Fostering Civic Engagement and Student Agency Through Technology Enriched Civic Engagement Projects in the Middle School Classroom
Keywords:
civic engagement, civic education, civic-mindedness, middle school, technologyAbstract
Developing middle grades students’ abilities to be civically engaged and approach their world through a lens of civic-mindedness is an essential component of democratic citizens taking informed action. Leveraging an agency-centered, technology enabled approach, the authors of this article explore the influence authentic civic engagement projects have on the civic perspectives of young students. Eighty-three seventh-grade students participated in this mixed-method study. The researchers utlilized observational data, informal interviews, surveys, field notes, and document analysis; key assertions and findings are presented. Limitations and future research, including the necessity of developing students with a sense of civic-mindedness and the influence of technology, are discussed.
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