Wisconsin Citizenship Initiative

A Definition of Citizenship

Helping children develop to their full potential as citizens is an important priority of families, communities and schools. Developing citizenship means becoming a productive, responsible, caring and contributing member of society. It includes:

being successful in school;
making responsible decisions;
caring about others;
contributing to society;
developing social and personal skills, such as reflective problem solving, accepting a variety of perspectives, and setting and attaining goals; and
developing a core set of common values

Schools are places where these qualities, ideally first taught in the home, can and should be promoted with the support and involvement of the family and community.

From civic education to teen pregnancy reduction, there is a common ground of what we as a society want our children to know and be able to do. It is common ground that defines citizens as productive, responsible, caring, and contributing individuals. The call to citizenship is not simply identifying what we don't want young people to do but clearly understanding the kind of people we would like them to become. It is a mission of youth development that engages them in meeting their basic personal and social needs to be safe, feel cared for, be valued, be useful and be spiritually grounded. Through positive experiences, youth build assets and competencies that allow them to function and contribute in their daily lives. There must be clear and consistent expectations that youth will set goals, devise necessary strategies, make efforts and follow social rules. Time will pass and youth will grow into adults regardless of the support they receive. The question is "what kind of adults will they become." Positive youth development occurs when adults deliberately create conditions and opportunities for youth to become caring, contributing, productive and responsible citizens.

This country is based on some basic beliefs of democracy that include a society where its members care about one another, contribute toward the common good, and participate in sustaining a democratic way of life. To be productive citizens in America, students need to recognize individual differences; acknowledge common bonds; and demonstrate skills related to diversity, inclusiveness, and fairness. Diversity exists in various forms including but not limited to race/ethnicity, culture, talent, ability and disability, sex/gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, language, socio-economic status, and learning styles. Inclusiveness involves providing social and economic access to everyone, understanding and appreciating all individuals and groups, learning about the contributions of diverse cultures and times, and developing skills that foster cross-gender and cross-cultural communication. Fairness requires actively challenging prejudice, stereotyping, bias, hatred, and discrimination to insure a social climate free of favoritism or bias, impartial, and equitable to all parties.

Good citizens can be counted on to consistently demonstrate in everyday life honesty, respect, courage, and other core citizenship values. Children who grow up to be productive and contributing citizens are much more than academically successful. The world of work requires individuals who are capable of managing their own health and well being, and who have the skills necessary for problem solving, self direction, self motivation, self reflection, and life-long learning. The US Department of Labor reports the following characteristics that employers look for in teens:

Learning-to-learn skills
Listening and communication
Adaptability: creative thinking, and problem solving, especially in response to barriers/obstacles
Personal management: self-esteem, goal-setting/self-motivation, personal career development/goals, pride in work accomplished
Group effectiveness: interpersonal skills, negotiation, teamwork
Organizational effectiveness and leadership: making a contribution
Competence in reading, writing, and computation

To help students become caring, contributing, productive, and responsible citizens, the entire school program must reflect a clear commitment to helping students acquire the skills, attitudes, values, and knowledge necessary to achieve the ideal. Citizenship development includes in-class instructional opportunities woven throughout the curriculum. For example, social studies classes may concentrate on the development of knowledge about and the history of our democratic institutions and principles and on the critical thinking skills necessary for competent participation in the democratic process. In family and consumer education, health education, and developmental guidance, a focus on individual and family health helps students develop the skills they need to enhance interpersonal relationships and social/emotional development. Now a renewed emphasis on the attitudes and commitments required to practice and live the core citizenship values is needed in all of our school curriculums and programs. The basis for all of these forms of education for citizenship is the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. These documents guide our constitutional democracy and will be realized if every one of us takes seriously our obligation to be good citizens.

In Wisconsin, a citizenship initiative was begun by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in 1996. A task force of representatives from the religious community, labor, business, students, parents, teachers, school boards, university system, non-partisan public interest group, diverse ethnic groups, law enforcement and the state legislature was convened to make recommendations for promoting citizenship for youth. The critical recommendation of the task force was for each community to come together, reflecting a broad base of interests, to discuss and identify a set of core citizenship values to be promoted by home, school, and community. To support this effort locally, the DPI made grants available to school districts and invited school-community teams to a Citizenship Summit.

Most recently, the citizenship initiative has expanded to include the development of a Citizenship Tool Kit. The kit is designed to help districts begin to make long-range plans for helping their students become caring, contributing, productive, and responsible citizens. It is centered around seven characteristics that are common to schools that effectively promote citizenship.

Characteristics of Schools that Build Citizens

In partnership with the community, they adopt a core set of values, such as honesty, courage, respect, and responsibility, that can inspire us to care for and contribute to our communities.

Positive values can inspire students to do what is right, to serve their community, work hard, and learn as much as they can. A core set of values modeled by staff and students alike help to create a disciplined and orderly environment for learning.
They are safe and orderly places where rules and boundaries are known and shared, and consequences fairly and consistently applied when violations occur.

Brain research shows that students who are threatened, harassed, or do not feel safe and valued in school cannot learn or retain learning well enough to succeed academically. Surveys of students consistently point out that students want clear expectations, fair discipline, and reasonable boundaries in their schools and classrooms. School policies should not be solely punitive but offer supportive alternatives to assist children to overcome personal and academic difficulties. Zero tolerance for certain behaviors that lead to expulsion are clearly defined and communicated.
They consistently involve parents/caregivers and other segments of the community.

