Public sphere pedagogy

Habermas argued that these discussions served to fill the gap between the state and the people by creating what he called a "civil society".

Further, Habermas argued that a functioning public sphere was critical to maintaining a healthy democratic order and deliberative democracy.

During the Town Hall Meeting, participants move into breakout sessions to share their work and engage in discussions about their topics.

Faculty and community members moderate these discussions, share expert insight, and move students toward further development of their work.

Student Voices programs are a type of civic engagement initiative that have been implemented in several high schools in the United States.

The curriculum has high school students research and complete classroom assignments on current issues in government and candidates in local elections.

The bourgeois public sphere, as introduced by Habermas, has been characterized as highly patriarchal,[19] and oblivious to the existence of female[20] and plebeian[21] styles of discourse.

Michael Warner argues that the bourgeois public sphere was structured to be affable to those privileged few who made up the powerful upperclass.

[7] Training individuals how to be "good" citizens prescribes action in a way that limits the scope of politics and the public sphere.