10 Questions for Young Changemakers

Student-led civics begins with an inquiry about self––“Why does it matter to me?” (Question 1). At the outset, students need to reflect on who they are, what they really care about, and why. Such self-reflection prepares a strong foundation for authentic action and for the resilience students will need to endure setbacks and tackle roadblocks inevitably encountered in the real world of civic action. Also, students need to contemplate what risks they are willing to take to pursue a goal––weighing how much cost, or sacrifice, they can willingly and equitably bear for their participation. Digital technology offers many promises and opportunities for democratic participation, but it often entails many risks regarding the healthy separation of the public vs. public realm (Question #2, “How much should I share?”) 

The subject changes from “I” in Question #3 (“How can I make it more than about myself?”) to “we” in Question #4 (“Where do we start?”). The pivot from “I” to “we” asks young people to connect an issue of personal interest to the public realm and to test their ideas in relation to a greater conception of the public good. With regard to connecting to broader communities, students do not always need to start from formal politics; instead they succeed when they start by connecting with others where their peers already hang out (Question 5 “How can we make it easy and engaging for others to join in?”)  

Students will deepen their understanding of the systems-level context of their issue through investigation. They explore how to get the wisdom from crowds and also how to protect themselves from the downsides of crowds. Here Questions #6 and 7 are relevant: “How do you get wisdom from crowds?”; “How do you handle the downside of crowds?” New media literacy skills are important in coping with digital crowds that have both positive and negative characteristics. Students need to learn how to vet information for credibility, engage in civil discourse, listen to different perspectives, and deliberate to bridge differences. 

Voice is about standing up to be counted by making one’s voice heard and about shaping public opinion. It is important in its own right. Influence involves connecting the use of voice to specific levers of decision-making and change, whether by contacting office-holders, communicating with officials in agencies and businesses, submitting petitions, organizing protests, or otherwise finding and activating allies within the traditional realm of politics. In civic life, voice projects and influence projects must typically work together to drive large-scale change. Voice projects and influence projects employ different tactics and strategies. Voice projects focus on target audiences and the desired change in public opinion. Influence projects analyze the pathways to be followed to achieve policy changes. A key developmental milestone for students in the development of civic agency is the development of self-awareness about whether they wish to take up their civic role with voice projects or influence projects or both. If policy change is the goal, students ought to know what tools should be utilized for someone to bring about influence. Specifically, Question #8 asks young people to be clear about the goal of their action, whether voice, influence, or both. 

Students execute their plans with real action. Real world situations often involve unexpected setbacks and challenges. Students need to embrace such uncertainties as part of their action projects and learn to improvise and come up with back-up options in a timely manner. Questions #9 and #10 help students not only develop a plan, but also effectively translate and implement it in real-world settings, ensuring that their civic actions are both practical and impactful. 

Students debrief their projects and provide feedback to each other. They reflect on what they achieved or did not achieve and learn from both success and failure. In the context of student-led civics units, failures aren’t  failure; instead they give students crucial lessons about the real world challenges of civic action and about the constant re-thinking necessary for real civic action. Students learn that changemaking takes time and effort but brings great rewards in the benefits that flow from experiences of agency. These rewards should inspire them to remain actively engaged and civically faithful beyond their student-led civics project.