Linda Munoz & Heide Spruck Wrigley 
Adult Civic Engagement in Adult Learning 
New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Number 135

Take an in-depth look at adult learning and education forcitizenship and civic engagement. This issue presents thefoundational connections between the adult education and civicengagement movements. It’s filled with studies on adultlearning for participatory or deliberate democratic change andengagement at the local grassroots level. Contributors considercivic engagement in their areas of research and practice andexplore the formal and informal ways that citizens come to learn, to deliberate, and to act on the social issues they find importantlocally and globally. As a result, the volume offers broad examplesof different types of formal and informal adult learning for civicengagement.

This is 135th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterlyreport series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, it explores issuesof common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, andpolicymakers in a broad range of adult and continuing educationsettings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.

Table of Content

EDITORS’ NOTES 1
Linda Mu~noz, Heide Spruck Wrigley

1. Civic Engagement in the United States: Roots and Branches5
Susan Imel

This chapter provides an overview of the early history of adultcivic education prior to the 1920s and introduces the influence of Eduard Lindeman to the adult education movement in the United States after the 1920s while illustrating the forms andcharacteristics of adult civic education up through the 1950s.

2. Deliberative Democracy and Adult Civic Education 15
Martín Carcasson, Leah Sprain

The authors of this chapter argue that the deliberativedemocracy movement should be used in adult civic education becausecurrent civic education programs inadequately prepare citizens toaddress the ‘wicked problems’ of and in democracy, leaving communities ill equipped to fully engage in criticalissues.

3. Dimensions of Immigrant Integration and Civic Engagement:Issues and Exemplary Programs 25
Heide Spruck Wrigley

In this chapter, the author describes exemplary immigrantintegration efforts in the United States that engage both long-termresidents and newcomers on issues relevant to civic life.

4. Exploring the Meaning of Civic Engagement in the United States: Mexican Immigrants in Central Texas 33
Linda Muñoz

In this chapter, six Mexican immigrants in central Texas talkabout their experiences in the United States and the impact oftheir experiences on their understanding of their responsibilitiesin their local communities.

5. Civic Engagement and Environmental Literacy 41
Robert J. Hill

In this chapter, Hill examines civic engagement through the lensof environmental literacy and contrasts the term with environmentaleducation. He stresses that social action is inherent inenvironmental literacy.

6. Learning from the Grassroots: Exploring Democratic Adult Learning Opportunities Connected to Grassroots Organizations51
Patricia A. Gouthro

In this chapter, Gouthro describes grassroots organizations asplaces of adult learning associated with governance and activecitizenship. Through voices of volunteers and employees of severalorganizations, she shows how they are places where volunteers andemployees work collectively to create a world in which they want tolive.

7. Critically Minded Shopping as a Process of Adult Learning and Civic Engagement 61
Kaela Jubas

In this chapter, the author looks at how social movements suchas buying local engage critically minded consumers to connect theirlocal experiences of shopping with global social and environmentalissues.

8. Blog, Chat, Edit, Text, or Tweet? Using Online Tools to Advance Adult Civic Engagement 71
Laura W. Black

The author notes that the evolution of the Internet over thepast 20 years has moved from a one-way information-sharing tool toa participatory social network that has increased the opportunitiesfor civic engagement.

9. The Varieties of Adult Civic Engagement in Adult Learning81
Linda Muñoz, Heide Spruck Wrigley

The editors reflect on the broad themes of adult and civiclearning, education, and engagement presented in this volume.

Index 8

About the author

Linda Muñoz and Heide Spruck Wrigley are the authors of Adult Civic Engagement in Adult Learning: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Number 135 , published by Wiley.