Civic Reflection
Planning Outline for Facilitators
“Drum Major Instinct” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Big Question, Idea or Theme – What do you want to get people thinking? Here, you will want to choose
a general opening question about service like:
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What were your initial expectations for today’s service? Did they change?
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What was the best/worst/most challenging thing that happened today?
Next comes the Introduction – How will you describe this activity of civic reflection? And, how will you
ask the participants to introduce themselves?
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Civic Reflection helps individuals find new meaning in a shared experience. Post service
reflection is important because it leads to continued, thoughtful action going forward.
That being said, it’s great to ask everyone to please go around the circle and say your name
again just so we can be sure everyone knows each other.
Next, you can establish Expectations/Ground Rules – What structure will you set? What will you ask of
participants?
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Invite participants to “be present” during the discussion
Invite everyone to participate in some way as they feel comfortable (to “pass” is okay)
Ask everyone to give each other a chance to speak
Listen to each other’s comments
These are just a few examples of ground rules. Ask the participants to come up with their own so they
have a vested interest in the reflection.
-----------You will then lead the Opening Exercise – What question or scenario will you ask people to consider?
Choose 1 or 2 questions. These should be general questions that everyone should feel comfortable
answering based on their experiences with service.
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Why do you do community service?
Who is someone you have heard of who had made a positive impact in the world?
Next, Read Aloud – What part of the reading will you have people read aloud? Who/how will they
read?
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Ask each person to read one line or stanza (participants may need to repeat until the poem is
finished)
If someone does not feel like reading, they can skip their turn
Then comes the bulk of the reflection. It’s time for Questions: What questions of clarification (what’s
going on here), interpretation (what do you think of what’s going on here?) and implication (what does
what you think of what is going on here have to do with service?) will you ask? Identify 2-3 of each
kind.
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Clarification
o What does Dr. King want others to say about him at his eulogy?
o What are some of the lines that stand out to you the most? What is most meaningful to
you and why?
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Interpretation
o What do you think Dr. King means by “a drum major for justice”?
o Why does Dr. King use death/a eulogy as an example to inspire others?
o Why does Dr. King disregard his awards, college background, etc.?
You may want to ask ….
- Before we move on, is there another interpretation we didn’t explore yet? Does anyone who
hasn’t had an opportunity to share yet want to share anything?
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Implication
o How does your volunteer experience make you a “drum major for justice”?
o What are some of the activities you did today that will inspire you to continue as a
“drum major for justice”?
o How can you inspire others to volunteer like Dr. King did?
The last step is the Closing: How will you close the discussion? How will you leave it open, but still
create closure? You can leave this open to students and not have them respond, rather leave it as
something to think about on their own.
Open ended question:
o Think about the eulogy that will be read after you die. What will others say about you?
*Remind students there are many opportunities at Rutgers to get involved in community service with
the Student Volunteer Council and Alternative Breaks – www.communityservice.rutgers.edu