Community Activism as Curriculum: How to Meet Gifted Students’ Needs While Creating Change

The Intersection of Giftedness and Activism

It is well documented that the use of activism as learning experience produces beneficial results for activist students and also the recipient communities in which change is made (Renzulli, 2002; Terry, 2003; Terry, 2008; Terry, Bohnenberger, Renzulli, Cramond, & Sisk, 2008). Ideally, children are an investment in which parents, teachers, family, friends, and community members can contribute thereby ensuring a learning environment that offers not only safety but also fosters discovery and exploration (National Association for Gifted Children [NAGC], 2013, 2014). Unfortunately, the education system of today all too often inadvertently encourages passivity in students rather than requiring them to be engaged learners working toward something greater than efforts toward their own benefit. Daniels and Ahmed (2015) suggest that today’s schools allow for students to be passive bystanders to their own learning, wasting critical-thinking skills, and unable to take action toward solving problems of significance. Students must feel empowered to take risks in the classroom. They must find their individual voices within the classroom and greater school setting, and hopefully, educators work to create an ideal microsociety in their classrooms and schools, in which their students understand that they are valued and empowered and have influence (Levinson, 2012). When students lack such experiences in their school years for creating lasting change in their communities or coming to understand their own influence in society, they are less likely to be sensitive to social injustices and other significant problems found in society (Stewart, Webster, & Bai, 2013). Efforts to squelch the passivity and instead nurture a generation of “upstanders” will contribute to deeper learning for students and greater benefit for society (Daniels & Ahmed, 2015).

As a society, we should be concerned that gifted and talented children grow up to elect to use their gifts and talents for the betterment of the world in which they live. At present,though, no one can explain why some very bright individuals choose to work for the greater good of society and others dedicate their life’s work to their own benefit (Renzulli, 2002; Terry et al., 2008). The acquisition of social capital is an important step in changing the world, and such cooperation for the greater good can be introduced to children from a young age.

The implementation of community activism as curriculum holds the potential to address gifted students’ academic and affective needs as it provides students with the opportunity to think critically as they solve complex problems but also to learn about their communities, interact and engage with diverse populations, exercise empathy, and develop intense care for others. These opportunities for growth likely have some effect on students’ self-concepts—an individual’s cognitive view of herself, as constructed by internal and external comparisons (Gore & Cross, 2014; Huitt, 2011; McCoach & Siegle, 2003). The literature generally views self-concept as a construct in which specific domains culminate into an overarching global concept of self (Cross, O’Reilly, Mihyeon, Mammadov, & Cross, 2015; Rinn, Mendaglio, Rudasill, & McQueen, 2010; Rudasill & Callahan, 2008; Vogl & Preckel, 2013). Although gifted students’ self-concepts tend be stronger and less variable than those of the general population (McCoach & Siegle, 2003; Rudasill, Capper, Foust, Callahan, & Albaugh, 2009), they do experience a decrease in adolescence (Bain & Bell, 2004). To combat this decrease and encourage the acquisition of social capital (Renzulli, 2002), it is important that our gifted populations have opportunities to increase self-concept, use their gifts and talents for the greater good, and exercise their co-cognitive components of giftedness (Renzulli, 2002).

Community Activism as Gifted Education Curriculum

To address more effectively the unique needs of my particular students, I designed and implemented a community activism curriculum that provided my gifted education middle school students with authentic, empowering learning experiences that led to new expectations of learning. Through problem-solving that exposes children to a real, dimensional world outside of school, one that is flawed and challenging, students are presented with authentic learning experiences that not only exercise their critical-thinking ability but also challenge them to create positive change that impacts others. Using a tailored creative problem-solving process, students are given guidance in tackling important problems from beginning to end that require them to navigate difficult situations independently.

Creative problem solving (CPS) is widely used as a method for solving problems in the real world, so it naturally lends itself to valuable learning experiences for adolescents as well. A CPS model was modified to fit the needs of a specific gifted education program and its students as they sought to solve community problems in grade-level teams. Implementing the action is often the final step in many CPS models; however, in an education setting, this is not always current practice. Beyond implementing action, this curriculum required my students to reflect, evaluate, and adjust their action plans based on what they saw as their successes and failures, and then students were expected to share their work with others during a family presentation night hosted in conjunction with the school’s English for Speakers of Other Languages Program.

