Overview

Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement offers a compelling, empirically-based argument for giving young people opportunities to grow through productive involvement with their local community. Drawing on John Dewey’s pragmatic frame of experience and concepts of bildung that inform educational practice in Europe, the book speaks directly to teachers and parents who are looking for a way to support young people in their efforts to become confident, self-directed citizens. Throughout, the book offers a paradigm for growth that counters the limits of narrow visions of schooling and equally thin out-of-school learning opportunities which serve to limit young people’s potential. In framing the argument, veteran educator Bob Coulter draws on more than 30 years of experience that includes extensive work with youth as a classroom teacher and in a variety of other community-based efforts, as well as 18 years of work as a mentor to teachers and parents. Key themes running through Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement include a cogent argument in support of young people assuming an active, age-appropriate role as citizens, as well as a modern updating of Dewey’s concept of experience that is suitable for a technological age. These theoretical ideas are made tangible through specific recommendations for productive uses of digital technology and a critical review of several frameworks that have proven useful for designing and evaluating the quality of kids’ community-based learning experiences.

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9781433135194

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Reviews

In his search for an education that includes freedom, grit, and connection Bob Coulter has travelled some rich historical and current theoretical and practical ground. For those seeking to educate students to take an interest in--and an active stance towards--the complexity-filled world of the twenty-first century, this book is a must-read. -Sean Blenkinsop, Simon Fraser University In his new book Building Kids' Citizenship Through Community Engagement, Bob Coulter combines a profound understanding of kids with equally profound scholarship. Drawing on insights from theory and research without getting bogged down in inessential details, Bob shows us how we can help kids-both in and out of school-become effective democratic citizens. This is a book to read and to use. -Leonard J. Waks, President, John Dewey Society

In his new book Building Kids' Citizenship Through Community Engagement, Bob Coulter combines a profound understanding of kids with equally profound scholarship. Drawing on insights from theory and research without getting bogged down in inessential details, Bob shows us how we can help kids - both in and out of school - become effective democratic citizens. This is a book to read and to use. - Leonard J. Waks, President, John Dewey Society In his search for an education that includes freedom, grit, and connection Bob Coulter has travelled some rich historical and current theoretical and practical ground. For those seeking to educate students to take an interest in -- and an active stance towards -- the complexity-filled world of the twenty-first century, this book is a must read. - Sean Blenkinsop, Simon Fraser University

"""In his search for an education that includes freedom, grit, and connection Bob Coulter has travelled some rich historical and current theoretical and practical ground. For those seeking to educate students to take an interest in––and an active stance towards––the complexity-filled world of the twenty-first century, this book is a must-read."" —Sean Blenkinsop, Simon Fraser University ""In his new book Building Kids’ Citizenship Through Community Engagement, Bob Coulter combines a profound understanding of kids with equally profound scholarship. Drawing on insights from theory and research without getting bogged down in inessential details, Bob shows us how we can help kids—both in and out of school—become effective democratic citizens. This is a book to read and to use."" —Leonard J. Waks, President, John Dewey Society"

Author Information

Bob Coulter, Ed. D., is currently the director of the Litzsinger Road Ecology Center, a field site managed by the Missouri Botanical Garden. Previously, he was an award-winning elementary grade teacher.

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