Research has shown that youth and their communities benefit from civics education, with its aim to prepare citizens for democracy. However, civics education for adolescents in the United States is not equitable, and determining how to best measure aspects of civic development in younger adolescents is a challenge. In this qualitative study, we explored how the constructs of action civics and civic purpose might inform teachers, other practitioners, and researchers who are interested in understanding the kinds of educational opportunities that promote civic development in young adolescents. Specifically, we examined how activities characteristic of an action civics approach to civic education in the context of a week-long summer civics camp would influence young adolescents’ thinking across the dimensions of civic purpose. We conducted focus groups with 49 young adolescents (entering 5^th-9^th grades) as they participated in the civics camp, and we analyzed transcripts using qualitative content analysis. Our findings reveal four key considerations for promoting civic purpose development in young adolescents: the importance of adult guides, the significance of developmentally matched activities, opportunities for growth in educating diverse and marginalized youth in the civics camp setting, and action civics as a curricular mechanism for promoting civic purpose.

研究表明，青年及其社区从公民教育中受益，其目的是使公民为民主做准备。但是，在美国，青少年的公民教育是不公平的，因此，确定如何最好地衡量年轻青少年的公民发展方面是一个挑战。在这项定性研究中，我们探讨了行动公民和公民目标的建构如何为有兴趣了解促进青少年发展的各种教育机会的教师，其他从业者和研究人员提供信息。具体来说，我们研究了在为期一周的夏季公民营活动中，行动公民在公民教育中所采取的活动的特点如何影响青少年在公民目标范围内的思维。^日-9^日档次），因为他们参加了公民阵营，并且我们分析采用定性内容分析的成绩单。我们的研究结果揭示了促进青年青少年公民目标发展的四个主要考虑因素：成人指南的重要性，发展配对活动的重要性，在公民集中营环境中教育多样化和边缘化青年的成长机会以及行动公民作为课程机制为促进公民目的。