In 2009, a symposium on civil engagement was held at a university, featuring

four professors discussing their ideas and the challenges of the term. R.
Battastoni, the first speaker, emphasized the complexity of civil engagement,
which can be interpreted as both citizenship and politics. In university
education, civil engagement is often associated with service learning, while in
high schools, it is a memorized system of government and politics. Battastoni
argued that civil engagement should encompass public engagement as an
active citizen role. A program called Project 540 was introduced to help high
school students create active community involvement.

The next speaker was J. Westheimer. He posed the thought of entering a

totalitarian school system and comparing its lessons of experience to schools in
democratic areas. He wondered if there would be distinct differences between
the ways children were taught. He then went on to discuss the different ways of
approaching teaching democratic engagement within US schools. He noted that
there are three categories of citizenship taught in schools throughout the
country today. The first type of citizen he defined was the personally
responsible citizen. This is the type most taught in education systems today. The
personally responsible citizen is respectful to the earth and strives to be a
"good" citizen by performing good deeds, Yet as Westheimer noted, there is
nothing specific to democratic engagement within government or social
systems being taught in accordance with this type of citizenship. The second
type of citizen is a participatory citizen. This citizen is taught about how the
government is run, how bills become laws, and all the mechanics of a
democratic system. These students are taught to be involved through
knowledge and action. The last type Westheimer discussed was the social
justice oriented citizen. This type of teaching is the least represented in
education systems, and is, to him, the most importan. These students are
taught to think critically about democratic systems and how they can challenge
conventions and ideas throughout. I would actually agree with this idea,
because this law doesn't actually help students think or develop as citizens.
They are instead forced to memorize and conform to one thought process and
then recite it through testing in order to pass to the next level. There is little
room to debate and discuss democratic concepts. Connie Flanagan discussed
the roles of higher education, emphasizing the importance of service and active
participation in shaping one's identity. She believed that the higher education
system should teach students to speak up and question ideas, rather than
passively accepting them. Flanagan also highlighted the idea that knowledge
evolves through interaction, and volunteering or serving in communities can
lead to learning. She shared her experience with illiteracy and the impact of
work experiences on her understanding of the education system, allowing her
to critically think about class readings and form questions about education
systems. H. Boight discussed the past presidential election and the concept of
service in all candidates. He argued that organizing ourselves by politics, race,
and identity traits creates an invisible barrier between ourselves and others.
Instead, he suggested being flexible and working together to define citizenship
through service.