Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook

Prep and Practice

Get on the Bus

This is an activity that invites people to think about the larger purposes for being active in their communities. Bigger than any particular goal, it asks people to think about the “bus” as a journey somewhere – perhaps toward participatory democracy. To begin, you need to set the stage. You might say something like this . . .

I want you to imagine a bus. The bus is community involvement, and civic participation, and citizenship. A lot of you – maybe all of you – are on board that bus in some way. You’ve already gotten on. We’re going to spend the next half hour or so talking about that bus. So first picture it. Imagine that you’re on the bus. Now think about why you would get on this bus? Why would you come out of your front door and go beyond your family and work responsibilities to get on this bus?

Document people’s answers for class reading and for sharing with future groups. Continue the discussion with these (and your own) questions:

• Where is the bus heading? What kind of world do we want?
• What do we need to learn to get there?
• What are the potholes and roadblocks?
• How do we make it through the rough spots?

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