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Civic Skill Building: The Missing Component in Service Programs?

Author(s): Mary Kirlin


Source: PS: Political Science and Politics , Sep., 2002, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sep., 2002), pp. 571-
575
Published by: American Political Science Association

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1554690

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Civic Skill Building: The Missing Component in
Service Programs?*
Mary Kirlin, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

W hat are the best ways to instill studies of service learning participants in its volunteer component but has
democratic values and create civi- show enhanced compassion and interest explicit links to classroom curricula.
cally engaged citizens? Much political, in social problems generally, those atti- Perry and Katula (2001) produce in-
public, and scholarly attention has re- tudinal changes do not consistently teresting results with their comprehen-
cently been paid to these and similar translate into behavioral changes (Eyler, sive review of 219 empirical studies of
questions. Service learning and commu- Giles, and Braxton 1997; Perry and the relationship between service (includ-
nity service for adolescents and young Katula 2001). This paper reviews recent ing service learning and community
adults have received the most attention empirical studies of community service, service) and citizenship. After caution-
(Perry and Katula 2001). Civic education service learning, and volunteering, and ing that limited empirical studies, small
has also been studied but does not draw then frames the consistently strong evi- sample sizes, and differing objectives
the same attention as service learning dence that participation in clubs and or- and methodologies affect the ability to
(Niemi and Junn 1999). The September ganizations during adolescence leads to draw concrete conclusions, they con-
2000 issue of PS: Political Science & higher levels of civic engagement dur- clude that a) service appears to favor-
Politics addressed service learning in ing adulthood within the political partic- ably influence citizenship related
higher education, but service for high ipation model developed by Verba, cognitive understanding; b) service and
school students is also receiving increas- Schlozman, and Brady (1995). I suggest volunteering appear to positively influ-
ing amounts of attention. Estimates are that the reason such participation is ence later volunteering and giving; and
that 83% of high schools nationally linked to later civic engagement is less c) the type of service that produces the
offer community service opportunities related to civic identity development as most consistent positive results is serv-
(Westheimer and Kahne 2000), that half suggested by some (Yates and Youniss ice learning. However, they find that
of all community colleges have service 1998; Youniss, McLellan, and Yates existing research does not address the
learning courses and that nearly two 1997), than it is to development of fun- relationship between citizenship skills
million college students at four-year damental civic skills necessary for civic and behaviors sufficiently to draw con-
institutions participate in service learningengagement. clusions. While attitudinal changes were
(Hepbum, Niemi, and Chapman 2000). I am interested in how adolescents somewhat common there was no evi-
While specific articulated outcomes vary learn to become active adult members dence of behavior changes. Perry and
widely, researchers suggest that studentsof their communities-to become Katula (2001, 15) observe that "given
who participate in service programs will "engaged," not only in political activi- the centrality of active citizenship in
become more civically engaged (Yates ties such as voting and campaign work, most theories and proposals for service,
and Youniss 1998), understand and but also in community improvement the paucity of research about citizenship
become more tolerant of our diverse activities via civic and volunteer associ- outcomes, particularly behaviors, is
society, and improve classroom learning ations (similar to Campbell 2000). I fo- noteworthy."
(Hepburn, Niemi, and Chapman 2000). cus on how adolescents learn the doing Hunter and Brisbin's (2000, 625)
Empirical research suggests some posi- of democracy, that is, active participa- evaluation of college student's service-
tive outcomes from service learning rela- tion, not simply cognitive knowledge oflearning experiences in three locations
tive to student cognition and classroom political systems. Building upon the is exemplary of the mixed findings
learning but little evidence supports premise that adolescence is a critical common in empirical research in this
expectations that service learning encour- time for socialization and development area. Their study confirms that service-
ages civic behaviors such as voting, con- (Erikson 1968), I ask, "What activities learning participants "learn about their
tacting elected officials, and being active during adolescence lead to long-term community, further develop some aca-
in community affairs (Perry and Katula civic engagement?" demic skills and feel that they have
2001). helped members of their community."
This paper suggests one reason for However, little to no change was indi-
the weak empirical results relative to Community Service, Service cated for self-reported attitudes towards
civic engagement is that many service Learning and Volunteering political engagement.
and volunteer programs have failed to
Impact Civic Engagement Similarly, empirical evidence indicates
sufficiently address development of fun- volunteering has positive results for indi-
damental civic skills such as expressing
Weakly
viduals on cognitive and attitudinal
opinions and working collectively to Service learning, community service, measures but weak results for increasing
achieve common interests as part of and volunteering have been put forward civic engagement of participants. A 1996
their design. As a result, while some as mechanisms to increase civic engage- survey found approximately 60% of
ment of individuals (Yates and Youniss teens volunteered during the previous
1998). Community service programs typi- 12 months (Independent Sector 1997).
Mary Kirlin is assistant professor of cally consist of requirements for students Adolescent volunteers reported their ex-
public affairs at IUPUI. She spent 15 years to volunteer a given amount of time in perience helped them understand people
working in government and politics before their community. Hepbur, Niemi, and who are different than themselves (48%)
coming to the academy. Her research Chapman (2000) remind us that service and to understand more about good citi-
focuses on adolescent civic socialization. learning is similar to community service zenship (37%); but only 18% said they

