Learning by Hearings

Learning by Hearings is a program offered by YMCA Youth and Government in collaboration with the Levin Center to teach high school students about the oversight work happening in legislatures across the country, how to discuss contentious issues in a civil way, and how elected officials can solve problems by finding facts together.

It is a collaborative, experiential, and educational program that asks students to assume the role of members of a legislative committee and then, using background material supplied for a predetermined issue, do the preparation for an oversight hearing, and then actually conduct the hearing.

Feedback from students across the country revealed that a favorite aspect of Learning by Hearings is the opportunity to team up as a committee to run an investigation together. Many civic education programs and much of the media coverage on legislatures focus on where there is bitter disagreement. Learning by Hearings is structured for students to engage in difficult conversations on critical contemporary issues but to do so with respect and collegiality as they seek the facts together.