How Young People Develop Long-Lasting Habits of Civic Engagement: A Conversation on Building a Research Agenda

This report grew out of two meetings held by the Spencer Foundation to inform its Civic Action and Civic Learning initiative. This initiative aims to strengthen work about how and why individuals and groups become committed to civic action. It begins with the assumption that civic action matters for citizenship, that there are concerns about current trends in interest and opportunities for participation in civic activities, that education for citizenship is an important charge of public schools and higher education, and that there is limited research addressing how to foster civic behavior. Through the Civic Learning and Civic Action initiative, Spencer intends to support research studies that examine the commitments, conditions, and contexts that stimulate and sustain civic action, as well as those that constrain or discourage it. Three sets of influences frame their perspectives for examining the connections between action and learning: influences of civic motivations and other psychological processes; influences of learning experiences and environments; and influences of social, political, cultural, historical, and other contextual influences on individual and group action. (Spencer Foundation)

Virtual Worlds: Emerging Trends for 2009

MacArthur grantee Global Kids reflects on six trends in virtual worlds around learning and philanthropy. As RezEd enters its second year of funding from MacArthur, Barry Joseph thought it would be helpful to outline several trends we have seen emerging that affect learning and virtual worlds. Read more...