Creating Space for Transformational Community Engagement: Examining Locally Focused Curriculum, Partnerships, and Praxis

In this study, we reflected on the process of designing and implementing a civics curriculum model focused on increasing upper-grade secondary students' involvement in local civic activity. We prioritized examining the challenges and possibilities of institutionalizing partnerships between teachers, students, community leaders, and local government officials. The civics program model included a local government and community focus where students would share, refine, and cultivate social inquiries with community leaders. Additional learning experiences included supporting voter efficacy and learning about local civic structures and grassroots organizing. Using feedback from teachers and student participants, we describe the barriers and possibilities that emerged during the design and implementation of the curriculum. In our reflection on the curricular model, we discuss how, despite our challenges, the program's collaborative and local inquiry-focused elements provided opportunities for teachers and students to identify in more agentic ways and push against the existing structures and discourses that might restrict their civic education experiences.