Developing Civic Engagement Skills In recent years, college educators have identified civic engagement as an important educational outcome for any service-learning program. In response to widespread civic disengagement and apathy, especially among traditional-age college students, concerned leaders in higher education have issued a call to all involved in service-learning and related programs to move students toward increased civic awareness and engagement. Campus Compact's President's Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education is one example of this recent emphasis on civic engagement in higher education. Reflection is a critical component in achieving this outcome, as the literature strongly suggests that students do not automatically translate community service projects into increased civic involvement. In fact, without a conscious effort—through reflection—to engage students, some research suggests that the more students serve, the less engaged they will feel with the democratic political process. Unlike many of the other desired educational outcomes for service-learning and associated reflection activities, however, civic engagement is a highly charged and contested concept. For example, many in higher education object to citizenship as an outcome for service-learning because they believe civic outcomes can become hortatory, patriotic flag-waving, as opposed to critical thinking. Others see civic engagement as too political or partisan, beyond the parameters of academic learning in most discipline-based courses. Beyond these objections but somewhat related to them, there is a tendency in the civic education literature to assume a single, monolithic understanding of what constitutes "good citizenship/civic engagement." This obscures the realities and challenges of pluralism, and may cause educators to dismiss the civic dimensions of their students' service altogether. But happily, there is no single definition or perspective of citizenship that can or should be used to structure uniform reflection questions or activities. Faculty should be encouraged to adopt the perspectives on civic engagement that most relate to their particular disciplinary approaches, or that most closely connect to the type of service project in which their students are engaged. The most important thing to understand is that paying attention to civic outcomes is important, regardless of what definition of civic engagement is adopted. Of course, good citizenship from whatever perspective encompasses many of the other outcomes and skills discussed here. Civic engagement requires strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as discussed in the previous section. Effective citizens must also acquire sound communication, teamwork, and leadership skills, as explained in the section on developing personal competencies. But one of the most important elements of civic engagement that reflection can be the vehicle to developing is to encourage students to "dig deeper," to go beyond the particulars of their service project or the people with whom they work to the public dimensions of their work. Guidelines for Reflection Recognize that students may differ in their understandings and assumptions about politics, citizenship, and democratic civic engagement. Developing a reflection activity that allows students to define citizenship for themselves can at once make initial connections between service and civic engagement and serve as an assessment tool in determining where students are and what strategies might be employed to get them to "dig deeper." As discussed in the previous section on developing critical thinking/problem-solving skills, students may react negatively to efforts aimed at critical civic reflection. Many students want to do service precisely because they are disenchanted with political or civic institutions in society. They want to act, to make an immediate difference; they don't want to analyze their service activity in light of deeper social or political issues. Moreover, efforts to engage students along these dimensions may produce conflict or tensions in class, something many students seek to avoid. Reflection strategies should be devised with these concerns in mind. To develop students' civic engagement skills, design reflection questions and assignments which address the various components of civic awareness and public problem solving. Students might be asked to reflect upon the public/civic dimensions of their chosen discipline or profession, or their anticipated work once they graduate. Faculty can encourage students to connect their community service work to a public policy issue, or to analyze the public policy dimensions of the community work done by the organization with which they are partnered in service. Example 1 Many, if not all of the organizations or programs students work with were developed self-consciously in response to a perceived "public problem." Students can be asked to gather information at their service site, to write a public problem statement and do further research on the public issue of concern, or alternatively, to do a "stakeholder analysis"—examining the interests that different organizational "stakeholders" have in a public problem that underlies the service project with which they are involved. Example 2 In an election year, students can be asked to follow a campaign in the media, by reading the newspaper, watching a candidate debate forum, or going to various political/candidate websites for information. Then, ask the students to frame the issues addressed in the campaign from the perspective of the people with whom they serve. Students could either develop an issue position paper or a set of issue questions in a candidate debate format, based on their understandings from their service and conversations with people at their service organizations.