1. F. Klaus Koopmann EFFECTIVE CIVIC LEARNING BY REFLECTIVE CIVIC DOING Theory and Practice of Experiential Civic Education Faculty 08 / Dept. of Political Science

2. (1)Introduction We should do better preparing our students sustainably for their roles as  enlightened and autonomous citizens Making the case for  experiential civic learning

3. John Dewey: overcoming traditional dualisms of  mind and body  mind and world  individual and public community  knowledge and experience (2)The Rationale of Experiential Civic Learning

4. David Kolb:  learning: an active, self-directed process  knowledge: through transformation of experience  experiential learning: concrete experience  reflective observation  abstract conceptualisation  active experimentation (2)The Rationale of Experiential Civic Learning

5. 3.1 Sustainability of Early Civic Participation Early public engagement fosters...  social and political participation (3)The Increasing Need for Experiential Civic Learning

6. fostering youth volunteerism but gradually ‘politicizing’ social activities  Youth volunteerism rates are high – it is focused on apolitical social services 3.2 Youth Attitudes on Society and Politics Civic education consequences:

7. (3)The Increasing Need for Experiential Civic Learning Phenomena: í Society at risk í Individualization í Globalization / De-nationalization of politics í ‘Thin‘ democracy í Symbolization of politics 3.3 De-civilization – Re-civilization

8. (3)The Increasing Need for Experiential Civic Learning Effects:  People become objects  Impeding democratization  De-civilization 3.3 De-civilization – Re-civilization

9. (3)The Increasing Need for Experiential Civic Learning Social answer:  Reclaiming citizens as subjects  Citizens should experience their ability to act as citizens 3.3 De-civilization – Re-civilization

10. (3)The Increasing Need for Experiential Civic Learning Civic education answer: Offering young people the possibility to  experience their ability acting as citizens and  learn actively the process of policy-making by  developing and organizing learning strategies  being oriented towards the notion of  action as experiential learning 3.3 De-civilization – Re-civilization

11. (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning Thesis: Experience-oriented learning processes, aiming at the sustainable acquisition of competences which are relevant in politics and civil society, will particularly unfold in the course of the (inter)active, reflective dealing of the individual(s) with the authentic public problems and processes that surround and concern them.

12. . Core idea of the thesis : 5 essentials of experiential civic learning:  Subject-orientation  Action-orientation  Problem-orientation  Authenticity  Policy-orientation.. (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning

13.  Subject-orientation Youngsters control their learning processes themselves.... (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning

14. .  Action-orientation Youngsters solve public problems by acting and reflecting. (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning

15.  Problem-orientation Youngsters’ activities are focused on identifying and solving public problems. (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning

16.  Authenticity The problems to be solved are not simulated but real-world problems. (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning

17. ..  Policy-orientation Youngsters do not deal with private but with public problems that have to be solved politically. Doing so, youngsters learn about political content (policy), institutional frameworks (polity) and decision-making processes (politics) in a functional way. (4) Essentials of Experiential Civic Learning

18. (5) Experiential Civic Learning in Practice: ‘Projekt: Aktive Bürger‘/ ‚Project Citizen‘ The project’s aim is to help youngsters learning  to identify public problems within their environment  to develop and present problem-solving strategies (gathering and evaluating relevant information included)  to decide which political institutions and which branches of public administration are adequate for the implementation of the problem-solving approach developed by the youngsters  to actively monitor and to influence public policy processes

19. (5) Experiential Civic Learning in Practice: ‘Projekt: Aktive Bürger‘/ ‚Project Citizen‘ Projekt: aktive Bürger recommends the following ten steps of reflective action: Step 4: Examining alternative problem-solving approaches Step2: Selecting a problem to study Step 1: Identifying public problems Step 3: Gathering information about the problem Step 5: Developing a policy to solve the problem Step 6: Developing an action plan Step 7: Preparing a portfolio Step 8: Presenting the portfolio as an exhibition Step 9: Getting actively involved in the policy process Step 10: Reflecting the experiential process

20. All in all, ‘Projekt: aktive Bürger’ and ‘Project Citizen’ offer  10 steps of reflective action combining core-elements of  experiential civic learning Students are learning by  interacting  cooperating and  reflecting in the context of an authentic policy-process dealing with an authentic public problem (5) Experiential Civic Learning in Practice: ‘Projekt: Aktive Bürger‘/ ‚Project Citizen‘

21. Effective civic learning by reflective civic doing [ > experiential civic learning < ] meets  advantages of early public participation  twofold youth attitudes on society and politics  the challenges of de-civilization because this learning strategy offers young people the possibility  to reflectively act as citizens and  experience their ability to be citizens (6) Conclusion

22. (Addition) What Is a Public Problem? A problem is defined as a gap between the unpleasant current state of a specific situation and its desired future state. The tension between the gap of what you have and what you want initiates problem-solving motivation. A problem is defined as a public problem if it is not only concerning individuals within their private environment but groups of people as part of the public. Public problems concern the common good.

23. Public problems are to be solved by public policy making. Public policy strategies and processes include political institutions. Some characteristics of public problems :  unpleasant quality of the current situation  public character of the problematic situation  (groups of) people being concerned by the problem  desired future situation (Addition) What Is a Public Problem?

24. F. Klaus Koopmann EFFECTIVE CIVIC LEARNING BY REFLECTIVE CIVIC DOING Theory and Practice of Experiential Civic Education Faculty 08 / Dept. of Political Science