Civic Education Study Research Articles

Immigrant students in Denmark: why are they disadvantaged in civic learning?

Although native family students often learn more than immigrant family students in school (e.g. civics), scholars have not systematically demonstrated the mechanisms through which native family students outperform immigrant family students. The Opportunity-Propensity framework guides this study. We examine the link between students’ immigrant status and civic knowledge, with antecedent factors (socioeconomic status [SES] and language spoken at home), opportunity factors (civic learning at school, civic participation at school, and political discussion), and propensity factors (perceived open classroom climate and student-teacher relationship). Two-level path analysis of the responses to the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016 by 6254 eighth graders in Denmark showed that the civic knowledge of native family students exceeded that of immigrant family students, mediated by their own and schoolmates’ higher family SES. Meanwhile, immigrant family students had more political discussions, which are linked to better civic knowledge.

Assessing two Theoretical Frameworks of Civic Engagement

The purpose of this study was to empirically test two major theoretical models: a modified version of the social capital model (Pattie, Seyd and Whiteley, 2003), and the Informed Social Engagement Model (Barr and Selman, 2014; Selman and Kwok, 2010), to explain civic participation and civic knowledge of adolescents from Chile, Colombia and Mexico, using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009 (Schulz, et al., 2010). The models were used to identify factors associated with different levels of knowledge and civic participation: expected participation in legal and illegal protests, and electoral participation. Data were analyzed using regression analysis. Results show that the Informed Social Engagement approach (ISEM), explains better the observed differences in civic knowledge and civic participation, than the Social Capital Model (SCM). That is, the expected values associated with the variables included in the ISEM are closer to the observed values, than those predicted by the SCM. This is true for the three outcomes (expected participation in legal protests, illegal protests, and electoral participation) and in the three countries analyzed (Chile, Colombia and Mexico).

Consequences of ignoring nested data structure on item parameters in Rasch/1P-IRT model

The present study investigated the consequences of ignoring a nested data structure on the Rasch/one parameter item response theory model. Although most large-scale educational assessment data do exhibit a nested data structure, current practice often ignores such data structure and applies the standard Rasch/IRT models to conduct measurement analyses. We hypothesized that this practice would produce negative consequences on the item parameter estimates. Using simulation, we investigated this hypothesis by comparing the results from an incorrectly specified two level model which ignored the nested data structure to those from a correctly specified three-level hierarchical generalized linear model. Use of the incorrect two-level model did, in fact, result in negative consequences in estimating the standard errors, although the point estimates were unbiased and identical to the ones from the three-level analysis. A real data set from the IEA Civic education study in 1999 was used to illustrate the simulation results.

How do schools affect inequalities in political participation: compensation of social disadvantage or provision of differential access?

Both direct and indirect influences have been assumed to impact the transmission of political orientations within families. A lower socioeconomic status is related to lower intended political participation of adolescents. Within this context, schools play a crucial role in political socialisation, as citizenship education is assumed to either equalise or maintain these social disparities. We analyse a sub-dataset of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 which includes 14-year-old students in four European countries: Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Netherlands. Multi-level regression analyses reveal that formal citizenship education compensates the relationship between students’ socioeconomic status and intended electoral participation in Denmark, Germany (NRW) and the Netherlands, but not in Belgium (FL). Further, the composition of school classes is related to the perception of an open classroom climate in each of the four countries and to participation in civic activities at school in three countries.

Immigrant integration policy and native adolescents’ attitudes towards ethnic minorities: a comparative study of European Countries

ABSTRACTThis study investigated whether a country’s policy context for immigrant integration was related to native adolescents’ attitudes towards ethnic minorities in European countries, using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study. We found that students in a country with more inclusive and multiculturalist policies for immigrant minorities showed more positive attitudes towards ethnic minorities, compared to their counterparts in a country with less inclusive and multiculturalist policies, even after controlling for individual and country characteristics. We also found a significant interaction effect between family socioeconomic status and immigrant integration policies, suggesting that inclusive immigrant integration policies may trigger different reactions among native adolescents depending on their family background. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Discrepancies in school staff’s awareness of bullying

Bullying is a severe problem for school students in many education systems. We know that the role of principals and teachers is vital for detecting and following up on bullying, and for implementing appropriate measures. Staff awareness of bullying in schools is commonly reported to be far lower than students’ own reports, but this is rarely studied from a comparative perspective. This study assesses reported bullying from the perspectives of students, teachers and principals in schools in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. We examine the association between the school administration’s awareness of bullying among their pupils, student reports of bullying, and the information and measures put in place at schools in each country. We use comparative analyses of the International Civic and Citizen-ship Education Study (ICCS 2016) data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden (students, N = 18,962; teachers, N = 6,119; school principals, N = 630). The prevalence of students’ reports of bullying are similar across the four countries, but we find large discrepancies in the prevalence of bullying re-ported by students, teachers and principals. Whereas Norwegian schools are most active in employing measures to inform and raise awareness about bullying for staff, parents and students, Finnish teachers and principals were observed to be far more aware of their students’ bullying than their Nordic counter-parts.

