For nations to thrive, it needs citizens that are Active, Informed, and Responsible; citizens that are willing and able to take responsibility and contribute to social change. In most countries, 80% of the population is ‘just surviving’ – they don’t have the time to care. Add to this, 15 years of a child’s life is spent in school memorizing facts and figures. But, time is not spent on teaching them to care – about child abuse, inequality, gender bias. The Riverside School understands that the gravest impediment to change is the DON’T KNOW – DON’T CARE Syndrome. The Citizenship Curriculum aims to remedy that.

The Citizenship Curriculum helps participants break the state of inaction caused by the DON’T KNOW – DON’T CARE syndrome – systematically, methodically - and provide opportunities to be an active citizen. The well-defined program serves to inculcate values and consciousness that helps shape the outlook and perspective of a participant permanently, shifting his attitude from ‘Can I?’ to ‘I Can!’.

Children over time understand that ‘Disparity is a Reality’ and that one needs to be the voice of those who don’t have one. The central idea is that one need not be rich, powerful or old to make a change. Through the four simple steps of Feel, Imagine, Do and Share, children engage with communities to design and implement effective solutions.

Problem

For nations to thrive, it needs citizens that are Active, Informed, and Responsible; citizens that are willing and able to take responsibility and contribute to social change. In most countries, 80% of the population is ‘just surviving’ – they don’t have the time to care. Add to this, 15 years of a child’s life is spent in school memorizing facts and figures. But, time is not spent on teaching them to care – about child abuse, inequality, gender bias. The Riverside School understands that the gravest impediment to change is the DON’T KNOW – DON’T CARE Syndrome. The Citizenship Curriculum aims to remedy that.

Solution

The Citizenship Curriculum helps participants break the state of inaction caused by the DON’T KNOW – DON’T CARE syndrome – systematically, methodically - and provide opportunities to be an active citizen. The well-defined program serves to inculcate values and consciousness that helps shape the outlook and perspective of a participant permanently, shifting his attitude from ‘Can I?’ to ‘I Can!’. Children over time understand that ‘Disparity is a Reality’ and that one needs to be the voice of those who don’t have one. The central idea is that one need not be rich, powerful or old to make a change. Through the four simple steps of Feel, Imagine, Do and Share, children engage with communities to design and implement effective solutions.

Exemple

Through the Feel, Imagine, Do, Share model, children are given opportunities to understand and observe problems in the community and the human patterns linked to the problem. The program provides tools for the students to design an effective solution to the real problem, thereby moving forward from just empathy to action. The school incorporates this model into the Citizenship Curriculum. In the younger grades (PreK to Grade 2), awareness of the disparity is built through visits and think-throughs, followed by discussions. In the middle grades (Grade 3 to Grade 7), students explore and chart out the reasons why disparity exists in the community and identify possible strategies that can be used to minimize and, if possible, to dispel it. The seven years spent building awareness and developing strategies results in student-led initiatives in the higher grades (Grade 8 to Grade 12). They apply skills learnt and employ strategies discovered to sustain projects for 5 years. Students understand that it takes persistence and perseverance to make an impact. They commit hours before or after school and on weekends to work on projects that are of value to them – from bringing joy to children suffering from cancer to mentoring underprivileged children in an after-school program.

Marché

Many schools devote certain hours of their weekly timetable to involve students in social activities without the students understanding the needs of the community and the impact of their work on the people they are working for. A well-designed Citizenship program serves to include VALUES and consciousness that helps shape the outlook and perspective of participants permanently. In addition, the program encompasses a wide range of elements of learning, including: 1. Knowledge and Understanding of topics (e.g., human rights, economy, sustainable development) and concepts (e.g., justice, equality, freedom) 2. Skills and Attitudes (e.g., critical thinking, analyzing information, empathy, respect) 3. Values and Dispositions (e.g., tolerance, willingness to listen, stand up for others)