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Civic Participation & Citizenship Collection
Identifying Student Priorities
Tom Smith, Community College of Vermont
The content of the class is totally flexible, though a majority of the students have said they want to strengthen their grammar in order to continue their formal education. My goal is to offer activities that will strengthen reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills while using U.S. culture, history, and government as the content areas.
Activity 1: Setting the Context for Citizenship
Objectives:
1. Students will develop a fuller view of the meaning of citizenship,
including rights and responsibilities.
2. Students will identify the kinds of knowledge necessary to be a good
citizen.
3. Students will develop a list of complaints that will become the list
of class priorities re: desired public policy changes.
I began the activity by asking, "What does it mean to be a citizen?"
They answered . . .
To be a Citizen
• You can travel anywhere.
• You can vote.
• You can get a U.S. passport.
• You don't have to worry about NOT being a U.S. citizen.
• You can bring other family members into the country.
• You can run for political office.
• You have the same equal rights as other Americans.
• You have more opportunities for work.
When I asked this question, the only answers I got were related to rights, so I pointed that out and asked, "What are the responsibilities of citizenship?" We brainstormed a list, writing all the ideas on the board.
Responsibilities of Citizenship
• You have to be honest.
• You may have to sign up for possible military service.
• You can't persecute people.
• You can't harass them.
• You can't be prejudiced.
• You should vote.
• You should try to improve the country.
• Make people's rights better.
• Create better jobs with more money.
Seeing the responsibilities, it was clear that background knowledge was necessary, so I asked the class just that question, "What would you need to know to be good citizens?"
Knowledge Needed to be a Good Citizen
• You need to know how to speak English.
• You should know the laws: consumers' rights, workplace (health
& safety), discrimination, etc.
• Knowing U.S. history is important.
• It would be good to know the traditions: celebrations, family members'
responsibilities, food.
• Knowledge about the culture-religions.
• You need to know how the government works-how to make public policy.
• You need to know about different programs: housing, all the kinds
of insurance, the different kinds of health care.
• You need to know your rights.
• You need to know how the economy works: the kinds of industry in
the area, banking (the different loan programs), credit cards.
• It would be good to know about the country's geography.
• It's important to know the social situation in the U.S: how different
kinds of people are living in different parts of the country.
I then explained that one of the ways we were going to learn about citizenship was by trying to interact with government at some level. With that in mind I asked, "What are your biggest complaints about living in the U.S.? VT? Burlington?"
Students' Complaints about Living in Burlington,
VT, USA
• No place for kids to go for fun.
• No free time...all the time working.
• Cost of living is too high.
• Freedom is not true.
• Life is too high stress.
• The system stinks.
• There are too many homeless.
• Streets aren't maintained.
• There is too much drugs, violence, drinking and driving.
• There's not enough mass transit.
• Good schools cost too much.
• It's difficult to control our children.
• There are too many guns.
• There' s not enough housing and what there is, costs too much.
• Too many taxes.
• The electoral college is not fair.
• Same-sex marriages aren't right.
• There are too many divorces.
• There isn't enough downtown parking, and it costs too much.
• Why do we have to pay for garbage pick-up.
• Why is the University treated so specially.
• The police treat people badly. They're rude.
Activity 2: Prioritizing
Objectives:
1. To participate in a meaningful voting exercise.
2. To identify the class priorities.
3. To enumerate which complaints are federal, state, and/or local responsibilities.
In groups of two or three, students will discuss what their number 1 complaint was and why and how each of them would propose fixing the problem.
BALLOT
What things are most important (1) to you, and what
things are least important (5). Those things the students want to know
most about is what we will study and maybe try to change. So:
1 = most important
2 = important
3 = so-so
4 = not too important
5 = not interested at all
Rank Students' Complaints about Living in Burlington, VT, USA
1 There is too much drugs, violence, drinking
and driving. (29)
2 Cost of living is too high. (30)
3 No place for kids to go for fun. (32)
3 Good schools cost too much. (32)
4 There's not enough mass transit. (35)
4 There' s not enough housing and what there is, costs too much.
(35)
5 It's difficult to control our children. (36)
5 There are too many guns. (36)
6 No free time...all the time working. (37)
6 Freedom is not true. (37)
6 Life is too high stress. (37)
6 Too many taxes. (37)
7 The system stinks. (38)
8 Streets aren't maintained. (40)
9 There are too many homeless. (43)
9 The electoral college is not fair. (43)
9 Same-sex marriages aren't right. (43)
10 The police treat people badly. They're rude. (44)
11 There are too many divorces. (47)
11 There isn't enough downtown parking, and it costs too much. (19)
12 Why is the University treated so specially. (54)
13 Why do we have to pay for garbage pick-up. (62)
The teacher will create three columns on the board: federal, state and local. Students then determine, complaint by complaint, which level of government has primary responsibility for handling that type of complaint. This exercise is important for the students to visualize the responsibilities of the different levels of government and how they are interrelated.
Activity 3: Responding to priorities
Objectives:
1. Students will develop a list of the public and private programs that
could address their concerns.
2. (for the teacher) The suggested programs and identified complaints
will guide the types of speakers who will be invited to the class.
What services do they most want to know about? What topics?
Programs
1. Home buying, like VHFA
2. Retirement planning, like 401k's
3. Insurance...all kinds
4. Starting a small business
5. Child care
6. Social Service programs
7. Rental Programs, like Section 8
8. VIP programs...special immigrants getting special treatment
9. WIC...food and health program for pregnant mothers and young children
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England Literacy Resource Center
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Boston, MA
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