Adult Civic Education Through the National Issues Forums: Developing Democratic Habits and Dispositions Through Public Deliberation
Adult Education Quarterly, Vol 54, No. 4, 308-328 (2004)
Posted: 15 Mar 2016
Date Written: August 4, 2004
Abstract
Adult educators stress the importance of civic education, but few studies have theorized and measured the impact of such educational programs. This study presents a social cognitive model of political participation that posits connections among deliberative education, civic dispositions, and political conversations. The validity of this model was tested using two field studies of National Issues Forums participants, and the results provided partial support for the model. The first investigation indicated that deliberative civic education had a negative relationship with participants' conversation networks. A second study demonstrated that civic dispositions and behaviors were positively associated with forum experiences that involved higher levels of reading, listening, observing, and enactment. These findings suggest the potential value of deliberative forums as a means of civic education, but they also demonstrate that forums vary considerably in their educational impact.
Keywords: civic education, democracy, National Issues Forums, self-efficacy, political participation, public deliberation
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