Study after study shows the importance of parents being involved in their child's education. Part of that educational process is a partnership between parents, schools, and the community working to ensure schools are healthy and safe places to be. Schools must address issues such as school discipline, violence, vandalism, truancy, AOD, and other critical youth risk behaviors in partnership with parents and the community. Families, with the supportive help of schools, help children meet life's challenges and become healthy and productive citizens.
They develop positive relationships among and between adults and youth so students feel personally known and cared for.

A collegial relationship among staff and positive relationship between staff and students contribute to nurturing, safe, and productive environment. These relationships are critical to helping children overcome difficulty, recognize their talents, and feel individually and collectively valued. School staff understand that they play a critical role in assisting students to grow and develop as individuals in order to be academically successful in the classroom.
They address societal issues through a variety of strategies, including classroom instruction.

Students need to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to keep themselves healthy and safe and contribute to maintaining a healthy and safe environment in the schools. Addressing such issues as violence, teen pregnancy, AODA, and other youth risk behaviors within the context of schools through a variety of strategies is essential. The schooling experience must make connections to the world beyond the classroom and assist children in overcoming life's challenges.
They engage students' minds and keep them connected to the schooling experience.

Engaging students' minds means structuring learning opportunities in a variety of ways, including orally and through writing, kinesthetically, or through artistic and musical experiences. For some students, it means modifying the curriculum, providing alternative learning opportunities, or alternative settings for instruction. Classroom instruction is enhanced with opportunities for meaningful participation in other activities that connect students to schools. Activities such as school plays, clubs, sports, music, etc., are all essential parts of the educational process.
They develop high expectations for students and staff.

High expectations not only include rigorous and challenging course work but also expectations on behavior. Teachers are expected to model the positive behaviors we want to see in students. Students and staff understand that they each play a significant role in assuring the school is a place where all children can have an opportunity to reach their full potential and become healthy, productive, and academically successful citizens.

The tool kit will assist schools in identifying, developing, and organizing a variety of strategies that help build these characteristics, such as:

Youth Service

Service activities integrate community service into the school curriculum. A service program helps to meet community needs while also providing students with opportunities to use academic skills and knowledge in real-life situations and for the common good. Implementing youth service-learning can be an effective way for schools to address a number of characteristics. Youth service has the potential to engage students' minds and keep them connected to school by helping to make learning more relevant to everyday life. Service-learning gives students an opportunity to use skills learned in the classroom in contributing to their community. It can develop positive relationships between youth and adults as they work together to complete service-learning projects. Service-learning takes learning outside the classroom walls and involves parents and community as integral partners.

Peer Mediation

Peer mediation programs train students to resolve differences in a non-violent and respectful manner. A team of students is designated and trained as mediators and called in to assist their peers in resolving conflicts. When combined with effective disciplinary policies for harassment or fighting, peer mediation helps foster many of the characteristics. For example, it sets high expectations for behaviors that are often based on one or more core values school and community have identified as a shared priority. Mediation programs are an excellent strategy to address the societal issue of school violence and harassment. Helping students resolve conflicts in a pro-social way enhances responsibility for their behavior. When the school environment is more respectful and safe, it keeps students connected and promotes the development of positive relationships among students.

Mentor Programs

Mentor programs match students with an adult from the community who volunteers to spend time with a young person. Many mentor relationships are maintained for several years as the child progresses through elementary, middle, and high school. Mentors provide a child with a positive, caring relationship with a significant adult other than a caregiver. The children see firsthand the benefits of a person who is willing to share his or her time with others. Mentor programs involve the community in developing positive relationships with young people so youth are connected to school.

Character Education

Helping students understand, develop, and model core values are the goals of character education. The school and community adopt a core set of values, such as responsibility and honesty, they feel are important for youth to embody. These values are then infused into the curriculum, form the basis for student and staff behavior policies and programs, and help to define student and school success. Implementing a character education program makes school a safe and orderly place by emphasizing values such as respect and responsibility. To make those values a priority, the school must involve parents and the community. As a result, home, school, and community develop consensus about the high expectations for behavior they have for youth and adults.

Career and Technical Student Organizations

Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO) help Wisconsin school districts to develop citizenship in their student members by engaging student minds and keeping them connected to school through provision of a variety of co-curricular activities designed to increase student motivation and provide a framework for authentic learning experiences centering on family and community involvement. Activities included in these experiences range from performance assessments related to student projects in the work of their family, community and paid work to service learning projects based in the community and work-focused activities related to future career development. Utilizing their training in decision-making, teamwork and leadership, students are offered the opportunity to give back to the community through service projects, enabling students to understand community problems and issues resulting in better ideas for solutions in the future. The Department of Public Instruction recommends the following CTSOs to school districts and students in Wisconsin:

Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) - an association for marketing students;
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) - an association for business students;
FFA - an association for agriculture students;
Family, Career, Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) - an association for family and consumer education students;
Health Occupations Services of America (HOSA) - an association for health occupations students;
Vocational Industrial Club of America (VICA) - an association for technology students.

For questions about this information, contact dpisspw@dpi.wi.gov (608) 267-9117

Last updated on 2/22/2008 8:00:18 AM