Daniel F. Bassill
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

I fully agree with you, and perhaps go a bit further with this thinking. Most problems that need solving are complex, deeply entrenched and will take a lot of work, by many people, for a long time, to come close to solutions. Problem based problem solving that starts and stays in the classroom normally only engages youth for a semester, or a year. Too often, the great solutions students propose are not acted upon in future years, either by the students who originated the proposal, or by students coming after them to the same class. (I’m sure there are exceptions.)

I led a Chicago non profit youth serving organization from 1990 to 2011 and during that time often had interns work with me for a week up to a full year. Never were their efforts part of a school’s strategic effort to support the growth of tutor/mentor programs, helping K-12 kids move through school and into jobs. Thus the work done by one intern was not followed up by another, and another after that. Nor did I see evidence, on the college web site, or teacher’s blog, of similar interns doing the same work with other tutor/mentor programs in different parts of Chicago.

Here’s one of many presentations where I emphasize the long-term nature of making change happen and ways young people can be engaged. Teachers could apply some of these ideas to structure long term engagement lessons, and support systems. https://www.scribd.com/document/69970749/Unleash-Your-Personal-Power-to-Make-Change-Happen

I network with a group of educators via a Connected Learning cMOOC that started in 2013, who connect on Twitter using #clmooc. I’d like to find a group of civic engagement educators who are connecting and sharing ideas in a similar way. If it’s happening, share the hashtag.