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Our 2006 Summer Retreat
on Elementary & Secondary Education:
Citizenship
in a Global Age
A Pacific Northwest Perspective
July 12-14, 2006
Suquamish, Seattle, & Bainbridge Island, WA
 Participants after our morning program at Elliott
Bay Book Company, Day Two, Seattle
Program
Highlights
Retreat Resource
List on Citizenship and Education
Participants on Citizenship and Education
How
will what you have learned support, effect or
deepen your
practice as an educator?
Post-Retreat Questions & Food for Thought
More about our 2006 Summer Retreat
 Mayor Kathryn Quade and other community leaders talk with participants about citizenship and education, Day One, Kiana Lodge, Suquamish, WA
In
Collaboration with
Antioch University Seattle
Elliott
Bay Book Company
Global Source Educators' Collaborative
Kiana Lodge
OSPI's Social Studies and International Education Program
Olympic ESD 114
Seattle
Labor Temple
Winslow CoHousing
Support for this program was provided by a generous grant
from the Edwards Mother Earth Foundation.
Participants from:
Antioch University Seattle
Bainbridge High School
Breidablik Elementary School
Bush School
Evergreen High School
Girl Scouts Totem Council
Kamiak High School
Northwest School
The Overlake School
North Kitsap High School
North Kitsap Options Program
Sehome High School
West Sound Academy
Presenters at our 2006 Summer Retreat
- Willard Bill, Jr., Muckleshoot Tribe; Seattle Public Schools
- Doris Brevoort, STAY (Skill Training for Afghan Youth)
- Gail Davis, Breidablik Elementary School
- Mary Fox, Breidablik Elementary School
- Judy Friesem, Catalyst Mediation Services
- Gene Medina, North Kitsap School District
- Clarence Moriwaki, Japanese-American Nat’l Internment Memorial
- Holly Myers, Elliott Bay Book Company
- Shan Oglesby, Kamiak High School
- Joleen Palmer, Stillwaters Environmental Learning Center
- Caleb Perkins, Office of Superitendent of Public Instruction
- Rob Purser, Suquamish Tribe, Kitsap Co. Council for Human Rights
- Kathryn Quade, Mayor of Poulsbo
- Christine Rolfes, Kitsap County Commissioner-elect
- Jonathan Scherch, Antioch University Seattle
- JD Sweet, Central Kitsap High School
- Sarah van Gelder, YES! Magazine
- Roberta Wilson, Winslow Cohousing
Program Directors
- Kim Bush, Global Source, West Sound Academy
- Jon Garfunkel, Global Source, Antioch University Seattle
- Ed Mikel, Global Source, Antioch University Seattle
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Insights and Ideas
Participants share what
they have learned about citizenship and education
Theme
for me - make a difference locally - accept the responsibilities
that come with being a citizen that affect community - then
go more globally - take what works locally or make that work
to be a Global Citizen.
A
Lot! Of specific value is the introduction to the variety
of resources available, a sense of shared values with other
educators, a wealth of materials to explore, digest and implement.
How
important it is to define the elements of citizenship no matter
how broad its application! (To self, to my community, to my
"place") Citizenship is about RELATIONSHIP! About
RESPONSIBILITY! About SELF-KNOWLEDGE! Focusing on Global Citizenship
requires courage, confidence and character. Think Globally
act Locally is NOT a trite concept!
Citizenship
means having a personal devotion to the local, national, global
community. Standing up for the rights of others - and the
environment.
I
learned that my previous concept of citizenship was limited
at best, though I consider myself well informed on the subject.
Citizenship
is still a semantic issue. Our definitions are clouded by
liberal, conservative, community, society and Western viewpoints.
That
we have wildly different notions about what it is, and I don't
think I care if I have a specific definition. However, we/they/anyone
defines it, I think if you teach to the heart of the person
the "citizen" will follow.
That many schools are doing a very limited job of preparing
students for engaged citizens, and don't have structures that
reflect democratic participation in their process. That principles
of citizenship must be nurtured for social change. That a
myriad of avenues exist to promote youth opportunities for
greater participation and level of citizenship.
Reading
of competing viewpoints on this have been more useful to me
in regard to theory re: citizenship. I did learn, though,
new resources for teaching my students about global issues.
Responsibility-
opportunity. I have listened more than I have spoken because
there was so much to absorb and I still have a curriculum
to plan.
That
my own civic ethic does not owe fealty to any polity - (where)
my ethical locus lays. Community vs. polity affiliation. Notion
of it, is a term lodged in current soc/political organizations
of the world. Links to natural world relationships.
