Discussing the notion of public engagement and different ways in which local groups can contribute to changing their environment in political, social or any other level with concrete ideas and actions.
Lesson plan
Public Engagement
| Author / creator | Curator | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Zoran Kojčić | Zoran Kojčić | 03/2019 |
Downloads
Aims and objectives
Content
Familiarize participants with many different ways in which people stay active - regarding their physical strenght and health, spiritual or religious activity, friendships, love life, etc., but also what it means to be politically active and active for the community (volunteering, etc).
Define Public Engagement together.
Distinguish between private needs of individuals, and public needs of the community. Define public resources. Engage participants in thinking about what are the public needs in general, then in their own country, then in their own local area. How could they engage into action in order to improve public life in local area?
Divide participants into groups of 3-4. Provide them with blank papers which will be used for making posters. Also provide them with markers, etc. They need to define what is the biggest local problem, or the problem which bothers them the most. Remind them how residents of Obermutten took action and promoted their own town. Invite the participants to make one poster campaign which deals with local problem and possibly solves it. This poster could be a call to action, marketing campaign, design for a civic action, or in any way present help for local community to deal with an important issues.
After the groups have finished the task, ask them to present their results to each other and encourage them to ask questions about their work.
Learning activities
Video analysis, discussion, defining, questioning, content creation, poster making, group work, collaboration, civic action design, problem solving, critical thinking
Materials and resources
Online video
Blank poster paper
Markers, pens, etc.
Location
This workshop was done as part of Ethics curriculum in high schools in Croatia. The workshop was done in high schools in Vukovar and Dalj with students age 14 - 18.
Time
This workshop can be done in a 45 minutes long class, as they are in Croatia. However, depending on teacher as facilitator, it could be prolonged to 90 minutes, given that many new materials or questions could be presented. The time will always depend on the facilitator and their own judgement which parts of the workshop are most important and the dinamic of the group.
Teacher role
Facilitation, motivation and questioning in Socratic style
Grouping / classroom
Individual and group work, small/large groups