Students define philanthropy and discuss the difference between duties and responsibilities of civic participation. Students become aware of the role of nonprofits in promoting social justice and fairness for minorities when the government can't do everything.
We look at the Society of Friends/Quakers and describe how this group promoted the common good. The Quakers pushed for religious freedom and freedom of choice, which are Core Democratic Values. As a group, they formed organizations to promote social change in the areas of slavery,...
Participants will survey members of the community (school or local area) to determine a need, write proposals to satisfy the need, consider doing an optional one-day fundraiser to help fill that need, serve on a board of directors or a youth advisory...
Participants identify and compare the different roles of the four sectors of the economy (government, business, nonprofit, and family). They identify which sector does what and observe how they approach differently the sometimes overlapping responsibilities....
In collaboration with the Fetzer Institute's Generosity of Spirit project team, Learning to Give brings you access to stories from all over the world that speak of the gifts and challenges of leading a generous life.
This collection of world myths and folktales (linked below) is accompanied by lesson plans at the high school level and a reflection guide for teachers, parents, and youth leaders.
This lesson teaches how to journal about their own experiences and feelings. It is intended to be taught in conjunction with a project of civic engagement or service. The project provides content and a context for journaling about personal experience.
In civil society, different people come together to form community. While differences may cause conflict, for the sake of the common good, we practice empathy and respect for others. We use literature to talk about how people from different perspectives see the same thing. We discuss how to...
We learn how different groups coming together for the good of all established the Mayflower Compact. This brief agreement was the first document of its kind designed to bring a community together to focus on the common good. This may be a model for a group agreement written by the...
The Saguaro Seminar is an initiative focused on the study of social capital and civic engagement in America. Through this research, emphasis was given to improving connections among Americans and improving the infrastructure of civic engagement. By doing this, The Saguaro Seminar hopes to advance ways to build social capital.
Children learn that the community has four sectors: business, government, nonprofit, and family. The children may walk through an area in their local community to identify which sector is represented by different places. As an alternative, they may look at a local map.
