Citizenship and educational track membership of Grade 12 students in Flanders: a variable- and person-centered approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT Educational tracking can lead to different citizenship outcomes. Most studies on the relationship between citizenship and educational track membership applied a variable-centered approach, comparing averages between tracks but not considering differences between students within a track. Person-centered approaches have shown that different citizenship profiles exist, but scholars never investigated the relationship between these profiles and track membership. Using data from the 2016 National Assessment on Civic and Citizenship Education in Flanders (Belgium), the present study combined both approaches to study democratic citizenship norms among Grade 12 students. The variable-centered approach showed that students in general education scored higher on good democratic citizenship items than students in technical and vocational education. However, a person-centered approach found seven distinct good democratic citizenship profiles containing students from each track. Hence, this study challenges stereotypical views of students’ views on citizenship in different educational tracks.