Strategic Initiatives

Civic Learning and Civic Action

This initiative aims to strengthen work about how and why individuals and groups become committed to civic action. We begin with the assumption that civic action matters for citizenship, that there are concerns about current trends in interest and opportunities for participation in civic activities, that education for citizenship is an important charge of public schools and higher education, and that we have limited research addressing how to foster civic behavior. While these concerns are not new, their importance remains high. Our particular interest in this area involves the cultivation of work that will lead to education-relevant policies and practices through theory development and advancements in knowledge. We call this set of activities the Initiative on Civic Learning and Civic Action to highlight our deep interest in learning and action and the relationships between them.

Through the Civic Learning and Civic Action initiative, Spencer intends to support research studies that examine the commitments, conditions, and contexts that stimulate and sustain civic action, as well as those that constrain or discourage it. Three sets of influences frame our perspectives for examining the connections between action and learning: influences of civic motivations and other psychological processes; influences of learning experiences and environments; and influences of social, political, cultural, historical, and other contextual influences on individual and group action. We anticipate that investment in this initiative will extend over a substantial period of time, with other activities intended to advance this work to be announced in the near future. Read more.

Application Guidleines for the Initiative on Civic Learning and Civic Action. Click here.