Chapter 7: Learning and Youth Civic Engagement

SUMMARY

Young people say that participation in civic youth work provides a rich experience. From the official perspective, learning is the focus, and most programs call themselves a form of experiential education. Young people do learn something from these initiatives but not always in ways experiential education theory suggests. Data from a study of the Youth Science Center, Public Achievement, and Youth-in-Government provide a more complete picture of the educational impact.

KEYWORDS:

• Experiential education
• situated learning
• mediated experience
• simulation
• democratic education
• civic education
• youth civic engagement
• democratic practice
• youth work