Segnatelli
The Leadership Institute Model
1
President George Bush emphasized the importance of increasing the civic engagement
of America’s youth during the 2002 commemoration of the anniversary of the signing of the
Constitution. Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Leslie Lenkowsky accepted
the challenge in his speech during the Rose Garden Ceremony, "As the federal agency that
administers national and community service programs, the Corporation has always had a special
responsibility to increase civic responsibility among all Americans. In the wake of September
11, there is no better time to focus on what it means to be an American citizen and what all of
us ought to know about our history and government" (Corporation for National and Community
Service News Sept. 17, 2002). This led to renewed interest in defining how schools actively
prepare students for civic participation. The question remains whether young people are able
to connect the volunteer work they perform in the community, the service learning projects
required by their schools, and the democracy lessons they endure in their state mandated
American Government courses.
Educators and political scientists have long argued for the value of experiential
education, activities that help put a real life perspective on classroom learning. David A. Kolb
outlined an experiential learning model including four elements: concrete experience,
observation and reflection, the formation of abstract concepts, and testing in new situations.
Kolb wrote that the learning process often begins with a person carrying out an action and
seeing the effects of the action; the second step is to understand the effects of the action. The
third step is to understand the action, and the last step is to modify the action given a new
situation (Kolb 1984).
Modern “service learning” evolved gradually. The pedagogical notion of integrating
service into the curriculum was developed in response to a perceived need for “cultivating an
active participatory citizenship” (Wade and Saxe 1996). The National Council for the Social
Studies issued a position statement that promotes service learning as an essential component
of social studies education. “Service learning greatly enhances the potential for social studies
teachers to fulfill their mission of educating informed and active citizens who are committed to
improving society through a democratic process” (NCSS 1994).
Convention