PROJECT CITIZEN MODEL FOR IMPROVING OPEN CLASSROOM CLIMATE IN CIVIC EDUCATION BEST PRACTICES

PROJECT CITIZEN MODEL FOR IMPROVING OPEN CLASSROOM CLIMATE IN CIVIC EDUCATION BEST PRACTICES

Muhammad Mona Adha

University of Lampung

adha_1979@yahoo.com

Abstract

Project Citizen flexible enough to be applied in a variety of situations. Students and teachers love to use materials project citizen and it is believed that it will help students learn skills and obtain useful information and developed the concept of thinking students about conditions in the surrounding environment. Students and teachers are convinced that project citizen can develop a greater understanding of public policy and help students to learn how the government works and develop the commitment of students to become active citizens. The primary goal of Project Citizen is to develop in students a commitment to active citizenship and governance by providing the knowledge and skills required for effective citizenship providing practical experience designed to foster a sense of competence and efficacy developing an understanding of the importance of citizen participation. The educational outcomes of Project Citizen are: civic knowledge, civic skill (intellectual and participatory), and civic disposition (democratic values and principles, reasoned commitment).

Key words: Project Citizen, civic competencies, and educational.

INTRODUCTION

The learning components are basically directed to achieve a goal. Through it, all efforts of both teachers and students are directed to achieve the objectives that have been determined. Through learning, then teachers can understand the purpose and direction of the study itself, so that through a clear purpose, not only can determine the steps of learning and the development of other components, but can also be the criteria of effectiveness of the learning process. (Slattery, 1995) explains the education profession has also struggled to remain focused on its primary purpose of learning and instruction for students. Education is very important or urgent to be aware to the rapidly changing structure of society and to reassert. (Brownhill and Smart, 1989: 2) describe that education was an instrument of social control. It taught respect for one's betters and the acceptance of authority, and created a population used to discipline.

Therefore it takes strategy or model of learning which will be used by the teacher in the classroom learning the civic education with the concept of portfolio-based learning through practice of citizenship learning (Project Citizen) which is one of the adaptive model in civic education revitalization (Winataputra;Budimansyah, 2008: 182) that can replace the previous learning often known as conventional learning.

Project Citizen is carried out to develop (1) an instruction based on students' needs; (2) students' ability to work together in a cooperative manner; and (3) civic education related to the social experience. Project Citizen is one example to develop the ideas in the world of education and how our students are learning about cooperation between them in the classroom as opportunities for improving open classroom climate in civic education best practices and also character development.

The Definition and Implementation of Project Citizen Model

Reactive Teaching. To apply the model of portfolio-based learning, the teacher needs to create the right strategy in order for students to have a high learning motivation. That kind of motivation that will be created when the teacher can convince students about the material being studied that will be useful for real life. Then, teachers are also required to be able to create a situation so that the subject matter presented is always interesting and not boring. In addition to know further about knowledge of citizenship, project citizen aims to help the development of a wide range of civic skills that are important to the life of democracy.

Project Citizen is also implemented in more than 50 countries including Indonesia through the Center for Civic Education’s Civitas International program developed by the Center for Civic Education (CCE), in the last 15 years it has been adapted around the world. This model is a generic or general and fundamental that the relevant material can be loaded in each country. As the model selected generic topic about "public policy", which is valid in any country. The Mission of this model is to educate learners in order to be able to analyze the various dimensions of public policy, then with his capacity as a "young citizen" or young citizens tried to give input on the public policy on the environment. The expected results are the qualities of a citizen that is "intelligent, creative, participatory, prospective, and responsible.” Center for Civic Education (2013) explains:

In democracies, a public policy is a concept or set of ideas that guides a course of action or a procedure used in dealing with public issues or problems. Public policies are often embodied in laws, rules, or regulations or agreed upon procedures used by government to fulfill its responsibilities to protect the rights of the people and to promote the general welfare. Public policies serve to distribute certain benefits and burdens of society, manage the allocation of resources, and manage conflicts.

Treating the young as a civic resource. At present we are not capitalizing on the natural interest of young adolescents in political and civic life, nor are we treating them as a civic resource as assets to the community. Early adolescence is a time when the young want and need real world experiences. They want to explore the world in which they live to try on different roles to find out who they are and what they can do. What better way to provide those experiences than through a program like Project Citizen in which the young explore the world in which they actually live their neighborhoods, school, community, state and local governments, and the associations that constitute civil society.

