MINTS: Civic and Community Engagement

Issued by Merrimack College

Earners of this badge have asynchronously completed at least five Civic Engagement modules through Google Classroom created by the Merrimack Institute for New Teacher Support (MINTS). Each module includes videos, activities, assessments, and resource materials for participants. Earners of this badge will demonstrate growth in their careers as civic-minded educators as they reflect on their own learning experiences and create lessons that bring civic engagement into their own classrooms.

Type Learning
Level Foundational
Time Hours
Cost Free

Additional Details

Skills

Action Planning
Building Relationships
Career Development & Professionalism
Civic Agency
Collaboration
Critically Reflecting
Critical Thinking
Curriculum Development
Diversity and Cultural Competence
Integrative Learning
Leadership

Earning Criteria

Earners will begin to develop as civic-minded individuals and professionals. Earners will gain knowledge about how to work with their local community and teach their students outside the classroom by using place-based learning (PBL). Earners will be introduced to the different types of PBL using real-world examples and reflect on what might be applicable in their classrooms with their students.
Earners reflect on their experiences with civic engagement in their own K-12 educational experience. Earners develop ways they could bring community, object-based learning, to their roles as educators. Earners learn how other teachers are navigating civic education and politics in a remote learning setting.
Earners will be introduced to the four steps to encourage students critical thinking and introspective reflection. Earners will consider the following two questions: How do you control for ethnocentrism and encourage students to move beyond their own cultural boundaries of understanding? How do you address power imbalances between students and the community?
Earners will learn mechanisms to get students politically and civically involved. Earners will explore strategies for student involvement in a virtual setting through activities such as: showing students how to vote, candidate 'meet and greets', and attending election events.
Earners will explore the importance and the struggles of art education in schools and communities. Earners will gain an understanding of inconsistency and inequitable support for arts education, as well as missed opportunities to strengthen community and build social capital through civic engagement initiatives.
Earners will explore utilizing community partnerships by learning about organizations in the Merrimack Valley and developing strategies for their K-12 school to get involved with these and other organizations in their communities.
Earners will explore the state and federal policies that drive civic engagement. Earners will also discover resources to assist in navigating their role and responsibilities as educators to the next generation of democratically engaged citizens.
Earners will explore utilizing community partnerships in curricula that connect students with real-world opportunities, and empowers students to learn and grow in the classroom and beyond. Earners will reflect on what the phrase "community partner" means to them and they will learn how to create a community partner and where to begin.

Standards

Massachusetts Department of Education