Understanding Leadership in Civic Education Reform: An Examination of Change in CIVITAS International Partnerships and the Impact of Leader Theorizing on Civic Education Innovation
Author: Cornett, Jeffrey W.
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Citizenship Education,Partnerships in Education,Global Approach,Curriculum Development,Law Related Education,Semantics,Democracy,Program Effectiveness,Politics of Education,Educational Change,Educational Innovation,Decision Making,Nongovernmental Organizations,Government School Relationship,Interpersonal Relationship,Citizen Role

The purpose of this report is to examine the history of an international partnership for civic education begun in 1994, and concluded in 2011 that links Center for Civic Education partners in the United States (Florida Law-Related Education Association), Hungary (Civitas Hungary), and Romania (Intercultural Institute of Romania). This study serves as an analysis from the leadership perspective of fifteen years of collaboration among diverse stakeholders committed to the development of effective civic education programs, their thoughtful implementation, and ongoing improvement through continuous evaluation. The methods utilized in this final report include analysis of key curriculum and policy documents, review of twenty-seven publications from the research and evaluation of this partnership (from 1995 to 2011), and in-depth interviews of the three primary leaders of the exchange. This long-term project, funded in part through grants from the United States Department of Education with additional support from the United States Department of State and others, identifies a number of curricular and structural components and describes fourteen major innovations, that include the following: curriculum development (online and face-to-face); creation of and advocacy for civic education programs and policies; academic competitions; Democracy Camps; Project Citizen showcases; professional development opportunities; student and teacher exchanges; annual gatekeeper exchanges; and annual and longitudinal research and evaluation components. This report summarizes the evolving partnerships through in-depth interviews that highlight the perspectives of the leaders from each country, filtered through a change theory model and also a leadership decision-making (personal theorizing lens). Results include discussion of the stages of innovation of each exchange element and description of the attributes of the innovations, the innovators, and the international sites. In addition, semantic similarities and differences among these leaders are illustrated. Results include identification of key contextual variables that influenced both the partnerships and local contexts including: economics; political leadership; and, support for democratic civic education at the school, family, local, national, and global levels. The authors highlight the impact of sustained senior leadership on this longitudinal project and suggest the implications for innovative teacher and student training, pedagogy, curriculum, and transformation of young citizens in complex democracies. Appended is: Selected CIVITAS Partnership Scholarship. (Contains 12 figures, 1 footnote, and 4 endnotes.) [This report was prepared under contract to the Florida Law-Related Education Association, Inc.]