Living Democracy: Initiative Overview

 

The Living Democracy Project was an initiative that scholar and Consultant for the project, Marcus Bruce (Bates College, Lewiston, ME), framed as an approach to the study of history and citizenship that, “invites educators to explore the ways in which local communities can become contexts in which students discover the varied and complex ways Americans define and understand citizenship, civic culture and democracy. “

The Project was a rich collaboration between three state Departments of Education – Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, KIDS Consortium, Bates College, the Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University, and sixteen school districts from the three states. The work was funded through a three-year “Linking History, Civics and Service” grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service and local matching support. Participating communities included:

• Maine: School Administrative District 59 (Madison area); School Administrative District 51 (Cumberland area); Mount Desert Island; and Winthrop
• Massachusetts: Acton/Boxboro; Barnstable; Hudson; North Adams; Old Rochester; Quincy; Sharon; and Wareham
• Rhode Island: Coventry; Cumberland; North Kingstown; and Pawtucket

Professional Development

At the heart of Living Democracy were professional development workshops for teams of educators from the three states. The project began with a week-long Institute in the Summer of 2004 in Auburn/Lewiston – an old manufacturing and mill city on the shores of the Androscoggin River in Maine. Each morning, in a room over looking the River and the mills once powered by water, teachers convened in a circle for a “Civic Forum” with Professor Bruce to deliberate and reflect on key documents in American history as well as Parker Palmer’s book, The Art of Teaching. Forum topics included:

• American identity and definition of citizenship;
• Rights and privileges of American citizenship (how are these rights limited? Who is underrepresented in our communities?);
• Individual and collective civic responsibility; and
• Role of institutions – social, political, religious and others - in our society.

The afternoons were spent exploring “old” and “new” Auburn/Lewiston, meeting with community organizations to learn about local needs and problems, and developing ideas for service-learning projects that would be relevant in their own communities. Teams of teachers researched issues in four topic areas – elections and voting; immigration; the environment; and community revitalization.

Subsequent workshops – held each winter and summer throughout the New England region – included Civic Forums and opportunities for all participating teachers to share and reflect on their student work.

As the service-learning projects evolved, participating educators also began to compile and share their own lists of historical documents (national, regional and local) they were able to integrate into the learning process with their students.