Preparing for Public Life: School Sector and the Educational Context of Lasting Citizen Formation

Abstract

School sector and educational context seem to make a difference in civic socialization. There is limited knowledge, however, of the mechanisms through which socialization may occur in public and private schools, and the extent to which they have any lasting effect. Does the private school effect on civic socialization persist into young adulthood, and if it does, what explains the effect? Analyzing data from NELS:88 using HLM, the results of this study show that, net of background controls, there is a private school effect on civic participation in young adulthood, but it is mediated through contextual factors in the family and school -such as parent-school involvement, intergenerational closure, student-teacher relationships and prior participationthat seem to account for the effect on adult civic behavior.Education is socialization. That is how Durkheim, at least, understood the primary purpose of education for cultural and societal transmission to future generations. 1 In democratic societies, education is thought to play an important role in socializing for citizenship and civic participation

Religious School Differences in School Climate and Academic Mission: A Descriptive Overview of School Organization and Student Outcomes

“…Through a commitment to a common curriculum and educational opportunity for all students, these "communal organizations" (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993) have an educational advantage for the disadvantaged (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993;Coleman, Hoffer, & Kilgore, 1982;Greeley, 2002). In addition, an effective authority, a strong sense of collective identity, and the personalism of religious school communities may have advantages for civic education (Campbell, 2001;Dill, 2009;Godwin, Ausbrooks, & Martinez, 2001;Godwin, Godwin, & Martinez-Ebers, 2004;Sikkink, 2004Sikkink, , 2009Wolf, Greene, Kleitz, & Thalhammer, 2001;Wolf, 2007).…”

Private Religious Protestant and Catholic Schools in the United States and Canada: Introduction, Overview, and Policy Implications

“…Although there a few strong studies of the impact of various types of schools on civic engagement and religiosity (Campbell, 2001;Dill, 2009;Godwin, Godwin, & Martinez-Ebers, 2004;Uecker, 2008Uecker, , 2009), most of the existing studies are limited to rough comparisons of Catholic and "non-Catholic religious" sectors (Jeynes, 2003;Wolf, 2007). Even the seminal work of Coleman and Hoffer (1987) and Bryk, Lee, and Holland (1993) were largely limited to comparisons of Catholic and public school effects.…”

Sociopolitical development of private school children mobilising for disadvantaged others

“…These norms frequently contain goals outlining requirements for service learning, social justice, and altruism, justifying inclusion of activism education aligned with these goals. The literature suggests that elite private school students frequently enact pro-social behaviors, such as engagement in political debate and voluntary community service (Dill 2009). Some authors, however, caution that these behaviors represent examples of noblesse oblige (e g., Dunne and Edwards 2010).…”