Adolescents get to see for themselves how things work what people say and what they do what is right and what is wrong in how the institutions of government operate. They need to see and reflect on their experiences, because that is how they acquire the knowledge to develop the skills and summon the will to improve the world in which they live. (Anggraeni, 2010) The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) describes from international perspective:

1) Developing citizens of the world in relation to culture, language and learning to live together; 2) Building and reinforcing students' sense of identity and cultural awareness; 3) Fostering students' recognition and development of universal human values; 4) Stimulating curiosity and inquiry in order to foster a spirit of discovery and enjoyment of learning; 5) Equipping students with the skills to learn and acquire knowledge, individually or collaboratively, and to apply these skills and knowledge accordingly across a broad range of areas; 6) Providing international content while responding to local requirements and interest; 7) Encouraging diversity and flexibility in teaching methods; 8) Providing appropriate forms of assessment and international benchmarking.

The IBO framework can develop the education and the process of teaching learning in the classrooms. Start from the environment surrounding student, news, informations, knowledge, life experience, and many aspects can combine into one process during the time to discuss or to analyze the issue. That's why project citizen model is very important to implement especially to encouraged student. Civic participation may attract challenges because it requires changes in how teachers teach, how students learn, and the relationship between the classroom teacher and the community.

Project Citizen not only stimulates students' interest in and understanding of the problems of their own communities, but Project Citizen also teachers them how to go about trying to solve those problems. It demonstrates to them that government of, by, and for the people is not just a slogan. Government of, by, and for the people is obtainable, if citizens acquire the knowledge, use their skills, and have the will to effect change.

Introducing students to public policy-making. A reason for commending Project Citizen is that there is no better way to introduce students to the cycle of public policy-making and to inculcate a disposition to take part in the process. Public policy-making is a dynamic, not a static process. It is a continuous, never-ending process. Project Citizen invites students to learn the public policy process by becoming a part of it. Students "do" public policy-making rather than just read or hear about it. And the doing is the start of what can become a life-long disposition towards engaged and empowered citizenship.

(Civiced, 2013) Branson explains the four reasons why Project Citizen is an important and well-received undertaking are these:

1. Because the program is tailored to the interests and needs of early adolescents. Programs that engage the interests of the young and allow them to develop the skills of citizenship not only are rare, such programs are desperately needed. As educators and even as parents we often fail to capitalize on the abilities, ideas, and energy of the young. We do not treat the young as the assets the human and civic resources that they are or can be.
2. Because our chronic inattention to local and state government has cost us dearly. Our preoccupation with national and even international government makes government seem to be something removed from us and our everyday lives, something about which we need do little. But the problems at home where we live, in our schools, neighborhoods, our villages, towns, and cities, are very real and immediate. As citizens we can bring about changes for the better where we live, if we know how to go about effecting change.
3. Because there is no better way to teach the cycle of public policy-making or to demonstrate to young people how they can and why they should take part in the process.
4. Because research attests to the effectiveness and worth of Project Citizen.

Through student participation in project citizen, they will have an opportunity to develop a range of characters from the citizenship and democratic society such as the meaning of the values of politics, political interest, political tolerance, commitment to democratic citizenship, commitment to civic responsibility, commitment to constitutionalism, and participation as an active student.

Project Citizen Model's Six Steps Toward Effective Teaching and Learning Civic Engagement in the Classroom

The goal of Project Citizen is to “...give students’ knowledge, enhance their skills, and deepen their understanding of how “the people”—all of us—can work together to improve our communities.” (Virginia Standards of Learning, 2013)

Six steps of project citizen model:

Step 1: Identifying Public Policy Problems in Your Community

Step 2: Select a Problem

Step 3: Gather Information

Step 4: Developing A Class Portfolio

Step 5: Presenting Your Portfolio

Step 6: Reflecting on Your Learning Experiences

And project citizen has four panel (group):

Panel 1: The Problem project citizen state

Panel 2: Alternative policies project citizen state

Panel 3: Proposed policy project citizen state

Panel 4: Action plan project citizen state showcase

Best Practices Civic Education Classroom

Our learning during this run with verbalistic and oriented only to the mastery of the content of the subject civic education. As if learning aims to master the content of these subjects. In the reality we should study the interconnectedness of learning material with everyday life, how to solve problems of everyday life, and prior experience of the student. Civic Education is an important component of education that cultivates citizens to participate in the public life of a democracy, to use their rights and to discharge their responsibilities with the necessary knowledge and skills.

