CIVITAS Eastern Russia
"CIVITAS Eastern Russia" is a part of the project "CIVITAS: An International Civic Education Exchange Program." "CIVITAS Eastern Russia" works on both sides of the Pacific Ocean in Alaska and Washington states (USA) and the Russian Far East.
CIVITAS is a cooperative project of civic education organizations in the United States and emerging and established democracies throughout the world. The Civitas Exchange Program, which began in 1995, is administered by the Center for Civic Education and funded by the U.S. Department of Education under the Education for Democracy Act approved by the United States Congress. Support for the development of the program also has been provided by the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other American and international organizations.
The Civitas Exchange Program provides leaders in civic education opportunities to learn from and assist each other in improving education for democracy in their nations. The program addresses the full range of civic education activities from the development of educational policy, standards, curricular frameworks and materials to teacher education, classroom implementation, and research and evaluation.
CIVITAS Goals
- Acquaint educators with exemplary curricular and teacher training programs in civic education developed in the United States.
- Assist educators in creating, adapting, implementing, and institutionalizing effective civic education programs in their own schools.
- Facilitate the exchange of ideas and experience in civic education among political, educational, and private sector leaders.
- Encourage research to determine the effects of civic education on the development of the knowledge, skills, and traits of public and private character essential for the preservation and improvement of constitutional democracy.
- Create instructional materials for students.
Accomplishments of the Russian Far East project.
- Russian and American teachers participate in curriculum development to enhance the teaching of civics in both the United States and Russia. Exemplary Civic Education curriculum has been adapted and translated for classrooms.
- Russian educators conduct seminars with American students and teachers providing them with a broader view of life in an emerging democracy and better understanding of its processes. American educators conduct seminars with Russian colleagues investigating interactive civic education curriculum and teaching methods.
- International training events involve community leaders, mayors, Ministry of Education representatives, and members of the media.
- Russian and American educators participate in professional development opportunities, including We the People Institutes in Washington state and Alaska, Project Citizen Training, and the National Academy conducted by the Center for Civic Education.
- Educators meet with federal, regional and local government officials, educational leaders, and university professors in Russia and the United States.
- Regional “I am a Citizen of Russia” festivals were held in Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Magadan, Primori and Sakhalin.
- A network of civic educators is being developed in the Russian Far East.
Contacts:
Mary Bristol, Project Director
CIVITAS, Russian Far East Project
3305 GlennDon Circle
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
E: akbristol@gci.net
T: 1-907-333-6725
F: 1-907-333-1083Kathy Hand, Executive Director
Washington State We The People Programs
560 South 158th Street
Seattle, Washington 98148-1205
E: kathyhand@attbi.com
T: 1-206-248-3463
F: 1-206-244-4247Pavel Sobol
Coordinator of CIVITAS program, Kamchatka
Russian-American Center (RA Center)
46 Leninskaya Street
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 683000 Russia
Phone: (415-2) 187-172
USA fax (801) 382-46-40
e-mail: sobol@ra-center.orgWeb sites
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