Based on the assumption that schools can play a significant role in the citizenship development of students, in most contemporary modern societies schools are obligated to provide citizenship education. However, the effectiveness of different forms of citizenship education is still unclear. From the empirical literature on citizenship over the period of 2003-2009 28 articles were selected on effects of citizenship education on students' citizenship. Our review showed the political domain of citizenship to be emphasized more than the social domain. An open and democratic classroom climate in which discussion and dialogue takes place appears to effectively promote the development of citizenship among secondary school students. Moreover, a formal curriculum that includes citizenship projects and courses also appears to be an effective type of citizenship education. The effects of citizenship education are discussed in relation to the quality of the studies reviewed.
The present study focuses on the development of citizenship competences of Dutch adolescents, including the political and social aspects as part of adolescents' daily lives. We followed 5070 adolescents aged 12-16 years across a three-year period in lower secondary education. The variance on school and student level was estimated and a three-level mixed-effects regression model was fit to analyze differences in citizenship development. The results indeed show development of citizenship competences during secondary school, but the observed patterns were not always positive. Students generally showed an increase in their citizenship knowledge, but a decline in their societal interest, prosocial ability and reflective thinking. Differences between groups of students could be explained by both schools and student characteristics. Especially girls and minority students developed the most citizenship competences. Understanding these differences is important for schools to improve their practices in ways that support the development of citizenship competences of various groups of students.
Despite widespread attention to citizenship in educational practice, knowledge of the citizenship of students is still fragmented. We therefore present a comprehensive framework to integrate empirical data and theoretical insights into the citizenship of young people today. To develop and validate the framework, we conducted exploratory and confirmative factor analyses on measures of citizenship attitudes, skills, reflection and knowledge for a sample of 7,768 students in grades 5-9 from 38 Dutch primary and secondary schools. The results were cross-validated using a different sample of 15,940 students in primary and secondary education. We were able to distinguish four citizenship orientations among students (societal interest, prosocial ability, reflective thinking and assertiveness) and two domains of citizenship knowledge (societal knowledge and interpersonal knowledge). This framework can help with the large-scale, empirical evaluation of the effects of citizenship education and also guide schools in the formulation of educational goals to support the development of citizenship competences among students.
Most of the empirical frameworks and theories concerned with the development of citizenship today are quite complex and only provide some guidance for what citizenship education should attend to; they do not provide insight into the actual citizenship of students. We constructed a typology of student citizenship, on the basis of data collected from students. Patterns of scores for the citizenship orientations and citizenship knowledge of students were examined, and four clearly interpretable profiles could be identified (committed citizenship, indifferent citizenship, ordinary citizenship and self‐assured citizenship). A sample of 7,768 students from grades 5 to 9 (aged 11–16 years) from 38 primary and secondary education schools participated in this research. The typology was then cross‐validated on a separate sample of 15,940 students from Dutch primary and secondary education schools. The types of the citizenship differed depending on the individual demographic characteristics of the students and their level of education. Implications of the typology for citizenship education and future research are discussed.
United or dispersed? Civic competences in a differentiated schooling system . This paper examines whether there are differences in civic competences between secondary school children on the basis of school type, gender, ethnicity and parents’ education, and whether such differences are smaller in schools that devote greater attention to civic education. Using survey data form students and school principals in fifteen secondary schools in the Netherlands, we examine civic competences relating to ‘democratic behaviour’, ‘socially responsible behaviour’, and ‘dealing with social differences’. Our analyses show that students differ significantly in how they judge their own competences in these domains. Furthermore, differences in socially responsible behaviour between students of different levels of parental education are smaller in schools that pay much attention to civic education. No evidence for mitigating effects of a school’s attention to civic education emerged for either democratic behaviour or responsible behaviour.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.