Citizenship education aims to embody the citizens understand the rights and obligations as a Indonesia citizen. The goal is the achievement of people's lives with the culture of peace, tolerance, nonviolence, honesty, caring, fairness, legal compliance and upholding the rule of law, who became the face of the efforts of nation and character building. Civic education intended to shape learners into human beings who have a sense of nationality and love the country. As for the socialization of civic education can be arranged through the school, the family, mass media, political institutions, and country. In civic education, students are prepared to think critically, rational and creative as well as responding to the issues of citizenship and is responsible for the activities of society.

Civic education should be an integral part of a globalization and that global community can help prepare students for citizenship. Malcolm Waters in Kalidjernih (2010) Globalization has three dimensions: economics, politics, and cultural. As we know, students are living in this globalization era. Many of social problems they can observe surrounding them. (Bakrie, 2009) Globalization is not monolithic but it takes with it innovation and technological development. As for the basic nature of globalization itself, it is the speed of change. It is this character of globalization that has made a future view become more unpredictable.

The learning components are basically directed to achieve a goal. Through learning and clear objective criteria can be the effectiveness of the learning process. Learning experience, Gagne in Sanjaya (2008: 27) explains that

Why do we speak of instruction rather than teaching?It is because we wish to describe all of the events that may have a direct effect on the learning of a human being, not just those set in motion by individual who is a teacher. Instruction may include events that are generated by a page of print, by a picture, by a television program, or by combination of physical objects, among other things. Of course, a teacher may play an essential role in the arrangement of any of these events.

Based on the opinion above be explained that learning is a process of learning experienced by students. The learning experience of students can also be obtained from a variety of information such as writings, obtained from images that are associated with learning materials, and can also be obtained from broadcast television or an overview of the combined some physical object where the teacher will give the student referrals or rules to guide.

Syvertsen (2007) looks at a range of usual practices that social studies teachers report using and assess whether various practices had a demonstrable impact on targeted civic outcomes for students. The practices which we assess are common practices and activities that are regularly found in standard civic education curricula and classrooms.

The research team created the instructional practice scales based on theory and the common underlying skill or disposition targeted by the activity. To get a score on each measure, the number of activities for which the teacher responded “yes” was summed. The various instructional practice scales fit under three broad categories which seek to enhance. Conceptualization of civic education in terms of three interrelated components. Many educators throughout the world focus their programs upon the development of civic knowledge, civic skills, and civic virtues.

Civic knowledge consists of fundamental ideas and information that learners must know and use to become effective and responsible citizens of a democracy.

1. Civic skills include the intellectual skills needed to understand, explain, compare, and evaluate principles and practices of government and citizenship. They also include participatory skills that enable citizens to monitor and influence public policies.
2. Civic virtues include the traits of character, dispositions, and commitments necessary for the preservation and improvement of democratic governance and citizenship. Examples of civic virtues are respect for the worth and dignity of each person, civility, integrity, self-discipline, tolerance, compassion, and patriotism. Commitments include a dedication to human rights, the common good, equality, and a rule of law.

Civic education can have a substantial impact on youth civic and political engagement, some scholars have focused their attention on understanding how youth who are active and engaged became that way and, in turn, how schools might incorporate that knowledge to provide better quality civic education. Civic learning can provide the kinds of opportunities that allow students to learn and practice a variety of civic skills, learn about how government works, see how others engage civically and politically, and grapple with their own roles as future citizens, then increases in both students’ commitment to and capacity for future participation.

Civic learning opportunities may be important later in life especially when they have to make important decisions about their future and their relationship to the world. Civic role models, learning about problems in society, learning about ways to improve one’s community, having social life experiences, being required to keep up with politics and government, being engaged in open classroom discussions, and studying topics about which the student cares, all promoted commitments to civic participation among students.

Open Classroom Climate

Classrooms are becoming aware of the extent to which schools can contribute to the competencies that young people require to practice active citizenship. Openness of classroom climate is the measure of a discourse-based or interactive education (IEA, 2013). If we want the students can learn more actively, the teacher should bring up the right strategies in motivating students like a message from IEA Civic Education studies since the 1970s. It is time for the policy community to consider what would be needed in teacher training or other reforms to make classrooms where open and respectful discussion is encouraged a reality.

