Civic education through organizational listening and the participation of young residents as Kraków’s socio-economic capital

Beyond tokenism: meaningful youth engagement in planetary health

This study examines the important challenges related to the sustainability. This study is based on review of the existing literature on sustainable development. However the question is that whether environmental education, awareness and people participation can improve the human life. How can sustainability challenges overcome through creating the awareness about the environmental problems? The objective is also to create a sense of responsibility through education, participation and action as group, individual. This study fills the gap of people’s actually sustainable behavior and attitude and provides useful implication for decision maker for public policy. This study suggests that, it is more appropriate and feasible to create a civic sense in the society about the sustainability issues, which are associated with civic citizenship education, civic awareness and civic participation. The concept of civic sustainability (be able to think and act) empowers change in society through civic education, civic awareness and civic participation.

This article attempts to compare the civic education received by young citizens in Ethiopia and citizenship education in Britain, in particular Wales. Based on the author’s personal experiences, email correspondence with a practitioner in Ethiopia, and evidence located in secondary materials, this research compares delivery of the curriculum, the methods, materials, and assessment used, as well as an evaluation of the possible impact this has on students. It also considers the future development of these subjects as each country attempts to prepare students to be more active citizens. In attempting to compare the provision of civic or citizenship education for young people, the author has researched the content of the curricula and how it has been assessed. The article also looks at the future of civics and citizenship education that, although it may use different words, curricula, and assessment methods, shares a similar aim—to create better citizens. The article begins by looking at youth participation in the recent political events in both countries to determine whether civic education could have had any influence.

Civic Studies:

The essence of civic education is to train a child on how to adapt his or her life to the provisions of the social system to engender equality, social justice and inalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The current dismal performance of students on civic education has sadly threatened the actualization of lofty ideals of civic education in Nigeria. In search of answers to this growing problem, this study explored the differential effects of group instruction technique (GIT) and gender on secondary school students’ achievement in Civic education in Anambra State, Nigeria. The design of this study was non-randomized control group, pre-test, post-test quasi experimental design while multi-stage sampling procedure was used to sample six coeducation schools from each of the six education zones that make up 258 public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample was 193 Senior Secondary 2 students drawn from six intact classes. The instrument Civic Achievement Test (CAT) was used for data collection. Data from the study was analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The result revealed significant differences in Civic achievement test between groups. The experimental group taught Civic education with the use of GIT recorded higher mean scores than their counterparts in the control group taught with LM. Also, gender was a covariant factor on the differential effect of GIT and gender on students’ achievement in Civic education. Given this empirical evidence; GIT stands as an effective alternative to improve on students’ academic achievement in Civic education. Thus, recommendation was made for its adoption by the stakeholders in education especially the Anambra State Ministry of Education to improve on the status-quo.

Background: Individuals with disabilities are under-represented in STEM education and careers. Research from the US has examined interventions for increasing the interest or participation of youth with disabilities in STEM, but this work has not yet been synthesized. Objective: We reviewed and critically appraised the literature on the impact of programs and interventions for increasing the interest and participation of children and youth with disabilities in STEM education and careers. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of 5 databases (CINAHL, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and Scopus) for peer-reviewed articles published between 1993 and June 2018 reporting a STEM intervention. Risk of bias across studies and the overall rigour of the studies were assessed with the American Academy of Neurology guideline, and risk of bias within studies was assessed with Kmet and colleague’s (2004) standard quality assessment. Results: We identified 17 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. All studies originated from the United States, representing 953 participants, ranging from 9 to 23 years old. Seventy-eight percent of the quantitative studies reported significant improvement in at least one of the following: perceived self-advocacy, self-esteem, social skills, independence, perceived value of the intervention, preparation for college and employment, perceived career options, or interest in taking STEM classes and pursuing STEM careers. Positive outcomes were reported across many delivery formats, including web-based interventions, virtual and face-to-face mentoring programs, and course-based interventions or workshops. Conclusion: More research, with more rigorous, controlled designs, is needed to determine the impact of specific intervention components, and participant characteristics, such as gender, on intervention effectiveness.

