Civic Engagement Vs Volunteering

The focal point of current educational trend in the United States is on preparing the leaders of tomorrow (National Task Force, 2012). Student success has been expanded to include civic responsibility which is a dimension of the college experience largely ignored until recently (Upcraft, Gardner, & Barefoot, 2005). The Department of Education has taken this charge and developed the National Task Force for Democratic and Civic Engagement. This initiative places developing civic responsibility as a national priority based on the tendency of young people who are often too caught up in ‘narrow collegiate worlds’ of their own existence to understand the larger role of being a contributing member of society (Upcraft, Barefoot & Gardner, 2005). Thus, engagement as a participating citizen living in community is frequently beyond the scope of young student leaders in college. Due to this, the government has renewed its interest in creating civic-minded young people prepared to advocate for change. This has led the charge for a civic engagement initiative nationwide.

It is also a “boundary spanning” activity in that it requires active involvement from people both within and outside of the classroom context, often resulting in participant contributors who represent a variety of generations, ethnicities, social groups, and experience levels (Billig and Furco, 2002, p.vii). Service-learning is designed to reduce the boundaries between an institutional campus environment and the community around it. It is designed to connect learning to real experience through service and reflection (Ball and Schilling, 2006; Becker, 2000). As a baseline to facilitate this development, service-learning is distinct from other types of community service and civic engagement experiences in that the service-learning experience must not only have a service and reflective component but also be clearly tied to the curriculum through learning objectives and theoretical underpinnings (Bloomquist, 2015; Pritchard, 2001). As Barbara Holland, former Director of the U.S. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, shared, “Service-learning is all in the hyphen. It is the enrichment of specific learning goals through structured community service opportunities that respond to community-identified needs and opportunities.” (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Taylor, and Petri, 2006: 121).

volunteering is a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task. In this report i will talk about the different types of volunteering in the:

When I began my Civics class, thinking it potentially difficult and boring, I did not initially look forward to this project. However, as I did each activity, I found myself enjoying each and every one. From sitting in a board meeting to collecting trash, I discovered something new in all of the ways I volunteered. Not only did the people I volunteered for gain something through my service, but I feel that I gained a lot as well.

For the assignment civic engagement, I volunteer in four projects Temple, Bernie Sanders, Elementary School, and VTA transport to complete my 16 hours community service. However being a part of these amazing projects, I learn and experience a lot of things that how to interact, encourage, and help other peoples.

Civic Engagement is a necessary focus that many young adults overlook. It is about learning and knowing how to fight for one’s belief or a noble cause, and trying to bring about change to a social or political condition (Parisella, 2013). The Washington Center’s Civic Engagement Framework required some components such as attending two modules that addressed issues of public concern and strategies for citizen participation, a public policy dialogue, and direct service. The first two served as an educational purpose to teach students how to get involved and finally the direct service allowed the opportunity for students to take action and volunteer. Therefore, I wanted my civic engagement to relate to the hazardous things that humans are exposed

NAMI is an organization that is built on volunteerism. Volunteers within NAMI are utilized in a host of different capacities such as answering phone calls on the organization's help-line, volunteers instruct training and give classes, volunteers are used in national campaigns such as emailing and calling legislators, volunteers are used to post and review many of the current social media platforms to further spread NAMI's message. As we continue to be a fast paced society there is much data that indicates a reduction in individual volunteerism, volunteering with NAMI gives many without a voice an opportunity to not only be heard but to support an organization dedicated to improving the health, condition, and standards for those suffering from mental illness which in turn benefits the community at large.

I would like to nominate Dr. Johnson for the Civic Engagement Award based on her inspiring vision of service in Women’s and Gender Studies. Most recently, she organized the 7th biennial Bodies of Knowledge Symposium on the topic of queer kinship and queer community building. Her work in LGBT programming on campus is important for students and community members who identify as LGBT and for others who want to know more about it, especially in South Carolina where this identity can be controversial. She is also teaching a Girls Studies course this semester that includes service learning so that students can learn about the subject in class and apply what they’ve learned by working with young teenage girls in Spartanburg. This past fall, she organized

The organization that I have volunteered for is YMCA. Volunteering at the YMCA taught me how and why civic engagement is so important. Civic engagement is when citizens participate in helping their community to be better and make improvements for the entire community. It gives the chance to show the how we operate when we incorporate our differences and work together toward the community’s common goal. Making our communities more powerfully built through civic engagement increases how many active participations in the community we have. We have to teach future generations about how important civic engagement is. As a community we need to inform them of the benefits of participating in more civic engagement. There are so many ways that citizens

Community life and civic engagement are a huge responsibility of citizens, although it is not required by citizens, it is an important aspect of a proper citizen. Residents of a community have the constant responsibility of making the society around them reflect an advance in the eminence of lives in the community. The simple duty of any citizen is to give to the common good. Civic responsibilities are achieved by volunteering and choice. Volunteering, involving in positive organizations and aids, or tutoring people in certain subjects, are all ways that people can subsidize to the good of the community. Small deeds that seem to prosper someone in some way or the other is still a way of helping. To learn something from the assistance that one does to another, the deed does not have to be big, as long as the person providing the assistance is doing it with a good heart they can always acknowledge a lesson. Compassion and love is necessary in helping others. When people have the opportunity to help others they may not always get a gift in return, sometimes they may not even get a reply back. This is when the person has to realize that the purpose of helping someone is not for the thank you or the gift, but is for the satisfaction of their soul, betterment of the other, and the ability to learn a lesson. Assisting people needs to be done in a thoughtful and effective way for it to create a lasting impact on his/her self and on society itself.

Civic Engagement is an important part to changing and helping societies around us. First I must say that civic engagement is not just important to a Social Worker at a BSW level. It can be implemented at any age and vital to our communities. Civic engagement has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, however I have been heavily involved in civic engagement since 2009. In 2014 I was awarded the volunteer service award from President Obama for completing over 8,000 hours of service.

Going back to the term civic engagement; it means “working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities

“Volunteers are not paid; not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.” - Sherry Anderson (Volunteering Quotes: Finest Quotes).

If we don’t participate in such activities, then we don’t get a chance to know people. Civic engagement is all about to improve our society, but if we don’t care about this things, then how can we improve our society? As a citizen, it is our responsibility to improve our society. Engaging in such activities also can help us to get an idea of what people want?

There are many Registered Student Organization’s (RSO’s) at SVSU that focus on civic engagement and service giving. However, Alternative Breaks (AB) is an organization that goes above and beyond in not only surrounding communities, but communities in other states. This organization is made up of a group of people who try and volunteer time, help come up with solutions, and perform solutions for communities that are in need of help. One of the reasons I choose Alternative Breaks as the organization that I wanted to focus on was because they have bigger goals. Not only are they trying to do the best for their own community, but they are spending a lot of time and effort in communities much further than their own. The other reason that I choose this organization was because I admired their sacrifice in using their time off to give to someone else. For these reasons, I am going to discuss the history and purpose of the organization, characteristics of members, the projects they work on, how these members contribute to the public sphere, as well as, the opportunities and challenges that Alternative Break members face.