Webinar | Creating a Civic Learning Environment

October 20, 2022

Promising Practices Webinar:

Creating a Civic Learning Environment

Join us to learn how educators are designing schools and classrooms to be places that value civic learning and democracy.

Tuesday, October 25th at 5 pm ET (4 pm CT, 3 pm MT, 2 pm PT)

Webinar Description

Teachers do not need to shy away from teaching their students the challenges and virtues of democratic self-governance. Democracy can inform how their classrooms operate and how they choose to teach. It is more than a curriculum. It is part and parcel of the learning environment.

In this webinar, we will hear from a group of elementary teachers who are committed to teaching the skills of deliberative democracy to their young students. Speakers will discuss the five important skills and dispositions necessary for creating a learning environment oriented for deliberative citizenship, and how they are incorporating these concepts into their classrooms.

To better participate in a guided discussion, attendees are encouraged to read speaker Stacie Molnar-Main‘s article, Concerned About Civic Learning? Consider the Learning Environment, in advance of the webinar.

Speakers

Dr. Stacie Molnar-Main, Research Associate, Kettering Foundation

Donnan Stoicovy, Retired Teacher and Elementary School Principal

Jennifer Cody, Teacher, Fifth Grade

Let us know what you are doing

Do you have news or events related to the deliberative public forums work you do? We'd love to be able to share what you're doing. Please send information to Patty Dineen.

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Support public deliberation

Would you like to make a difference in how people talk about public issues in our society? There are three ways to support our work: donate to the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), the Taylor L. Willingham Legacy Fund, or the Elizabeth "Libby" Kingseed Teaching With Deliberation Memorial Award. Click below to learn more and to donate.

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About Deliberation in National Issues Forums

National Issues Forums issue guides are designed to stimulate public deliberation, which is a way of making decisions together that is different from discussion or debate. The purpose of deliberative forums is to inform collective action. As citizens, we have to make decisions together before we can act together, whether with other citizens or through legislative bodies. Acting together is essential for addressing problems that can't be solved by one group of people or one institution. These problems have more than one cause and therefore have to be met by a number of mutually reinforcing initiatives with broad public participation.

About the National Issues Forums Institute

The National Issues Forums Institute's mission is to promote the use of public deliberation in schools, colleges, civic organizations, and religious institutions in the United States. The institute's board members are volunteers drawn from leaders in government, colleges and universities, libraries, civic organizations, the media, and medicine. For more information visit www.nifi.org.