Children, Youth and Environments 17(1), 2007 Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making: Child and Youth Participation in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Joachim Theis UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, Thailand Citation: Theis, Joachim (2007). “Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making: Child and Youth Participation in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific.” Children, Youth and Environments 17(1): 1-13. Regional Context for Child and Youth Participation Close to one third of the world’s children and young people live in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The region is diverse in terms of languages, cultures, religions and political systems. The economies of many countries in East and Southeast Asia are growing rapidly, while other countries, especially those in the Pacific, are seeing very limited investments. Among the main factors that shape the context for child and youth participation in the region are the economic situation of a locality; the political system; social relationships, including gender relations and attitudes towards children; and the nature of the education system. The following paragraphs explore these contexts. China and Vietnam are states with restrictions on media freedom and political expression, limited space for civil society, and no independent human rights organizations (Young 2003). Both countries are paternalistic states that strongly emphasize the responsibilities of citizens towards the state. The state, represented by the government, in turn earns its legitimacy by providing political stability and the structural conditions for economic prosperity. This hierarchical and authoritarian relationship between state and citizen is mirrored in the relationships between parents and children and between teachers and students (Salazar-Volkmann 2005). As a result of rapid economic growth in Vietnam and China, young people’s participation in the labor market is generally high, compared to other parts of the world. Children are under pressure to acquire a good education in order to take full advantage of existing economic opportunities. Primary and secondary school students, especially those in urban areas, have limited free time to spend on social activities that are not directly relevant for passing their academic examinations. Levels of political activity and politicization among young people tend to be low. Performance, Responsibility and Political Decision-Making... 2 The globalizing economies in East Asia are creating demands for a new type of workforce. In order to capture new markets and to move beyond low-cost and low-tech jobs, the Chinese education system, for example, is moving away from rote learning and is beginning to encourage students to think critically and autonomously, and develop their creativity. This requires significant changes in the relationships between teachers and students and more room for students’ individual expression. The new Chinese education system supports some of the values underlying children’s participation, and to some extent this makes it easier to promote children’s expression and decision making in school and at home. West et al.’s article, “From Performance to Practice: Changing the Meaning of Child Participation in China” analyzes how children’s participation and children’s roles are changing in the context of the broader changes happening in China’s economy, social relations and education system. These political, social, economic and cultural forces provide the context for child and youth participation in China and Vietnam and in other countries with similar political and social characteristics. These are, of course, generalizations; there are wide variations between countries and significant differences within each country. Some of these factors support, while others hinder, child and youth participation. The articles in this issue of Children, Youth and Environments explore these topics in greater depth. The situation is very different in a country such as the Philippines, which has a multi-party democracy, press freedom, a diverse and vibrant civil society, and independent human rights institutions. Democratic spaces for political action and social activism are much greater there than in China or Vietnam. The Philippines is also offering some of the greatest opportunities for exploring and experimenting with children’s and young people’s participation in the region. (Cambodia is another country in the region where children’s participation has benefited from expanded democratic spaces.) Protacio-de Castro et al.’s “Walking the Road Together: Issues...

The article provides a theoretical analysis of the activities of youth councils in territorial communities. Presented the definitions of the youth council, the peculiarities of their creation and functioning in the conditions of social transformations in Ukraine. It is clarified, that ensuring the coordination of youth work and active involvement of youth in the life of local communities is possible on condition of formation of youth infrastructure in territorial communities. Modern literary sources on the problem of research of the youth council in the community are analyzed. The regulatory and legal framework that governs communities when forming a youth council has been defined. It was found that the youth council should also shape youth policy in communities: create socio-economic, political, organizational, legal conditions and guarantees for the socialization of children and youth, as well as their integration into social processes in the interests of youth and youth participation. The algorithm of forming a youth council in the community is considered. It is noted that the youth council creates an effective system for collecting, processing and responding to requests and local youth initiatives. An example of the functioning of youth councils in Vinnytsia region is given. A number of regional social programs aimed at recognizing the subjectivity of young people, the need for their self-realization and development of their own potential in their country, improving the civic competences of young people and their participation in all spheres of public life have been studied. It was found that positive results can be achieved by systematic implementation of successive steps of organizing youth work at the community level.