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learned how to help solve community three "pre-adult experiences" that affectAdditional empirical research sup-
problems (Independent Sector 1997). A later civic participation: education, ports participation in organizations dur-
longitudinal study of the long-term ef- discussion of politics at home, and ing adolescence as a predictor of future
fects of volunteering in college (Astin, participation in an extracurricular or- civic engagement. Like studies of serv-
Sax, and Avalos 1999) finds a positive- ganization as an adolescent. The model ice, the samples are sometimes small,
though tenuous-relationship but unlike service research, the five
between volunteering during studies conducted between 1976 and
college and later volunteering. 1995 came to similar conclusions, find-
Those who volunteered OnE reason for the weak ing that individuals who were active in
organizations during adolescence are
extensively in high school and
)irical results relative
college were twice as likely to em two to four times more likely to be
be volunteering nine years to c active in civic and political life than
later than those who did no :ivic engagement is those who had not participated in or-
volunteer work. However, that ganizations during adolescence (Beane
among those that volunteered many service and et al. 1981; Hanks and Eckland 1978;
during high school and col- volu Ladewig and Thomas 1987; Otto 1976;
lege, one-third were doing no inteer programs have and Verba, Schlozman and Brady
1995). Adolescent participants were also
id
volunteer work nine years faile
later; of those who did no vol- to sufficiently ad- two to four times as likely as their
unteer work in high school or dres
college, 31% were volunteer-
;s development of nonparticipating colleagues to be offi-
cers in organizations as adults. Adults
ing nine years later. fun(Jamental civic skills were studied 12 to 30 years after their
Perry and Katula (2001, adolescent participation. In most stud-
27) ask why the relationship S
between attitudes and behav-
i as expressing ies, they were asked to recall their
participation; although in two of the
ior in service programs does
not appear to be strong. "Is
lions
opir and working studies, participants were drawn from a
pool of those known to be alumni from
the attenuation a result of C I ectively to achieve particular organizations (4-H and a
service-learning pedagogy that school-based community planning
does not translate into enough CO imon
IT interests as part project). Organizations that predicted
hands-on experience ...? Or f tl future activity included participation in
is it a function of institutions o heir design. 4-H, student government, and school-
that do not reinforce service based clubs such as yearbook, debate
experiences?" Morgan and team, and a course where students
Streb (2001) suggest that students' continues with adult experiences that helped the community with long-term
voices in service learning projects are affect participation, but for purposes of planning efforts.
critical to achieving positive political this article, the "pre-adult" experiences A more recent empirical study
engagement impacts. Other scholars are critical. confirms and expands these findings. I
suggest that service may not create an The pre-adult experiences affect the analyzed a statewide California YMCA
understanding of social interdependence high school model-legislature program to
three participatory factors in the follow-
or a sense of community responsibility ing manner. Education can lead to in- find that the 1,069 alumni (ages 18 to
(Raskoff and Sundeen 1998), or that creased understanding of the importance 72) were statistically significantly more
motivations for service may be associ- of civic participation (motivation); pro- likely than the general population to be
ated more with an individual's desire to vide money or time to contribute to involved in several civic engagement
help another rather than in a broader civic endeavors (capacity); and introduce behaviors. Specifically, 96% are regis-
social or political understanding or one to others concerned with civic life tered voters, 87% voted in the 2000
commitment (Scrow 1991). (networks). Discussion of politics at presidential election, 47% have contacted
home can enhance the motivation to get an elected official about an issue, 45%
involved. Finally, participation in organi- have attended a local board or council
Civic Skill Development zations and clubs during adolescence can meeting, 43% have gotten together with
During Adolescence is teach skills necessary for adult civic others informally to work on community
Critical participation (capacity). problems, 35% have contributed to a
Verba, Schlozman, and Brady (1995) campaign, and 36% have served on a
Basing their work on surveys of find that participation in high-school board or been an officer in a group
15,000 adults, Verba, Schlozman, and student government and other clubs was (Kirlin 2001). To control for income and
Brady (1995) argue that adult participa- strongly associated with later civic en- education effects, I examined the civic
tion in civic life requires three "partici- gagement, and suggest that such mem- engagement behaviors of three groups of
patory factors": desire to get involved bership teaches skills that are necessary alumni: those over 25 years of age who
(motivation); the ability to contribute for later involvement including "hands-onmake less than $25,000 per year; those
something to the effort (capacity and training in communication and organiza- over 25 years of age who do not hold at
skills); and some connection to the net- tion skills." With the exception of sports, least a bachelor's degree; and those
works of individuals who ask others to Verba, Schlozman, and Brady find this to whose parents held jobs that did not re-
become involved (networks). In a com- be true regardless of the underlying na- quire a college degree (largely service or
plex model, the authors trace "roots of ture and type of the club; participation intrades). All three groups of alumni were
participation" back to "initial character- the chess or Spanish club is as effective statistically significantly more involved
istics" including gender, race and par-for teaching civic skills as participation than the general population on all meas-
ent's education. They then identify in student government. ures of civic engagement except making

