Sustainability and Social Justice

Combining Community-Based Learning and Catholic Social Teaching in Educating for Democratic Citizenship

Document Type

Article

Abstract

College students are in a key developmental stage for cultivating their civic identities. This article draws on a case example to show how courses focused on educating students for democratic citizenship—courses on leadership, community organizing, social movements, or other related topics—prove to be excellent venues for integrating Catholic Social Teaching (CST) with community-based learning to further students’ moral and civic development. Centering on social justice with an emphasis on voice, power, and participation, these courses resonate clearly with key themes found in CST. And, by combining CST with the theory and practice of collective action, students gain a foundation in necessary principles for moral assessment as well as practical experiences that inform and shape their active citizenship beyond the college years.

Publication Title

Journal of Catholic Higher Education

Publication Date

Winter 2011

Volume

30

Issue

1

First Page

113

Last Page

131

ISSN

1948–5891

Keywords

Catholic schools, Church related colleges, higher education, democracy, citizenship education, social justice, teaching methods, courses, service learning, moral development, community action

Worcester

No

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