Each grade-level activism team identified a community issue important to them and then developed essential questions to guide their work. The student-created essential questions were established:

Once grade-level teams had established the questions that would guide their action, students followed these steps in problem-solving:

Students worked toward understanding their chosen community problems, reached out to community organizations for information and support, worked together to identify and develop an action plan that they felt would make a difference and that had not been previously attempted, and implemented the action plan with the help of community partnerships. Throughout this process, students were expected to submit weekly journal entries detailing their progress, feelings, concerns, and collaboration. They had many opportunities to communicate with their peers in class, as well as outside of class, both in-person and through the use of an online classroom forum. The online classroom provided opportunities for group chats, one-on-one messaging, e-mail service, class polls, calendar reminders, and one-way journal entries shared with the facilitator. This constant expectation of self-reflection and project evaluation increased productivity and quality of work, and the expectation that students would adjust their approach when they were not seeing success made for a more fruitful experience.

At the conclusion of the semester, students hosted their parents and families for a presentation night that provided the opportunity for students to share their work with an audience, communicate their problem-solving, and make others aware of community problems. The curriculum provided for small-group and one-on-one interviews, conducted throughout the project implementation, which revealed insights into students’ growth and evolving understandings of themselves and the world around them.

Curriculum Implementation

Most of my middle school students came into my programming with little prior knowledge of activism or misconceptions regarding activism. Students tended to think of activism as synonymous with volunteer work or they had little idea of what the word meant. An important first step was identifying their prior knowledge or lack thereof and then to ensure that all students had the same understanding of what activism is and how they might become activists themselves, even as children. Any educator working to provide a community activism experience to their students must begin with a foundation of activism, its significance, and a vision for children’s ability to be activists in their own communities. Providing access to models of impactful activism and showcasing the work of young activists can be a powerful early message in the learning experience. Ensuring the students see their activist work as possible is necessary—and sometimes a battle. Guest presenters, such as local nonprofit organizers, initiated some of the discussion of activism and challenged students to think beyond volunteerism. Their expertise legitimized the notion of activism and made the task of considering activism more serious for my students. These very active, prominent community members challenged my students to think beyond themselves and their very specific interests to identify issues in their communities that could use their help. I am a firm believer in using other expert resources to challenge my students, to provide a fresh face and a fresh perspective, and to bring some of the outside into our school and our programming. Any contact that can be made, prior to instruction, with stakeholders in the community is significant, as they can be powerful allies in providing transformative learning opportunities for students. In addition, many community members are more than willing to give of their time and expertise, especially when it is for the benefit of the community’s youth.

A general familiarity with CPS is also necessary for students as they initiate activism projects. Although it was difficult for students to conceptualize each step of our CPS process, it was helpful that they knew we were going to take things one step at a time. Their familiarity hinged on my constant reference to the process, descriptions of next steps as we discussed vision for the project, and displays of our process placed prominently in our physical classroom and on our online classroom so that we had easy access (see Figure 1). Following our CPS process kept students moving forward and ensured that they thoroughly considered their ideas before implementation. Students’ utilization of the process provided an organization to their projects that was easy to manage and a helpful guide.

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Figure 1.

Students followed a modified creative problem-solving process that fits their needs and kept them moving forward toward creating lasting change in their community. This checklist was displayed prominently in the physical classroom and also in the online classroom so that students were constantly reminded of their progress.

CPS in Activism

Identify the problem

In this first step, students should work to identify the problem that they feel they should tackle through the rest of the process. Once they have identified the problem, they also write their essential question as a team, the question that will guide all their work from that point forward. The essential question should be simple but communicate the students’ ownership regarding what they can accomplish. An example might be, “How can we reduce the amount of plastics being used in local school cafeterias?”

Research the problem

Before jumping to solutions—which students find really tough not to do—students should research the problem that they have together identified. Students consider—What causes this problem? What are contributing factors? Are other groups already working to solve this problem? What solutions have been attempted successfully and unsuccessfully in the past? What resources might be needed to further understand this problem? Students should consider how the results of this research inform their next steps. Students must understand that if another group or organization attempted a specific solution, and it was unsuccessful, they will likely need to take a different approach to be successful themselves.

Formulate challenges

The formulating challenges step asks students anticipate obstacles and to think about what they have learned from their research and to then formulate creative challenges out of the issues that exist behind their identified problem. This makes the identified issue less of a problem and more of a challenge to tackle. This step often feels encouraging to students and challenges them to look at the community issue in a variety of ways and from a variety of perspectives while being prepared for obstacles that are likely to arise.