Education in colonial Hong Kong was basically apolitical in nature. Civic education was introduced as a social control mechanism to reflect colonial heritage, and emphasizes the passive, obedient and law-abiding role of citizens, and prevents the development of nationalism and indigenous cultural identity. However, in response to the Joint Declaration, there was a pressure for the Government to prepare pupils to become competent citizens of the Special Administrative Region (SAR). However, various research findings reflect that young people are apathetic in political and community affairs, weak in basic civic knowledge and social awareness. In response to the re-definition of the national identity status of Hong Kong citizens, there is an urgent need to cultivate the sense of belonging of the younger generation toward the SAR as well as the PRC as a whole. The author believes that even after reunification, civic education should not be overlooked as an important educational element in tertiary education. This element should compliment the academic subjects offered by various departments and be integrated in the themes of personal development programs offered by the student affairs office in tertiary education settings. Civic education programs, either co-curricular or extra-curricular in nature, should focus on both nationalistic and democratic themes through the adoption of a participatory-oriented approach, so that students could be provided with ample opportunities to participate in the decision-making process on issues directly affecting their well-being. Arguments for and against this standpoint are presented in the context of the Hong Kong educational system.

Civic education, i.e. activities aimed to teach citizens of recipient countries basic values, knowledge, and skills relating to democracy, has become a popular form of promoting democracy by NGOs from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. This paper examines whether democracy promotion programmes, such as civic education, implemented by NGOs from Central and Eastern European countries towards young people in former post-communist countries affect participants’ civic engagement and political participation. We test the impact of one of the civic education programmes on young people from Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation. The analysis of the programme and the results of the survey conducted among the civic education programme’s former participants from 2004 to 2014 contribute to a better understanding how youth participation can be built through mechanism of knowledge created by outside actors. The paper reveals some potential of programmes focused on educating young people in diffusing democratic ideas and behaviour in the region; however, it also shows the limitations of methodology used to evaluate the impact of democracy promotion efforts.

ABSTRACTRecurring debates about civics, the kinds of history that should, and should not, be taught in school, and ‘standards debates’ about the ‘basics’ typically follow on the heels of recurring moral panics about the ‘declining’ state of ‘our’ education system. Since the turn of the last century, the Australian Government initiated two major inquiries into civic education and political engagement: the 2006 inquiry into civic and electoral education, and the 2024 inquiry into civic education, engagement and participation in Australia. In this article, we focus on discourses that constituted these inquiries to identify, analyse and understand how each framed ‘the problems’ they intended to address. We demonstrate how both inquiries represented young people as the central ‘problem’, framing them as politically illiterate and largely disengaged from formal politics. However, as we reveal, throughout each inquiry attempts to reflect on how and why many young people experienced a sense of disenfranchisement from formal politics were missing, while young peoples' political engagement, such as their participation in action like street protest and strategic litigation, was overlooked or discredited.

This study was conducted in secondary schools in Uyo Educational zone. The aim was to investigate the effects of field trip on secondary school students' motivation and achievement in civic education in Uyo educational zone, Nigeria. It was a quasi-experimental design involving 80 JSS3 students. Using cluster sampling method, two junior secondary schools were drawn from 125 junior secondary schools in the educational zone. In both schools, the children were taken on field trips to have firsthand experience on the various topics and concept of Civic Education. The instruments for data collection consisted of researcher-made “Rule of Law, Human Right, Citizenship, Civic Responsibility and Democracy Achievement Test” (RHCCDAT). It also consists of the “Students Motivation Inventory” (SMI). The instruments were vetted by experienced Civic Education teachers in secondary schools as well as the experts in the field of Measurement and Evaluation. The reliabilities of the instruments as determined using 20 JSS3 students with a test-retest sub-sectional reliability coefficient of 0.75, 0.82, 0.66, 0.75 and 0.81. Then the students were given a follow-up test after a period of two weeks. Data collected using the instruments were subjected to analysis using independent t-test as well as paired sample t-test. Result indicated that there was no significant effect of field trip on students’ motivation (p=0.091>0.05). Field trip also had significant effect on students’ achievement in Civic Education (p-0.021<0.05). Finally, there was a significant retention effect of field trip as there was no significant difference between the posttest and follow up test scores. Based on this, it was recommended among others that educational implementers like teachers, governments as well as the school should re-evaluate field trip objectives and design to focus on motivation.

