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In this country, much is made of the declining state of communities. All we have to do is turn on the news or pick up a newspaper to read about youth problems. A bigger tragedy, however, is hidden behind the headlines. Many children first learn about community in a chaotic setting where they are exposed to a horrendous example of how to get along with others. A child who grows up in a dysfunctional or distressed family may arrive at school without having acquired a basic sense of community. The teacher must create a bridge across the child's actual home situation to a larger home, where the child can imagine belonging to the community-at-large. Within this bigger world, the child can discover what it means to create, to explore, and to participate as a citizen. When the task of creating "socially responsible active citizens" takes into consideration the living conditions of many of today's youth, then it is imperative that the community join with schools in building a strong foundation on which these young people can grow beyond their personal circumstances. This is a monumental task, and requires us to expand the definition of community involvement in schools. By strengthening the bond between school and community, we can provide youth with opportunities to better understand how they fit into both the local community and the greater biophysical environment. A practical, experiential education, such as the Discovery Team I had a chance to observe in action in the White Pass School District in rural Washington, offers a way to teach both individual and team lessons. Collaborative learning opportunities engender an understanding that personal welfare depends on group welfare. Through such experiences, students learn that, regardless of differences of opinion, people can and must find ways to work and live together. Personal attributes such as reliability, responsibility, perseverance, sociability, tolerance, and flexibility are the basis for public life. These values are learned through participation in actual events in specific places. Participation in learning about the local community can provide those real-life events that can enable students to become "native to a place." In White Pass, teachers have seen this hands-on approach to learning work wonders for at-risk youth. A "location-specific curriculum" can be initiated in one class, in a group of coordinated classes, as an after-school activity, or as a summer program. It can be built around local traditions, rooted in the uniqueness of the place, and include learning about the local and regional ecology, economy, and culture. Such a curriculum enables students to become knowledgeable inhabitants, especially when their involvement entails learning local history, stories, legends, rituals, and practices that define the community and what it means to be part of it. This kind of learning nurtures the democratic spirit, strengthening and sustaining our communities. How can schools promote the community as classroom? The learning opportunities are boundless. Discussion of the interplay between people and their environment over time and space provides an opportunity to integrate the study of history, geography, landscape, literature, ecology, economics, land use and planning, and government. Community study provides an opportunity for several teachers to coordinate across the curriculum to create a more holistic approach to study that is grounded in real life and can have immediate practical application. It also provides an opportunity for local residents to share what they know about the community. Students can learn about social action through service learning by getting involved in current community issues or a community development activity as part of their classroom work. A first step in getting such a program started is to organize a community study, similar to the one undertaken in the White Pass School District. This might entail a series of community forums where local community members are invited to come into the classroom, or to come to an evening open house to discuss some aspect of community history or culture. Community members may want to bring photographs or other memorabilia to help facilitate conversation with students. Media classes may want to do videotaped oral histories with elders who have considerable local knowledge. Government classes may want to study the changes in local policy or governance over time and see how external events have affected local decisions. Art classes may want to look at how local artists portray the local area, what media they use, and what images their work conveys about the area. Students might consider these questions: If I had moved away from this community 100 years ago and came back today, what would I notice that is different? What changes would I notice if I had left 50 years ago? What things have changed in the last 25 years? These are integrative questions that cross disciplinary boundaries. Answering these questions could entail oral histories with local residents or one-time residents who have moved away, photo analysis, archival research that might include looking through old phone books, school yearbooks, newspapers, and other materials that help tell the story of a community. Students could also identify an issue of concern or importance and conduct research to better understand underlying causes, implications, and potential solutions. Community study, incorporating a "school-to-work" learning model, offers a way to engage at-risk students. Students who have not shown an interest in school or who have had problems with a traditional curriculum may suddenly become excited about doing a photo-journal project that documents important features of their community, or that depicts a current issue of interest or concern. They may want to take an indepth look at some particular topic of interest, such as historic flooding and community preparedness, by interviewing residents and government officials and doing an analysis of historical documents. Counselors in White Pass shared these observations about how the program affected students: "Dealing with the public did wonders for them. It showed them that they could do something. They learned people skills and gained significantly in self-confidence and assertiveness with people." Using the community as a learning environment helps students integrate the skills and knowledge they are learning in the classroom. As one of the White Pass teachers commented, "It is truly the only way to provide applied learning of the concepts that are taught in the classroom." Maybe most important, however, are the lessons of self-confidence, life skills, and an appreciation and understanding of place. As students engage in learning about and being active in their community, they make personal observations: "I can look back and say, 'Look what I did!'" "I learned I can work with a lot of people to come up with a lot of information and put it into one report." "I learned that I could go up to people and interview them without being shy or embarrassed." "It gave me a new understanding and appreciation of the rich history that our community is built on. I never did comprehend before this summer what a huge difference the mills and tourism were." Communities and schools may never have needed each other as much as they do now. Many schools are coping with reduced budgets for counselors and support services, tattered texts and substandard equipment, and elimination of funding for the arts. Yet at the same time, they are expected to work toward increased test and achievement scores. Community members can lay the groundwork for real improvement by helping to turn their community into a classroom. They can beat the bushes to find funding and sponsors, leaving teachers to focus on other aspects of teaching. The students who find that their community supports them, listens to them, and promotes their ideas, thoughts, and creativity will have a better chance of becoming socially responsible and productive members of society. And the community will be all the better for it. Linda Kruger is Research Social Scientist with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station in Seattle, Washington. Her research focus is community-forest relationships. Her doctoral dissertation included learning as a participant in the White Pass School District Discovery Team Community Self-Assessment project.
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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
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While I was in England recently, the British government called for "citizenship education" in secondary schools to increase the knowledge, skills, and values relevant to the practice of participatory democracy. In other words, to arm young people with the capacity to be socially responsible citizens. It made me wonder: How well do our educational programs prepare students for community participation in the United States?
