredictability and rapid global change. Throughout the world, the trend towards the development of democratic governments, free market economies, and globalization, is accompanied by an awareness of the importance of education and training. Self-confidence, citizenship, and autonomy increase when students actively participate in determining what they learn (Veugelers and de Kat 1999). Education for democratic citizenship, free market trade, and worldwide standardizations concerns not only the teaching of democratic and global norms and ideals, but essentially the development of reflective, proactive, and creative persons. In February 2000, European and North American participants attending the 'Conference on Education for All' created and adopted a Regional Framework for Action “based on the understanding that democracy is not fixed and immutable, but rather that it must be built and rebuilt every day in every society. For such societies, the future is to be invented and built; the mission of education is to prepare future citizens so that they can take part in this initiative” (UNESCO 2000). Historically, education has been about teaching academic material as well as social skills for the benefit of the country as a whole. In the 1940s, schools served to support patriotism, morality and/or religion. The curriculum dealt with basic instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic with an emphasis on geography and politics due to the war overseas. By 1960, 316 Russia had launched Sputnik and the race to improve math and science skills dominated curricula. International affairs, global concerns, and science and technology remained at the center of education throughout the 1970s. By the 1980sand 90s, understanding cultural diversity, teaching for multiple intelligences, and an increasing emphasis on higher level questioning strategies and critical thinking skills dominated. During this time, television competed with traditional sources of American socialization such as the family, church and school. Service-learning, multi-disciplinary, hands-on, and outcome-based education began to take form as more leaders looked to children as the future. Children were encouraged to take action...