Civic attitudes and behavioural intentions in the 2016 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS): New evidence for education and training policies in Europe

Abstract

In the current context of rising populism, racism, intolerance and scepticism among European Union (EU) citizens, coupled with a decreasing level of electoral participation rates in several Member States, the European Commission has the clear mandate to reinforce EU citizens’ commitment to Europe’s common democratic values. Educational institutions are essential agents in promoting a learning environment that can support a Europe that is fair, inclusive and more democratic. To serve this goal, schools are expected to contribute to civic and citizenship knowledge creation as well as to the shaping of students’ beliefs and attitudes. Both from a research and a policy perspective, it is important to improve our understanding of current civic and citizenship attitudes in the EU, as well as of the educational processes shaping them. In 2016, 14 EU Member States participated in the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), including Belgium (Flemish region), Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia region), Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden. The study offers substantial new data on the civic knowledge as well as the civic attitudes and behavioural intentions of the 14-year-old student population in these countries and regions. Besides assessing these civic and citizenship education (CCE) outcomes in great detail, ICCS also offers data on students’ background characteristics and the school and community context where the learning process takes place. The present policy brief is based on a detailed analysis of the ICCS 2016 data from the EU Member States, focusing on adolescents’ civic attitudes and behavioural intentions (non-cognitive outcomes), and their drivers, with a particular emphasis on the broader role of education.