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Community Involvement Teacher Overview |
| Most individuals participate in their community or the political process only if they believe that it will make a difference. Individuals will gain a better understanding of how politics affect almost every aspect of life in their community if they know the facts about the place where they live. | This assignment will charge students with the task of identifying a community issue of concern to them and analyzing a public policy issue. This can be an individual or group project. |
| Encourage them to think about their community and how to go about improving it. Your students will probably be able to come up with a long list of things that they would like to see changed. Ask them why they haven't done anything about these issues. A typical | response may be because they don't know where to start. Encourage your students to work through the "big picture" together. Ask them to consider individuals who could serve as a resource to getting an issue resolved. |
| Define the Problem Projects are done in groups or as a class and topics are selected in class after guided discussion. Research Research, including library research and interviewing community leaders and experts, is a pivotal stage. It invites students to get involved in the community as learners. |
Community Problem Solving The model encourages creative approaches to problem solving, meeting the needs of everyone involved. Democratic Skills In order to bring their solutions to bear on a problem, students need practice in a variety of democratic skills needed to implement their solution. |
| State standards to which this section relates: 12.7: Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments, in terms of: (5) how public policy is formed, including the setting of the public agenda and how it is carried out through regulations and executive orders. |