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International Civic Engagement Project
Welcome to the International Civic Engagement Project! We are a
multinational, multicultural, multi-confessional partnership of
individuals and institutions dedicated to improving the practice of
active citizenship in the US and around the world through education and
the reform of educational institutions, curricula and teaching
practices.
When we teach democratic citizenship, we do so
with a special understanding of democracy and citizenship. We believe
deeply in the dream of democracy, but also understand that the
democratic dream is a challenge. Democracy is not a given, it is remade
daily by the fact—and the quality—of citizen participation. We thus do
not have an ideological definition of citizenship, but rather
understand citizenship as a practice: citizens are those actively
engaged in the life of their community. We believe that citizenship has
to be taught and learned—citizens need a concrete understanding of
their community, the communication and teamwork skills to work together
to find mutually acceptable solutions, and the learned values of
respect for others and personal responsibility for their community.
Given this locally rooted learning process, partners can set aside
notions that democracy is an American cultural phenomenon irrelevant to
their national experience.
Our programs and resources have
all been developed through international collaborations. We hope that
you find them useful examples no matter where you come from. Please
feel free to use anything you find on our site and to contact us if you have questions or would like to partner with us.
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