Exploring the development of a hybrid and synthetic meaning of citizenship at a British university law school

Piers Von Berg

doi:10.14426/cristal.v7i2.196

Abstract

This study uncovers a previously underappreciated role of the social experience of university in shaping undergraduatesâ€™ civic identities. A multidisciplinary theoretical approach to citizenship is used to understand an individualâ€™s attempts to negotiate meaning along with a qualitative methodology that allowed students a voice in the data collection and analysis. The findings show that some of the most formative experiences in a studentâ€™s civic identity is their interaction with peers and friends in a diverse student community. There is also a strong influence of a culture of performativity and credentialism on studentsâ€™ attitudes to learning about citizenship. Both combine in a â€˜synthetic civic identityâ€™ shaped by a mixed environment of more open-minded civic norms and an instrumental and individualist outlook towards studies. There were varying degrees of critical awareness or reflexivity around these processes. This hybrid form of civic identity stimulates and challenges current narratives of tension in higher education.

Highlights

In the last ten years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the civic role of universities in the U.K
In the U.K., there has been renewed interest in the idea of a ‘civic university’ and in engagement with communities (Goddard, 2010; McCowan, 2012), and distinct from this, that universities can cultivate the attributes of citizenship as part of the student experience
Many studies of youth citizenship focus on more orthodox forms of civic engagement and political participation such as volunteering and voting (Shaw, et al, 2014)

Summary

Introduction

In the last ten years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the civic role of universities in the U.K. Many studies of youth citizenship focus on more orthodox forms of civic engagement and political participation such as volunteering and voting (Shaw, et al, 2014) They miss more mundane interactions in which young people construct meanings of citizenship in their everyday lives (Biesta and Lawy, 2006; Wood, 2014). The emergence of civic views depends on the nature of the experience, which is easier to control in a formal programme whereas we know little of the effect of encountering diverse others informally This is highly significant: ethnographic research with students points out that the majority of students’ time at university is often spent with other students (Nathan, 2005). How students’ experiences in this new environment in the U.K. affect their constructions of civic identity is unknown

Methodology and research design

Conclusions