Generate ideas

Idea generation is brainstorming the way we tend to think of brainstorming. There are no rules when it comes to brainstorming and what a good idea is, and it is imperative that students understand this and are open to one another. It is a tough thing for some students to not immediately determine whether or not an idea is a good one.

Combine and evaluate ideas

In this phase, the students go back through their brainstorming to determine whether or not an idea seems plausible and valid. They ask themselves: Will this possible solution really solve the problem? Is this something we could actually implement? How will we know if this worked? When students have trouble determining the pros and cons of competing ideas, they can establish an evaluation chart (see Figure 2).

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Figure 2.

Creating a table like this one assisted students in evaluating their ideas and making objective selections for moving forward in the problem-solving process.

Draw up an action plan

Drawing up the action plan is often where students’ minds go as soon as a problem is identified. Unfortunately for them, though, until they have done all the previous steps, drawing up an action plan is often futile. Once students have evaluated research, really combed through solution ideas, and decided on a plan that might actually work, they are ready to start solving. The action plan should be specific, include miniature deadlines along the way for time management purposes, and establish criteria for evaluating its success.

Implement the action plan

Implementing the action plan is the most fun part for the students. This is where students are most hands-on, increase investment in the project, and feel pride in their efforts. It is also where students start to see their success and their impact, which is very empowering.

Reflect, evaluate, and adjust

In my mind, problem-solving should never end with action plan implementation. What about all the ways that the action plan could be improved? What have we learned from the first experience? That is why my students were asked to constantly evaluate their work, their team’s progress, and the ways in which they had been successful or not. Students kept online journals about their ideas, feelings, thoughts, and understandings of their progress throughout the process. At different points during the action plan, including at the conclusion of the project, students should be asked to verbally and in written form reflect on their experience, evaluate their effectiveness, and either implement or plan for future action.

Share results and experience with others

A tremendous part of the learning experience for my students should be their ability to communicate and share their learning with others. This leads to accountability, the spread of activism and student empowerment, and further pride in their work. In addition, their efforts to share with others educated their audience about community issues and created a new awareness in the community.

One Story of an Empowered Activism Team

Students were introduced to the concept of activism by a guest speaker, the director of a local organization whose purpose is to provide resources of all kinds to those in need within the community. She engaged students in an activity that asked them to consider problems they have noticed in their school, their neighborhoods, and their city. In groups, organized by grade level, kids collaborated to brainstorm as many issues as they could identify. Issues ranged from pet homelessness to child safety to social opportunities for the elderly. Students were tasked with continuing to consider their communities and the problems they notice over the weekend so that we could continue to discuss their thoughts at the start of the following week.

For the Educator: Planning for Facilitation

The role of the teacher in the implementation of community activism projects should be as facilitator, organizer, and general guide. Students must select the issues or their buy-in will be weak. Students must think of solutions or their buy-in will be weak. The action must be taken by the students or their buy-in will be weak. There is little room for teacher-centered activities or traditional, direct instruction because those approaches detract from the entire purpose of authentic learning experiences. Rather than being the traditional teacher, the educator must take on responsibilities in planning and organizing so that the students are presented with authenticity in their learning. The teacher must work to bring the real world to the students’ learning and the students to the real world.

The educator should take several steps in planning for community activism projects. First, a great deal of time should be spent on such projects because applying timelines to solving such large problems as community issues is counterproductive. In fact, my students who experienced the least success in these projects are those whose time on their projects ran out because of school’s dismissal for summer break. Tight deadlines and time constraints do not always provide helpful structure when they are applied to young student activists learning how to contribute to lasting change for the first time. The educator should ensure that there is plenty of time to dedicate to the activism projects and that the time allotted can be flexible and used for a variety of purposes.

In addition to evaluating time, the educator should evaluate her resources. Who in the community could be called upon to share their expertise? What kinds of community partnerships could be formed throughout the course of the projects? Technological resources should be considered, as well. In my particular case, I had students on one team working during different class periods, so efficient and effective communication became a concern. Evaluating and building an online classroom for the purpose of the team activism projects can be very beneficial to the team’s efforts and the success of their projects. My students used a site that allowed for class chats, e-mail, message boards, a team calendar, checklists, polls, and journal entries. This platform allowed us to communicate across class periods at all times of day, and I was able to assess their progress and provide feedback as they made their way through the CPS process and toward implementing their action plan and reflection.

