The effects of civic education on political knowledge. A two year panel survey among Belgian adolescents

Abstract

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 24, accepted. © Springer Journals. Impact factor pending. AbstractTraditionally political knowledge was regarded as an important potential outcome for civic education efforts. Most of the currently available research, however, tends to focus on non-cognitive goals, despite the fact that studies repeatedly have shown that political knowledge is an important resource for enlightened and engaged citizenship. In this article, we investigate whether civic education efforts at school contribute to political knowledge levels. The analysis is based on the Belgian Political Panel Survey, a two year panel study among 2,988 Belgian late adolescents. The analysis shows that experiences with group projects at school contribute significantly to political knowledge levels two years later on. Furthermore, we can observe an interaction effect as those who are already most knowledgeable about politics, gain most from these group projects. Classes about politics, on the other hand, did not have an effect on knowledge levels. In the discussion, it is argued that civic education can have strong cognitive effects, but that these effects are not always related to classical civic education efforts and we discussion the policy implication for civic education.

Opportunities to learn about Europe at school. A comparative analysis among European adolescents in 21 European member states

“…These methods are regarded as more traditional educational tools (Markham 2011, Struyven et al 2010. Most of them were especially developed to be applied in a classroom context and therefore they fit perfectly in a mainstream school organization (Hooghe and Dassonneville 2011). This is why we expect that cognitive learning methods will be prevalent throughout European schools.…”

The role of online games in promoting young adults’ civic engagement

“…despite the positive correlation between civic education, civic engagement and democratic principles, it appears that the level of civic knowledge and skills of citizens is diminishing over the years (Hooghe & dassonneville, 2011). This shortfall has mainly resulted from the failure of civic education stakeholders to realize that "the contemporary experience of growing up in an unprecedentedly networked and interactive media world has led many young citizens to develop learning styles that also do not fit with many of the methods used in civic education" (Bennett et al, 2009, p. 107).…”

“…Such civic skills and characteristics, include critical thinking and the ability to assess, analyse and reflect on information and practices, organizational skills to develop networks and collaborations, communication and negotiation skills to empower collaboration, problem-solving and strategizing and visioning skills to intervene in the transformations of the public domain (Erentaitė et al, 2012;mcLeod, 2000;montgomery et al, 2004). These potential learning outcomes are connected with the empowerment and spread of basic democratic principles, such as direct and free participation in the public domain, making free and informed choices, collective decision-making and action and mutual understanding and respect for the other, which are becoming even more relevant in a globalized, networked and interactive environment (Amiel & Reeves, 2008;Hooghe & dassonneville, 2011;Kahne, 2008;Raphael et al, 2010). The interconnection of civic education with democratic principles and globalization will be further explored in the next few paragraphs.…”

The Political Socialization of Attitudes Toward Equal Rights from a Comparative Perspective

“…People with a higher socioeconomic position and overall education show higher levels of trust (Hooghe et al 2015), higher levels of political interest (Hooghe and Dassonneville 2011) and higher levels of tolerance (Bobo and Licari 1989). As McCall and Manza (2011) noted, evidence about the links between socioeconomic variables and political preferences highlights the relevance of the socioeconomic context and status in the formation of public opinion.…”