SUDHAKAR N S SNR.LECT. DIET, HAVERI.
On Sun, Feb 3, 2019 at 1:37 PM IT for Change - Education < [email protected]> wrote: > Dear Social Science teachers, > sharing an article (a book review) worth reading and thinking about ... > regards > Guru > > Education’s most important job is to teach students to take an active role > in their democracy, starting in their own communities. > > Albert W. Dzur <http://bostonreview.net/author/albert-w-dzur> > > > http://bostonreview.net/education-opportunity/albert-w-dzur-teaching-citizenship > > *Awakening Democracy Through Public Work: Pedagogies of Empowerment* > > Harry C. Boyte with Marie Ström, Isak Tranvik, Tami Moore, Susan O’Connor, > and Donna Patterson - Vanderbilt University Press, $24.95 (paper) > <https://www.vanderbilt.edu/university-press/book/9780826522184> > > For decades, political theorist Harry Boyte has been a pioneer of > community-level, direct democracy. His central thesis is that democracy is > “public work,” “sustained, uncoerced effort by a mix of people who create > things of lasting civic or public significance.” This perspective invites > people of all walks of life and professions to consider how, in their daily > routines, they can contribute to a stronger, more supportive, and more > participatory social environment. Boyte describes his view of citizenship > as “an approach . . . in which *citizens are co-creators, builders of the > common world, not simply voters and volunteers who fit into that world or > protestors who oppose it*.” He has been honing these ideas since his > college days, when he was field secretary to Martin Luther King, Jr., in > the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and encountered the southern > citizenship schools that arose from the civil rights movement. In his new > book, *Awakening Democracy Through Public Work*, Boyte, now a senior > scholar, offers a mature introduction to his thinking on citizen action, > social change, and civic education. > > Civics education rarely teaches that ground-level citizen action is > integral to having healthy communities. Democracy is something that happens > elsewhere, and only to adults. > > Central to *Awakening Democracy Through Public Work *is Boyte’s belief > that education’s most important role is to teach children and young adults > how to be good citizens. Boyte focuses in particular on the Public > Achievement program he and his co-authors have developed into an > international network. (The book is dedicated to Boyte’s colleague Dennis > Donovan, whose school, St. Bernard’s Elementary School, was the first > experimental site for Public Achievement.) Most U.S. public schools used to > offer some basic training in citizenship through civics courses that taught > political history and basic facts about democratic institutions and the > Constitution. Increasingly these programs, meager as they were, have been > jettisoned by schools to make more space for STEM and teach-to-the-test > curricula—but even when such basic civics education is still offered, it > rarely seeks to convey the importance of ground-level citizen action to the > functioning of healthy communities and institutions. Democracy is something > that happens elsewhere, and only to adults. > > Boyte’s Public Achievement program for K–12 youth adopts a very different > model. In it, “teams of young people . . . work over the school year on > issues they choose. Their issues must be legal, tackled nonviolently, and > make a public contribution.” At the beginning of the year, students hold an > “issues convention” to discuss and prioritize the problems people most want > to address during the year; then they form teams to work on them. Though > the youth are coached by college students affiliated with Public > Achievement, the priorities, strategies, and work are their own. > Opportunities to hold positions of real responsibility—or for that matter > fail (in ways that are instructive)—are therefore significantly greater > than in service-learning programs that offer students ready-made volunteer > roles. As Boyte puts it, “In Public Achievement, young people are conceived > as co-creators, citizens today, not simply citizens-in-waiting. They help > to build democracy in their schools, neighborhoods, and society.” > > My favorite example of Public Achievement in the book comes from a > Minneapolis public school. > > One team of eight boys, including Mexican immigrants, Native Americans, > and European Americans, expressed anger at the state of their bathroom. The > stalls had no doors. Toilet paper and other supplies were missing. The > walls were covered with obscenities. They named themselves “the Bathroom > Busters” and decided to remedy the mess. Two coaches helped them to > understand the issue in public terms larger than the bathroom itself. They > decided, after discussion, that the issue was twofold: students’ disrespect > for common property and the school system’s disrespect for students. > > In taking on this problem, the team had to learn how to deal with school > bureaucracy, wrangle funding from district offices, gain the assent of > union representatives—in short, do politics. But they also had to learn how > to work with students who were not interested in Public Achievement. Though > the bathrooms were fixed by the end of the year, the problems returned the > next year as graffiti started showing up on the walls. So, the team started > meeting with other kids in the school to develop a plan. What emerged was a > mural created by the students for the bathroom walls, which remained > graffiti free. > > What I like so much about this story is not that it was a success but that > it reveals what kids can contribute to the everyday functioning of a highly > institutionalized domain such as an urban public school. There are always > scarcities, differences of opinion, and hierarchies of power and authority, > even in the best funded and most well-run organization. To learn how to > deal with these in a constructive way should be the essence of democratic > education. Notice, too, that a problem that could have easily been labeled > a “disciplinary” or even “criminal” issue—and thus a police matter—was > instead addressed by the students themselves, thus keeping their classmates > clear of the criminal justice system. This is a self-taught lesson in how > to create social order. > > In Public Achievement programs, problems that would otherwise be labeled > “disciplinary” or “criminal” issues are instead addressed by the students > themselves, thus keeping their classmates clear of the criminal justice > system. > > One of the most important tools learned by students in a Public > Achievement program is called “power mapping.” In power mapping, an issue > is discussed by the group to determine who has a stake in it. Power mapping > is a “relational practice,” notes Boyte, which “radically changes young > people’s perception of ‘power.’ Rather than seeing power only as an > abstract category (‘others have power; we are powerless’), participants > discover many kinds of power, many different interests around any question, > and many potential ways to go about tackling a problem.” Another tool > taught in the program is called “public evaluation,” in which students > debrief at the end of a team meeting to talk about what worked, what > didn’t, and whether people are accomplishing tasks they have set out for > themselves—a process of learning how to be accountable to others. In > addition to these basic tools, Public Achievement is marked by a > fundamental commitment to self-direction: “Teams usually begin their work > by setting their own rules. . . . They give their teams names. . . . They > develop mission statements. They designate and rotate roles—moderator, > timekeeper, notetaker, evaluation leader, and others.” Unfortunately, > schools often subtly—or not so subtly—discourage autonomy, equality, and > voice; Public Achievement, by contrast, thrives on these. > > These are, of course, common practices in the worlds of community > organizing and social movements. But public work differs from these other > forms of citizen action. Boyte points out that social movements can be > successful at mobilizing dissent and opposition while failing to develop > the kinds of common interests and civic skills that can sustain collective > efforts over time. A kind of “reductionist” and “Manichean politics” can > emerge that “polarizes civic life, objectifies and abstracts ‘the enemy,’ > erodes citizenship, communicates that politics is warfare, and narrows > government to a ‘target’ for gaining resources, not a partner in problem > solving.” Likewise, local community organizing efforts can sometimes > neglect the role of non-local sources of power in blocking progress on > solutions. Public work in this way is both hybrid and innovative, building > on core aspects of historical organizing and social movement efforts while > seeking broader impact than the former and deeper roots than the latter. > > At a time of great concern about the health of even established > democracies, public work thinking offers a compelling diagnosis. Along with > the blustering autocrats who are the obvious foes of democratic > institutions, there is a more subtle and pervasive threat: a systemic way > of thinking about politics and policy that places a premium on distance, > expertise, and cool professionalism. Where the autocrat threatens democracy > loudly, caging dissidents and investigating critics, the technocrat > threatens it more quietly, creating the impression that the big problems > facing society ought to be left to the people with degrees from the best > schools. Boyte writes: > > Technocracy, control by experts, is accelerated by the efficiency > principle and the digital revolution. It reifies settings that once served > as sources of civic learning, turning not only schools but also > congregations, local businesses, unions, nonprofits, and government > agencies into service delivery operations. This dynamic renders civic life > an off-hours activity in civil society, usually through volunteering or > community service, which are experienced as oases of civic idealism and > decency in a degraded world. A great challenge of our time is to develop a > politics to enlist the broad energies of all citizen to address our > multiplying challenges. > > If, as some suggest, it is anger at elites and the feeling of being shut > out of meaningful decision-making that provide the greatest fuel for > authoritarian politics, then the public work strategy of collective > engagement and empowerment—beginning with the youngest citizens—may be the > single best remedy. > > A key element of technocracy is the cultural capital generated by > university credentialing and networks, and Boyte makes clear that colleges > and universities have a critical role in awakening democracy. Public work > thinking is a deep challenge to academic business as usual because no > stand-alone center or program for encouraging “community engagement” will > suffice. What is needed is a dramatic shift away from seeing citizenship as > some kind of moral bonus, something to be done in the off-hours. This calls > not so much for a shift in professional ethics as for a shift in practices: > the current generation of academics must become sensitive to the > debilitating effects of the technocratic world they have helped reproduce. > They must also embrace the public dimensions of fields such as law > enforcement, education, and health through horizontal collaborative > relations with non-specialists. Augsburg University’s nursing program, for > example, encourages that nurses pursue “meaningful interaction with ‘people > living on the margins’” in the course of fulfilling their medical duties. > > Boyte’s vision for democratic renewal offers compelling remedies to the > pervasive sense of dispossession felt by citizens across the ideological > spectrum. > > Boyte’s vision for democratic renewal is invigorating, even as it raises > important practical concerns. First is the chronic issue of how to embed > practices such as those taught by Public Achievement into ongoing > institutional environments without succumbing to tick-the-box bureaucracy. > The program’s commitment to student autonomy helps here, but it will be > good to learn more over time about how that commitment can be > institutionalized in school systems without turning rigid. Second, it is no > small challenge that the world of direct democracy is so distant from the > world of finance capital. Many problems that harm local communities are not > problems that can be realistically solved at the local level, but having an > impact on politics at the federal, state, or even city level is > increasingly difficult without deep pockets. Third, Boyte highlights mostly > positive stories, but grassroots citizen politics can sometimes reject > distant and aloof yet also sensible and useful expertise. Local, sometimes > violent, conflicts over federal land management in the West come to mind. > Do we have to take the good public work along with the bad for the sake of > general democratic renewal? It is especially useful here for civic studies > scholars to differentiate efforts that welcome in diverse forms of > knowledge—working with rather than against professionals, for example—from > those that shield themselves from critique. > > Regardless, *Awakening Democracy Through Public Work* offers compelling > remedies to the pervasive sense of dispossession felt by citizens across > the ideological spectrum—the sense that “our” institutions and politics do > not have a meaningful place for us, that they move along without our help. > We are informed and scolded by intellectuals, mobilized and asked for our > vote or donations, but we are not treated as citizens who share > load-bearing responsibility for law, policy, or community development. > Boyte’s theory of public work and his practical Public Achievement program > are critical for thinking about how institutions, politics, and public life > might be recaptured in nonviolent, non-autocratic ways. > > Education Team > IT for Change > Bangalore > www.ITforChange.net > 080 26654134 > > -- > ----------- > 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. > - > https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform > 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. > - > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ > 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ > ನೀಡಿ - > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy > 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ > ತಿಳಿಯಲು - > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software > ----------- > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "SocialScience STF" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- ----------- 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ - http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲು -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software ----------- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SocialScience STF" group. 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