Teachers should facilitate students to get meaningful information, and give the opportunity to students to invent, implement their own ideas. Also the students can be more confident and accepting teachers and others. In open classroom climate students can share their talents, abilities, skills, and interest. In doing so, students and teachers can be a stronger, more complete and happier in teaching learning processed. Involving classroom activities are essential in helping students learn the analytic, policy making, evaluative, and participatory skills young people need to help solve this and other societal problems.

(Classroom Management Success, 2012) There are three particular features are present in all successful classrooms. The first key factor is the quality of the relationships, in other words how much everyone helps and supports each other. The relationship between teacher and students is clearly important but relationships between students is equally important in ensuring a successful classroom climate.

The second key feature is the personal development of students, and how easy we make it for them to grow as learners and fulfil their potential.

The third key factor is the smooth running of the classroom, characterized by an orderly environment where teacher expectations and standards of personal behavior and achievement are high and clearly understood by everyone.

Common strategies that successful teachers use to build a positive classroom climate:

• Create a warm classroom environment. To create a warm supportive classroom climate teachers can: show understanding and openness, be friendly, help students, and be principled.
• Another classroom management strategy that promotes a positive classroom climate is enthusiasm on the part of the teacher. The research shows that teachers who consistently send positive messages about the subject being studied do have an influence on how students respond, by motivating students more than teachers who are less enthusiastic. Students never get inspired by teachers who are not enthusiastic, or who create a negative classroom climate.
• High expectations. Teachers with high expectations of students seem to have these things in common: they pay very close attention to the progress their students are making, teachers need to communicate their faith that students will do the best they can within the limits of their abilities, make sure students get useful feedback on their progress, feedback that is honest but constructive and focused on continuous improvement, take great care about how they ask questions in class - they ask high order questions, emphasize good presentation of student work as much as the content, and, crucially. (Classroom Management Success, 2012).

Based on research by David E. Campbell about open classroom climate, at least there are some components that support the classroom climate. Among other things: students feel free to disagree openly with their teachers about political and social issues during class, Students are encouraged to make up their own minds about issues, Teachers respect our opinions and encourage us to express them during class, Students feel free to express opinions in class even when their opinions are different from most of the other students, Teachers encourage us to discuss political or social issues about which people have different opinions, Teachers present several sides of an issue when explaining it in class. (Campbell, 2008).

In condition class that warmer and open would provide an opportunity to the students to think positively and focus to the importance of the issues discussed and can add to the knowledge of students.

We can further hypothesize that an open classroom climate fosters a disposition toward being critically engaged. Adolescence and early adulthood is a period during which many develop a self-identity, which can include the self-conception of envisioning oneself as an active participant in the classrooms. We should expect the discussion of social life issues in the classroom to facilitate the development of a civic identity which incorporates being a regular participant in class activity.

Every discussion in the classrooms activity describes several dilemmas to use for student prior knowledge, journaling, writing essays, adding data and information, and/or reflection. The issues usually do not have one right answer. Instead, they make teacher think. Sometimes they show a positive character trait “out of balance” with another positive trait that might have a higher principle.

Lewis (2005: 2) When the teacher choose issues or dilemmas to consider to other teachers and especially student, keep these basic guidelines in mind: 1) As much as possible, clarify the facts and issues first; 2) If you are exploring these dilemmas with others, do it in safe, trusting athmosphere where all ideas are accepted; 3) Piggyback on each other's ideas. Share insights, inspirations, and expertise; 4) When you lead a discussion of a dilemma, be sure not to take sides or try to control or influence what other people think and say; 5) It's okay to disagree, but without criticism , name-calling, insults, or offensive language. Those are not allowed; 6) Remember that there often is not only one right answer.

Teachers, as well as other educators and leaders, must play an important role in educating students from diverse groups to become effective citizens in a democratic society. To become thoughtful and active citizens, students must experience democracy in classrooms and in schools. Action speaks much more cogently than words. Consequently, how teachers respond to marginalized students in classroom will to a great extent determine wheter they will experience democracy or oppression in classrooms and schools. Banks (1997: 99).