Youth participation in leadership activities is a continuous discussion to emphasize in our Tanzanian community. There are limited research findings on factors contributing to youth participation in leadership in secondary schools. This results in a lack of confidence, communication skills, leadership skills, team working, and social participation among the students. Therefore, the study examined the factors influencing youth participation in leadership in secondary schools in Iringa Municipality. The study researcher adopted an explanatory research design to conduct the study. The covered a sample of 300 respondents drawn from a target population of 1400 students of secondary schools in Iringa Municipality. Data analysis was done by use of descriptive and inferential statistics; frequencies, percentages, correlation, and multiple regression. The study revealed that; social influence, social media, and civic education have a positive but weak relationship with youth participation in leadership in secondary schools in Iringa Municipality. This is because the correlation coefficients (r) on the relationship between social influence, social media and civic education with youth leadership participation were 0.159, 0.139, and 0.099 respectively which shows positive significance but weak. This is because in estimating the required relationship the results yielded p values greater than 0.05 which justify insignificant contributions. The practical implication is that these constructs should be improved in their application in order to provide a significant contribution to youth leadership in Iringa Municipality. Based on these results, the researcher recommends advanced policies and division of resources to address youth marginalization in the distribution of opportunities for leadership participation. The resources to be addressed should cover both financial and non-financial resources. The study also recommends that schools should encourage leadership skills, mentoring, and trainings across all activities and programming to advance youth’s self-confidence, agency, and voice to advocate for their issues and engage in civic discussions.

Developing good person and citizen through civic and ethical education in Ethiopia: A content analysis of secondary school textbooks

PurposeThis article poses the question on whether and how youth participation in environmental sustainability makes a difference within participatory budgets (PBs). This is a question worth asking because PBs have pursued, from the very beginning, goals of social sustainability through the inclusion of social groups that struggle to make their voices heard, as in the case of the youth. As young people show an increasing capacity to self-organise around environmental issues, a knowledge gap emerges as to the contribution that youth can give to environmental sustainability within PBs.Design/methodology/approachThe 2021 edition of the Lisbon PB (2021PB) has been analysed through desk research – document analysis using the city council's website as the main source of information, and fieldwork – an organisation of one two-day workshop with 20 young students through a partnership between the local authority and the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon. Methods were applied to retrieve findings on youth participation in environmental sustainability in the 2021PB.FindingsThe youth show a relative increase of participation in the 2021PB and emerge as a key target group in funded proposals. Convergence with student proposals suggest shared awareness on the role of youth in the pursuit of social sustainability. The success of health-related proposals confirms ownership of (young) citizens over the concept of environmental sustainability, which further relies on the various scopes of funded proposals at both city and neighbourhood levels. In the workshop, students did not stick to specific themes and struggled to connect present criticalities and future imaginaries.Research limitations/implicationsFocus on one case study necessarily limits the generalisation of findings. Nevertheless, the 2021PB illuminates pathways of research on youth participation in environmental sustainability through participatory budgeting that are worth clearing in the future, such as the role of digital participation, dynamics induced by extreme events as the COVID-19 pandemic and PBs' capacity to intercept environmental activism.Practical implicationsDecision-makers and practitioners can take advantage of findings to acknowledge the potential of youth participation in PBs to reframe the take of environmental sustainability.Social implicationsThe article provides new inputs for future developments in the operationalisation of social and environmental sustainability through participatory budgeting.Originality/valueThis article examines original data retrieved from the 2021PB. Data analysis is backed by the literature review of key democratic challenges in social and environmental sustainability within participatory budgeting.