Citizenship orientations and knowledge in primary and secondary education

Abstract

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.

Compensating or reproducing? Students from different educational tracks and the role of school in experiencing democratic citizenship

“…Eurydice, 2012;Schulz et al, 2010;Van de Werfhorst, 2014). Empirical research on the effect of citizenship education shows that formal education can indeed affect adolescents' knowledge of and attitudes towards democracy (Geboers et al, 2015;Isac, Maslowski, Creemers, & Van der Werf, 2013;Manning & Edwards, 2014). Citizenship attitudes can, in particular, be fostered by a democratic classroom climate where students are encouraged to discuss political issues (Campbell, 2008;Fjeldstad & Mikkelsen 2003;Torney-Purta, Lehmann, Oswald, & Schulz, 2001), a formal curriculum that includes specific citizenship courses (Feldman et al 2007;Galston, 2001;McDevitt & Kiousis, 2007;Yang & Chung, 2009) and extracurricular activities in combination with systematic reflection (e.g.…”

Can schools teach citizenship?

“…Nobody is required to change their mind. On the other hand, many of the skills seem akin to the bland 'civic competences' frameworks promoted by empirical researchers writing on the subject (Amnå, 2012;Geboers, Admiraal, Geijsel, & ten Dam, 2015), or the knowledge and skills of deliberative argumentation often promoted by social studies advocates (Hess, 2009;Parker, 2003), leaving one to wonder how far-reaching the resulting dissent could be. The basic position these scholars assume is that we live in a world of many perspectives and values, and that we as individuals cannot take them all for our own, but the aim is that we not only learn to get along with one another but also come to better understand and appreciate our differences, and work toward a consensus-building necessary for political stability.…”

Diversity among Bi-ethnic students and differences in educational outcomes and social functioning

“…We followed the comprehensive framework developed by Geboers et al (2015) and constructed six subscales. Four subscales measure citizenship orientation: societal interest, prosocial ability, reflective thinking and assertiveness.…”