John Holtz in Silberman (2002: 5) states that learning is getting better if students are required to do the following things:

1. explaining information with their own language
2. Give examples
3. knew the conditions
4. Look at the relationship between one fact or idea with another
5. implemented in various ways
6. anticipate how consequently
7. Reveals the opposite or reverse

A Good Character for Student

Lickona attention to values and character development has become a study in recent years. Lickona focuses on how to apply the values of the character of a very simple thing that will ultimately deliver a huge impact in the future for any individual who is able to implement the values of character itself properly. As an example-a simple example being propounded by the impact and Lickona gave a very deep understanding of implementation of character values, “We don't want them to lie, cheat on tests, take what's not theirs, call names, hit each other, or be cruel to animals; we do want them to tell the truth, play fair, be polite, respect their parents and teachers, do their schoolwork, ad be kind to others.” (1991: 47).

That can be described, with emphasis on the value of honesty, of course, students are required to not cheating when working on assignments or exams, don't take things that aren't right, calling with a good call, dear friends, and treat animals properly. Thus, it is clear that we want our learners to be honest (no lie), fairness, courtesy, respect for parents and teachers, working on school assignments given by the teacher, and be nice to everyone.

Characters according to Lickona is divided into several sections that are contained in it. As expressed by Lickona below:

Character so conceived has three interrelated parts: moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral behavior. Good character consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the good, habits of the mind, habits of the heart, and habits of action. All three are necessary for leading a moral life, all three make up moral maturity. When we think about the kind of character we want for our children, it's clear that we want them to be able to judge what is right, care deeply about what is right, and then do what they believe to be right, even in the face of pressure from without and temptation from within. (1991: 51)

Based on the opinion of Lickona above can be explained that the character is made up of three other correlation between knowing moral, moral feeling, and moral behavior. The character itself consists of, among other things: know the things that are good, have a desire to do good, and carry out good last based on the thoughts and feelings, whether it is good thing to do or not, then done. All three of these can give you direction or moral good life experience, and give you maturity in being.

Implementation of character values like wisdom in choosing which ones are good where the bad, justice, fortitude, self control, love, gave rise to a positive attitude, hard work, has a strong self integrity, be thankful for what we have today (gratitude), and have a sense of humanity (humility) deserves to be developed and implemented in our daily life activities. Thus good character can continue to flourish and realized what the purpose of the future, as well as being able to generate a positive activities. The development of the value of a character early on in order to do the absolute values are displayed when they grow up will be

better and understand all the differences that exist.

To define what good citizenship is and what the outcomes of civic education should be. The definitions of these things acknowledged the possibility for greater empowerment of young citizens but framed the notion of citizenship itself in terms of references to the Greeks and to a classic text on the subject from 1950. There was little notion that citizenship may have changed in the interim or how new educational approaches might adapt to changing social identities or newly emerging learning preferences among recent generations of young citizens.

CONCLUSION

There are important reasons to broaden our framework for thinking about project citizen model:

• Student can understand about the implementation of project citizen model. The social factor in school is the greatest factor of all; it stands higher than subjects of learning, than methods of teaching, or than the teacher. That which children learn from each other in play and works is the highest that is ever learned…This mingling, fusing, and blending give personal power, and make the public school a tremendous force for the upbuilding of democracy. (Patrick)
• Project Citizen is taking part in the program to develop student to be aware about problem surrounding them. The “content” of Project Citizen is much gained from the experiences in fulfilling the class needs. This content reflect upon student experiences. By doing so, the responsibilities of citizens in a democracy can improve, learn about democratic principles, learning something about the importance of civil society, and learning some of the roles and responsibilities of governmental agencies at local or state.
• Providing the knowledge and skills required for effective participation providing practical experience designed to foster a sense of competence and efficacy, and developing and understanding of the importance of citizen participation. The quality and efficacy of civic education in emerging character should be improved in light of the specific contexts where programs are being developed and implemented.
• Project Citizen affords young people an opportunity to learn about their rights and their responsibilities by exploring the political and civic world in which they actually live their neighborhood, school, community, state, and the associations that make up civil society. They are able to see for themselves how issues are put on the public agenda, how public policies are debated, formulated, implemented, and evaluated. They are engaged in research, deliberation, and advocacy. They learn how to work with their fellow citizens and they come to understand that in a democracy solving problems means that citizens must be willing to compromise.
• Teachers should be able to apply the project citizen in the classroom by making use of the existing resources in the school to its full potential. Associated with it, teachers more creative, innovative and able to motivate students interest in applying the project citizen. In this case the government should make collaboration with teachers to develop more serious project citizen, in order to for a good student character.

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