Passport to Chicago Community Network Curriculum
(10/1/2000-9/30/2001)
Given the prior and current need for civic education, especially among young Americans, CURL, Erie Neighborhood House, Howard Area Community Center, and Family Matters developed a curriculum, designed as a teacher’s guide, to engage 30 high school-age youth in civic life and public policy. The Civic Engagement: Passport to Your Future curriculum seeks to provide an inviting, interesting format for instilling political and civic knowledge to youth so that they will become active and informed citizens. The hope is that the curriculum will be a useful tool for youth civic engagement education, both in traditional or nontraditional educational learning environments, such as community-based after school programs.
Over a two-year period, the Civic Engagement: Passport to Your Future (Passport) project developed. While its structure evolved and altered over time, the result is a teacher’s guide for youth civic engagement, which incorporates technology. In its present form, Passport offers instructors, whether in a traditional or non-traditional educational setting, challenging, well-researched materials. While it utilizes technology, it is not dependent upon the ready availability of computers for students. Rather, it assumes computer access only for instructors who can utilize downloadable handouts.
Research Team:
T. Small, CURL
L. Von Dreele, CURL
B. Shea, Graduate Fellow, Philosophy
A. Gitelson, Political Science, Loyola University
C. de Neveu, Howard Area Alternative High School
P. Smith, Howard Area Community Center
T. Brown, Family Matters
J.J. Taifa, Family Matters
R. Simmons, Family Matters
R. Estrada, Erie Neighborhood House
M. Matias, Erie Neighborhood House
K. Unruh, Erie Neighborhood House
Community Partners: