Driving Question:

How can I promote political and civic education in my local community in Belo Horizonte through engaging workshops for young people?

Product output from this module:

A curriculum created by me to teach political education and securing external funding to allow for its implementation.

Project Summary:

Luiza, a senior from Brazil, has always been passionate about politics. Her Service Learning Mastery project, “Agents of Change: Empowering Brazilian Youth through Political Education,” stemmed from her concern about the political apathy prevalent in Brazil. Statistics show that two-thirds of the Brazilian population feel disconnected from politics, posing a threat to the country’s democracy.

Through the service learning curriculum, Luiza delved into this issue, discovering that the root cause of political apathy was a lack of political education. She conducted a strategic statistics project, engaging with young people in her community to understand their views on politics and education’s role in shaping political engagement. She found that politics were not effectively communicated to young people, making it difficult for them to see their potential impact.

To address this, Luiza aimed to promote political and civic education through engaging workshops for young people. She invested time in learning about politics and education, drawing inspiration from Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy, which emphasizes active, reflective learning rather than traditional, passive education.

Luiza designed a three-lesson plan focusing on public policy creation in Brazil, emphasizing hands-on, interactive activities. The first session introduced students to politics and democratic values, encouraging them to see themselves as current political agents. The second session involved analyzing local issues and developing solutions. In the final session, students implemented their solutions to effect change in their community.

Securing an international grant through Civics Unplugged, Luiza conducted her workshops with 20 students at an NGO in her hometown. Initially, students associated politics with corruption, but by the end, they saw it as a means for social change and collective effort. They identified and addressed hygiene issues at the NGO, benefiting 400 students.

Luiza found the project both challenging and rewarding, witnessing significant personal growth and the empowerment of other students. She expressed gratitude to her teachers, mentors, and the NGO for their support and belief in her vision.

Project Summary:

Siphokazi S., a senior from South Africa, highlighted the unfulfilled promises of democracy in South Africa since 1994, particularly focusing on the persistent challenges faced by the 47 million South Africans living in townships. These townships, originally designed to segregate non-whites, continue to be plagued by unsafe conditions, poor education, and high unemployment, all exacerbated by economic disparities and failing municipal services.

Faced with this vast systemic problem, Siphokazi decided to address the waste management aspect, leveraging her education, expertise, and connection to the community. Fluent in Isizulu and deeply familiar with the local issues, she aimed to create impactful change at the grassroots level.

Siphokazi partnered with Birches and Eco School, whose curriculum focuses on sustainable lifestyles, to implement a similar framework in a government school. She taught life orientation (ALO) sessions to grade three students, emphasizing their rights and responsibilities, which were inadequately addressed by the current educational system.

In collaboration with DSW (Durbin Solid Waste) and PET Recycling, Siphokazi drafted a contract to bring waste management education and facilities to the school. She conducted three sessions with the students, teaching them how to manage waste effectively. Additionally, she set up a Waste Management Center at the school and created Isizulu posters to reinforce the teachings.

The initiative resulted in the collection of three tons of paper, two tons of plastic, half a ton of tin, and a ton of cardboard, generating 400 rand per month. The revenue was reinvested into the school to improve classroom environments.

Siphokazi’s project demonstrated the significant impact young students can have on their community. She envisions expanding this framework to other schools across South Africa, believing that true freedom requires more than just voting—it demands active, meaningful actions and services.

Siphokazi’s efforts reflect her mother’s advice: to act on what she believes in, striving for a better, more sustainable future for her community.

Driving Question: How can we think critically to effectively inform citizens in a media manipulated world?

Summative Assessment: You can find their final product on Instagram.

What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

Our goal was to change the narrative behind protest art being seen as performative and vandalism. We want to show the impact protest art had on protest movements, so we decided to create an Instagram page where we showed examples of its impact and us breaking down the narrative.

What did you learn about yourself or about your creative process or about your medium?

We learned key social media skills on how to present an idea on a platform such as Instagram and how social media can be used to inform people on important matters.

Driving Question: How might I use photomontage as a tool to foster socio-politic reflection?

What was your initial idea and what did you want to do/learn with this project?

I like to know what’s happening around the different corners of the world. Thus I read and watch a lot of the news. Then I thought: why don’t I make something out of it? That’s how I started it. It’s an ongoing project, and I’m mostly developing my research and multicultural literacy skills. Also, I have been improving my photoshop skills a lot, but it’s not my main focus.

Did your project development and change from your initial idea, if so how?

Initially, I did not know the topics I would work on; I just figured it out as I researched through newspapers and magazines. I also visited museums and memorials around different countries in Europe, which worked as an inspiration for some of my montages, which will be available next term.

What are your big takeaway lessons from this project?

It’s possible to transform a cabbage into a flower: raw and boring news can become interactive and interesting art pieces.

Instagram Link: https://www.instagram.com/thiink.about.us/

Driving Question: How might we collaboratively implement a design-thinking process to meet the needs of the community we serve?

What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

As a group, our main goal was to develop a summative product that tackled our chosen issue – the lack of youth involvement in politics. We believe that our Instagram page’s have been effective in doing that, as it’s a medium present in teenagers’ lives, so we can spread politics and share important things with them in an easier way. The other goal was to create a pleasant work environment, with an equilibrated and smart distribution of work. By scheduling weekly meetings and creating a full value agreement at the beginning of the module, we managed to count each other accountable and create a safe work environment in which everyone felt comfortable to contribute

What did you learn about yourself or about your creative process or about your medium?

We were able to learn the design thinking process through our module and later, apply it in our summative project. We searched through multiple creative ways to solve our problem but finally agreed on making an Instagram account with the independence of choosing a state of the world to focus on and post about. I personally learned that I can listen to my teammates and agree collectively on a subject. I have become more open to discussing others’ ideas and have a different mindset when approaching these projects.

What did you learn about yourself, your creative process, or about your medium?

We were able to learn the design-thinking process through our module and later, apply it in our summative project. We searched through multiple creative ways to solve our problem, but finally agreed on making an instagram account with the independence of choosing a state of the world to focus on and post about. I personally learned that I am able to listen to my teammates and agree collectively on a subject. I have become more open to discussing others ideas and have a different mindset when approaching these projects.

What did this project mean to you?

This project meant us learning about our generation and the issues we face and think of ways to make our generation aware the issues.

Driving Question: How might we collaboratively implement a design-thinking process to meet the needs of the community we serve?

What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them?

Our main goal for this module was to take the US ballot design issues and come up with a new ballot that the people understand. We went through many interviews with users to meet this goal and detected the main problems with the existing ballots. We found that generally, they were very confusing and out of order. We took the information we learned and implemented it into our design. To make sure that our design hit our goals, we got many rounds of feedback. In the end, the above design proved to be the most self-explanatory and neutral.

What did you learn about yourself, your creative process, or about your medium?

We learned tons about the US voting process, as well as how to lead effective interviews.

What did this project mean to you?

This project was very relevant to Hanna and interesting to Samy because of the US election happening this year and the scandals with voting fraud.

Driving Question: How might I grow my creativity during the COVID-19 crisis through exploring the science of creativity and innovation and experimenting with art?

Project Title: The World and Its Viruses

Location: Wuhan, China

What were your goals for this module? How did you achieve them? I wanted captivate and express my creativity, something which I had been struggling with lately. So I decided to create a series of art pieces to express my perspectives and thoughts on the COVID-19 crisis through maps. By extensively researching my theme, receiving and applying feedback, as well as trying different techniques, I managed to express my creativity and perspectives through this unusual type of art.

What did you learn about yourself, your creative process, or your medium? I learned that creativity is not a state of mind, but an innate condition that people just do not cultivate.