We
need to "open" it up, or forget it altogether and
move on
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 Sarah van Gelder, Executive Editor or YES!,
discusses citizenship and the role of media with participants, Day Three, Winslow
CoHousing
How
will what you have learned support, effect or deepen your
practice as an educator?
Definitely
will be more aware of what I am doing in the classroom and
more intentional. I also will be more focused on what the
students can do locally to become better (or more complete)
citizens.
Ideas
to use to enhance curriculum, introduce global citizenship
issues as questions to apply to discussion on contemporary
issues and to explore as writing prompts that connect these
ideas to themselves and world issues that will affect their
lives after high school. Invite community members to class.
Has
widened and increased my investment in developing a broad
base of partnerships!! Collaborators!! Wherever the source
of those might be!
This
question seems far too broad to answer in this small space.
What I have learned will support, effect, and deepen my personal
life and professional life in practice, or as Freire would
say, in praxis.
Let
me count the ways . . . 1. My resource "tool belt" has increased.
2. Access to GS library will enhance my curriculum greatly.
3. I now have a network of great colleagues & new friends.
4. I have been challenged to re-examine and think more deeply
about a topic I am passionate about.
I
already am vested in teaching citizenship, however, I now
have new ways to approach it, new questions to share and a
better global approach.
I'm still digesting, so I'm not certain, but the thinking
is valuable to inspire change or reinforce that there's a
reason I do what I do.
Make
me reconsider units, themes to promote citizenship values
in instruction. I would like to invite colleagues to connect
with global source. Greater self-empowerment to speak up and
bring topic of how Sehome promotes citizenship in the dimensions
we've discussed.
Resources
Parameters
are wider than ever - possibilities are flooding my brain.
Because performance art is so deeply engrained, I see theatre
as a vital teaching tool and will incorporate that aspect.
Over
my career my interest has continually spiraled in - in toward
creating a community - in toward participating (finding a
place) in different levels of local community. Here is the
place my students live, here is where they must find a place;
here, it seems to me, is where they ought to develop a sense
of ownership and responsibility. Where then, does the "global"
aspect of citizenship arise?
I
will make all the more effort to "DO" democracy
on a daily basis.
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 Caleb
Perkins, Program Supervisor for Social Studies and
International Education at OSPI, talks about education for responsible
citizenship, the role of state standards & classroom based
assessment, Day Two, Seattle Labor Temple
Post-Retreat
Questions and Food for Thought
Do we
approach teaching citizenship with a definition in mind, or
do we keep it more open ended, leaving room for multiple definitions
and an evolution of understanding? What are the advantages/disadvantages
of each? Is there a balance to be reached in this?
How do
we balance the rights of the individual with the desire for
the common good?
How does
our definition and understanding of citizenship change as
we move from local to global?
How does
our relationship with community impact our notions of citizenship?
Is it possible to be disillusioned with certain aspects of
a government or a place and still feel a connection and a
responsibility to that place?
Does a
community have to have a common understanding of a citizen
in order to exist & thrive?
How are
non-actions on the part of citizens valid (or in-valid) contributions
to their community?
Who gets
to be a citizen? Is it a born right or something you "earn"?
What do
we need to know to be a citizen? How do we approach balancing
the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, both for ourselves,
as well as in our teaching?
How useful
would the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be in helping
us define citizenship? What might the applications of this
look like in the classroom?
What is
citizenship without a nation-state? How do we consider citizenship
for those whose identity cannot be characterized by a specific
political affiliation (i.e. refugees)?
How does
our understanding of citizen reflect our connection to the
global commons? What is the role of place-based education
in teaching and learning about citizenship?
What is
the role of Socratic dialogue in teaching and learning about
citizenship?
How do
healthy human relationships cultivate our sense of citizenship?
What perspectives
are necessary for developing a broad diverse understanding
of citizenship? How do we invite these different voices into
our communities and classrooms? Where are you in the process
of interacting with the "other"?
How grounded
do we have to be in our own personal understanding (and practice!)
of citizenship before we engage in these topics professionally?
And vice versa, how much should our professional definitions
and experience inform our personal civic activities?
Giving
our students a voice, a stake in this conversation in the
direction for change.
Intentionality,
the role of articulating our needs and desires from our communities.
How much
is the process of citizenship similar to the process of mediation.
Dominator
versus partnership models of government. Can we sustain our
way of life if we remain within an "empire" based system?
More about our 2006 Summer Retreat
Retreat Resource
List on Citizenship and Education
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