572 PS September 2002

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campaign contributions. At least in this However, research indicates that the Participants in Community
case, participation in extracurricular impact of adolescent experiences is Service and Service Learning
activities positively affected adult civic more plausibly attributable to enhanced Can Gain Civic Skills
engagement, regardless of the income civic skills. Adolescents' participation in
and education of the participants or their organizations matters for later civic en- Democratic society inherently de-
parents. gagement not because it creates a civic mands collective decision making. Thus,
Glanville (1999) investigated whether identity but because it teaches concrete young adults must practice the skills
individuals who were active in organiza- skills critical for civic engagement. Re- necessary for civic engagement; cogni-
tions as adolescents had "self-selected" turning to the Verba-Schlozman-Brady tive understanding of democracy is not
into organizations based on preexisting model (1995), recall the three factors sufficient. Adolescent participation in or-
personality characteristics or political necessary for political participation: ganizations provides the opportunity for
attitudes. She finds that sociability, lead- motivation, networks and capacity/skills. hands-on development of foundational
ership attitudes, and interest in and Because the types of organizations civic skills such as working in groups,
awareness of political issues only yielding future civic engagement were organizing others to accomplish tasks,
partially account for the association not always political or civic in nature, it communicating, and working out differ-
between participation in organizations does not appear that the primary benefit ences of substance or process on the
and later political and civic engagement. of adolescent participation in organiza- way to accomplishing a goal. Patrick
The remainder is attributed to the par- tions is creating either the motivation (2000, 5) suggests participatory skills of
ticipation itself. Self-selection based on for involvement (Verba's terminology) citizenship in democracy include "inter-
predisposition to politics did not seem or civic identity development (Yates and acting with other citizens to promote
to affect my (2001) study either. I asked Youniss's terminology). While network personal and common interests, moni-
263 alumni why they became involved development is a plausible explanation toring public events and issues, deli-
in the YMCA model legislature pro- for some of the relationship, and de- berating about public policy issues,
gram; only 32% indicated they liked serves research attention, the most logical influencing policy decisions on public
politics and government, while 65% explanation is that students are develop- issues and implementing policy deci-
said their friends got them involved. ing and practicing civic skills through sions on public issues." The list is par-
Conrad and Hedin's (1982a, 1982b, their participation in organizations. ticularly useful because it is based on
1989) research demonstrates the role This argument is consistent with actions that infer skills, not simply
experiential and participatory education two additional findings from Verba, knowledge. However, to be competent
play in preparing students to be active Schlozman, and Brady (1995). First, in Patrick's civic skills, several very
civic-minded citizens. School-based ex- they find that participation in high basic underlying skills must be mas-
periential learning has a positive impact school sports was negatively associated tered. Table 1 makes some preliminary
when, among other things, student deci- with later civic engagement. Conway suggestions as to what those skills
sion making is encouraged by teachers. and Damico (2001) have similar find- might be. Some of these are cognitive
Similarly, a recent international study ings. While providing other benefits, in nature but many must be practiced in
finds that high school students who organized sports provide little opportu- order to develop mastery. The premise
reported "an open classroom environ- nity for civic skill development: the that civic skill building can be impor-
ment where they were encouraged to goal (winning) is predetermined, and tant for later civic engagement has
discuss issues and take part in shaping adults undertake the planning for the implications for program design and for
school life" showed greater civic knowl- season, organize the matches, and do research. Some relatively simple
edge and were more likely to indicate most of the coaching. Opportunities changes might greatly enhance the long-
they expected to vote as adults (Torey- for students to organize themselves, term civic-engagement effects of service
Purta et al. 2001, 8). decide on objectives, and collectively and volunteer programs.
These findings begin to knit together make decisions are limited. The same The most significant step is rethink-
the consistent conclusions about the may be increasingly true for service ing the front end of service and volun-
importance of adolescent participation. learning and community service; adults teer programs so that students have as
Involving students in many levels of the may have organized students too well,much latitude as possible to learn and
learning process may facilitate the de- taking the fun (and civic skill learn- practice civic skills through the process
velopment of civic skills important for ing) out of the effort. of designing and organizing their activi-
later civic engagement. The second important finding is thatties themselves. This does not mean
Some researchers argue that these stud- church participation, whether in adoles- disengaging the service experience from
ies suggest enhanced civic identity among cence or adulthood, is positively associ- the classroom content. Rather, it means
adolescents increases adult civic engage- ated with civic engagement. Dependingfacilitating students' discovery of what
ment. Yates and Youniss (1998, 496) upon the particular institution, church problems exist, whom they need to
argue that adolescent participation in can provide motivation and networks, contact to address the issues, and what
organizations creates "reference points and may also provide opportunities to types of projects they will undertake.
that aid in the formation of political learn and practice civic skills. Members Giving students the opportunity to iden-
understandings and engagement," norms have the opportunity to set goals tify fellow students with similar con-
of participation that become imbedded in (a new childcare program or building), cerns and then to decide what they will
identity, leading to engagement in civic organize fellow members (a picnic or do about it is an important first step.
life. Hepburn (2000) suggests that re- bazaar), and negotiate with others to Underlying this relatively simple step
search linking adolescent participation in determine the common good. Verba, are several skills including voicing one's
clubs and organizations to later civic en- Schlozman, and Brady (1995) find opinion, expressing interests, identifying
gagement creates a rationale for commu- church participation to be an equalizer like-minded individuals, and reaching
nity service in high school, agreeing with for economic and education factors that consensus about action. Service and
the Yates and Youniss premise of civic would otherwise predict low levels of volunteer programs that provide preap-
identity development as a key component. civic engagement. proved lists of organizations ready to