Organizing these projects will require some delegation of roles. Although it is important that students continue ownership in this aspect of their projects, also, the process for determining who does what can be planned ahead of time by the facilitator. Although I could not entirely anticipate the various tasks that would be involved in any one project—because I could not anticipate every community issue my students might select for problem-solving—I did feel that I could anticipate types of responsibilities that would need to be tackled no matter the chosen problem. I knew each team would need some sort of project manager to lead the team and ensure that progress was being made. I knew each team would need someone to effectively tackle research, someone to communicate with outside entities, and someone to deal with budgeting and finances. With these overarching roles in place, each team could decide more specific roles and how many people might be needed in different areas of expertise. I had designed job applications that required students to consider their strengths and interests, as well as list references and sell their abilities, prior to determining who would take on which roles. Students applied for two jobs they were interested in, and I hired them. From that point on, everyone had a very specific job to do for their team’s efforts, and this helped them to function more effectively and more efficiently.

Planned daily check-ins with each team helped me, as facilitator, to understand where my students were at with their projects and how I could help guide them if they needed assistance. Checking in on their progress via our online classroom allowed me to provide timely, helpful feedback and also further understand my students’ thought processes as they tackled messy problems in new ways. Completing interviews with individuals and small groups of students was also an invaluable way of further understanding my students’ experiences and helping them to process their learning, and these should be planned for and prioritized whenever possible. Both the facilitator and the students feel the benefits of a facilitator’s planning and organization, as students can focus on their problem-solving and the teacher can focus on the students’ needs.

Student Reflections of Activism

Throughout the implementation of the activism projects and at the conclusion of the projects, the students were interviewed about their experiences and their feelings about what they accomplished. For the students who experienced the most success, judged by whether or not they felt they had actually helped people and worked toward a solution to their targeted issue, they shared very positive reflections that suggested gained confidence and growth. Repeatedly, the importance of authentic learning experiences and the ownership they had over their own learning was reported as impactful. One eighth-grade student said, “You let us do things that we thought were a good idea. You let us be in charge.” The empowerment gained by making decisions regarding their own learning and the ways in which they could be active citizens of their communities made an impression. “We did it! We’re a group of eighth-graders, and we did it,” one student responded.

Although students may not have explicitly defined authentic learning experiences as having real-world implications, they did understand the value in learning real-world skills. An interview with an eighth grader revealed that the students’ event, which provided free professional financial advice, did not just teach skills in event planning but instead “it’s learning how to do things in life.” In the job application and hiring processes, students took on a variety of roles and some were given true leadership positions for the first time in their lives. One female student, an eighth grader on the financial guidance team, explained,

I trusted [my teacher] because [she] had put me in that position, so I was like, well, [she] thinks I can do this, so I need to step up to the plate and do this well and be okay with [my role].

The student’s insecurities regarding her leadership abilities in the beginning were ultimately driven out by her team’s successes and new confidence in what she could accomplish as a leader.

Activism is not just for gifted students, and the responsibility of social justice and civic engagement does not fall upon only the brightest adults. All students, just as all adults, benefit from experiences that give them glimpses at community issues, people of other backgrounds, the importance of civic engagement, and their responsibilities as crusaders of social justice within our society. Unfortunately, many general education classrooms cannot afford the time, manpower, and resources that are required of truly engaging, deep service-learning experiences. Gifted education programming settings tend to lend themselves to the flexibility and student focus of such projects. One of the eighth-grade participants reported,

I think the community activism [project] was really great for our community and for myself. . . . It helps the [students] who sort of have that desire to do [greater good], and if they never got the opportunity to do that, then they may not, you know, something may not happen in the future that would have happened if they had done the project. . . . This project can definitely be used to improve leadership and teamwork and give more opportunities to people generally. It may not directly show itself in the successes of a person on society or for themselves, but even if they never realize that it helped them, it just might.

Conclusion

Although I feel that implementation of this community activism curriculum was largely successful and transformative for many of my students, I know that I did not reach every single one. Some of my students experienced more success through these projects than others, and some of my students grew more than others as a result of their roles in creating change in their community. Some students felt disappointment in the outcomes of their projects—or lack thereof. A variety of factors likely contribute to these differences in results, including team dynamics, the community issue selected, the student’s individual receptiveness to collaborative work, and the natural timelines of the school year that, for some, became problematic as we neared summer break. However, during interviews, many students expressed new feelings of empowerment and confidence in their ability to truly create lasting, positive change. This effort at exposing gifted students to social capital acquisition and dedicating their gifts to working toward the benefit of others was successful for some and less so for others, but the successes were enlightening and powerful, and many students expressed new expectations of their educational experiences in the school setting. One student put it simply: “I learned that this is a good way to learn.”