Empowering Students as Citizens: Subjectification and Civic Knowledge in Civics and Citizenship Education

Abstract

Civics and citizenship education (CCE) can empower young people as citizens. However, CCE is a complex area of school education, with research, curriculum and school systems unable to provide a clear direction on how CCE should be taught and learnt. This is because concepts that define CCE, such as citizenship, are contested, and the choices made on how these concepts should be understood lead towards particular pedagogies. Traditionally, these choices are placed on a maximal/minimal continuum of the purpose of CCE. There is a strident voice in the research advocating for maximal CCE that ostensibly promotes student participation and empowerment, and dismisses the importance of civic knowledge often entwined with minimal CCE. This article argues that the maximal/minimal CCE framework is disempowering for students as it necessarily advocates a particular socialisation of young people that does not begin with the student. Building on the work of Biesta and his promotion of subjectification, this article encourages a purpose and approach to CCE that recognises students as citizens. This cuts through the debates and complexity of CCE to acknowledge that young people are inescapably in charge of how they interpret and enact their citizenship. It also restores the importance of civic knowledge in empowering young people to see their citizenship as a practice, not an outcome. By not only placing the student at the centre of their learning but also acknowledging they command their citizenship, an approach to CCE is developed that empowers young people as citizens.