Transforming Civic Education: Teaching Community Collaboration Through Historical Artifacts and Tuckman’s Model

Abstract Book of the  9th International Conference on Future of Teaching and Education and Humanities

Year: 2025

DOI:

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Transforming Civic Education: Teaching Community Collaboration Through Historical Artifacts and Tuckman’s Model

Toyosi Stephen Adedara, Busola Adedara

ABSTRACT:

Innovative pedagogical strategies are vital for equipping students with the skills needed for active citizenship and community engagement. This study introduces a novel teaching framework that integrates historical artifacts with Tuckman’s (1965) model of group formation to foster students’ understanding of group dynamics and community collaboration. The framework leverages hands-on experiential learning with artifacts from libraries and archives, categorizing them into Tuckman’s stages—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. A design-based research methodology was employed, involving the iterative development and testing of teaching modules in a summer youth civics camp. Data were collected through educator interviews, focus groups, and observations. Findings revealed high student engagement, improved analytical skills, and enhanced civic responsibility, with students drawing connections between historical and contemporary community issues. This approach not only enriched history and citizenship education but also promoted critical thinking and social justice awareness. The study highlights the transformative potential of combining theoretical models with artifact-based learning to prepare students for active participation in their communities.

keywords: Civic education, experiential learning, Tuckman’s model, historical artifacts, group dynamics, active citizenship, community collaboration, pedagogical innovation.