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programs. Patrick's (2000) list is a start-
ing point, and I have begun to identify
some of the underlying skills, but fur-
ther refinement is needed. Researchers
can then fill the gaps in research on
civic skill and behavior development in
service programs by testing and identi-
fying successful service programs.
Confirming the hypothesis that civic
skill building can crosscut many types
of organizations and lead to later civic
engagement is fundamental. It is impor-
tant to understand both the activities of
current adolescents and the structure of
programs intended to increase civic en-
gagement. Currently there is inadequate
information on the variety of possibly
relevant programs offered by schools
and nonprofit organizations, as well as
the experiences individual students have.
My efforts to collect information about
programs, and attributes and numbers of
participants from high schools in one
Indiana county revealed very good data
on numbers of students participating in
sports but fragmented and incomplete
information about students participating
in nonsports activities. Some high
schools had athletics directors with as-
sistants while nonsports programs were
accept students for predetermined volun- by writing letters, meeting with offi- assigned somewhat haphazardly to fac-
teer roles immediately remove several cials, attending and speaking at public ulty and staff with no central coordina-
learning opportunities including under- meetings, and generating interest from tion. Not surprisingly, schools reported
standing local events and identifying others through media and other means. approximately twice as many opportuni-
decision makers, stakeholders, and Requiring the students to practice civic ties for sports participation as all clubs
providers. Adults should facilitate learn- skills led one student to observe, and organizations combined. Under-
ing by asking questions, and providing "Everyone thinks they know how to be standing what programs are available
support and encouragement, but not involved but I didn't really know until through schools and the broader com-
prepackaged experiences. I did it." Students have anecdotally munity will help us to understand where
Similar adaptations of classroom reported increased understanding of the civic engagement efforts may best be
efforts may benefit civic learning in the newspaper and local events, a much enhanced.
classroom. I have begun testing this ap- clearer understanding of who makes Additional research into the question
proach in an introductory undergraduate decisions and how to access them, and of whether service and participation in
public affairs course. At the beginning most importantly, confidence that they organizations and clubs provide net-
of the term, students identify a public could get involved in an issue that works (as defined by Verba, Schlozman,
issue they would like to influence (by interests them. and Brady 1995) will also be helpful.
reading the local newspaper) and work Important research questions arise As people are increasingly mobile,
in small (self-selected) groups to iden- from this argument. The identification of networks developed during adolescence
tify background, stakeholders, decision specific civic skills is crucial to under- may be less important although practic-
makers, and important timelines for the standing their roles in future civic ing the skill of network development
issue they have chosen. They then engagement and to increasing our ability may still have importance for long-term
actively work to influence the outcome to build civic skill development into civic engagement.

Note
*This research was funded by a grant fromThe author wishes to thank Michael Leuthner
the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.and Jordan Olivetti for their research assistance.

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