In search of good citizenship education: A normative analysis of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS)

AbstractIn the last two decades, calls to place citizenship education (CE) at the top of national and European educational policy and research agendas have been gaining in prominence. Large‐scale comparative studies, such as the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), are often considered the main evidence base for setting these agendas and improving CE policies and practices. This article therefore considers the ICCS study as an inherent part of the process of translating general, educational aims into curricular policies and practices of CE. However, while critical voices about comparative educational studies have become paramount, a detailed analysis of their contents, of what and how they measure and what they promote as the aims of education is often lacking. This article aims to fill this gap by analysing the main research documents, design and items of the 2009 ICCS study. To find out what ICCS promotes as the goals of citizenship education, we examined its normative assumptions in terms of qualification, socialisation and/or subjectification. Our analysis shows that the qualification and socialisation functions are dominantly validated in all aspects of the study, whilst there is only marginal attention to subjectification. This implies that ICCS misses an important potential to document and/or promote pupils becoming autonomous and critical democratic citizens, whilst this is often considered a central aim of citizenship education by policymakers, practitioners and teachers.

Teachers’ professional development and an open classroom climate

This article examines teachers’ professional development (PD) in terms of content knowledge and teaching methods, their sense of preparedness in teaching, and their teaching practice of civic and citizenship education (CCE) in lower secondary schools in Norway, Sweden, South Korea, and Taiwan, and how these variables influence students’ experience of classroom climate. We use data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016) initiated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). ICCS 2016 data from these four places contain responses from teachers (N=7,159), and students (N=16, 089; average age =14.4 years) from 558 schools. We find that the more PD training on CCE topics and teaching methods teachers receive, the higher their sense of preparedness in teaching CCE in all four education systems. We also find that students of different cultures have different experiences about open classroom climates despite that teacher’s in the four places have utilized the same teaching approaches.

Indicators of (in)tolerance toward immigrants among European youth: an assessment of measurement invariance in ICCS 2016

BackgroundPromoting tolerance is an important goal of European education policies focused on education for democratic citizenship and human rights. In this article, we argue that cross-cultural comparability must be empirically assessed and ensured for the measurement of highly relevant indicators that serve to monitor inter-European and international differences in young people’s tolerant attitudes toward immigrants.MethodsUsing the framework and data provided by the recent International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), we examine the extent to which average comparisons of cross-national differences in young people’s tolerant attitudes toward immigrants are empirically justified. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) is applied to estimate the measurement model of the concept and test its measurement invariance across fourteen European countries.ResultsIn line with prior research, our findings show that cross-cultural comparability can be achieved with some modifications. Results of measurement invariance analysis point to the achievement of full scalar invariance with the implication that average scores can be validly compared across the European educational systems under investigation. These findings are largely corroborated by robustness analyses.ConclusionsWe conclude by providing information on further scale refinement and improvement. Limitations and implications for further research are outlined and discussed.

What’s the problem? Investigation of Dutch policy statements in search of causes of stagnating citizenship education

Based on the findings of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement notes in 2010 that the development of citizenship education is stagnating. In response to this stagnation, some countries, including the Netherlands, are tempted to act more prescriptively in matters of citizenship education. Prior to and in the interest of the search for a solution, we think it is first and foremost important to gain insight into the extent to which the Dutch policy on citizenship education itself contributes to the stagnation. Reconstruction of the policy theory (as a part of document analysis) is used as a method to analyse the various policy statements. Our analysis demonstrates that there are sufficient indications to state that what the Dutch government wants and why is unclear and that there are specific normative beliefs underlying the policy which may conflict with beliefs of the implementers. We assume that the indicators found are not conducive to enable or motivate school leaders to implement the policy as desired by the government.

What makes up democracy? Meanings of democracy and their correlates among adolescents in 38 countries

Several studies investigate the meanings of democracy among the adult population. In contrast, less is known about young citizens’ ideas of democracy, and which individual and contextual characteristics are associated with them. This article contributes to the literature by uncovering the meanings of democracy and their correlates among adolescents in 38 countries. Using the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009, the article shows that meanings of democracy vary among adolescents. These meanings are the results of how adolescents find various aspects of democracy, as the rule of law, freedoms, rights, pluralism, or equality, constitutive of it. Then, the article assesses whether socialization agents and personal characteristics account for the different meanings of democracy to adolescents. Finally, the analysis addresses the role that larger contexts—democratization and human development—have in the formation of concepts of democracy among adolescents.

Chinese immigrant students in Hong Kong: Exploring performance and influences on their civic learning.

Guided by the "opportunity-propensity" (O-P) framework, this study explores how immigrant status might affect students' civic knowledge through an antecedent factor (socioeconomic status [SES]), opportunity factors (civic learning at school and civic participation at school), and propensity factors (perceived open classroom climate, perceived student-teacher relationship, and perceived importance of conventional citizenship). The data were taken from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016. The sample comprised 2,544 eighth graders from Hong Kong. Results of two-level path analysis showed that, at the student level, mainland Chinese immigrant grant students had a higher level of civic knowledge. Although perceived open classroom climate and perceived importance of conventional citizenship were found to be two positive mediators and family SES (via civic learning at school) was a negative mediator, the mediation effects at the student level were quite small. In contrast, quite a large amount of variance was explained at the school level: School-aggregated immigrant status was positively linked to school-aggregated civic knowledge and negatively via school-aggregated students' family SES via school-aggregated civic learning.

PENGUATAN CIVIC LITERACY DALAM PEMBELAJARAN DEMOKRASI DAN PEMILU DAN IMPLIKAISNYA TERHADAP CIVIC ATITUDE MAHASISWA

<p><em>The level of literacy of the students in the subjects of democracy and elections are still low. Civic literacy became a prosecution along with the advances and advances in technology and the current globalization. This research aims to map out the civic literacy students, knowing the strategy of strengthening civic literacy in learning democracy and elections as well as to know the implications of the strengthening of civic literacy against civic atitude students. The methods used in this research in the form of qualitative descriptive. The data source used is the quisioner, interviews, observation, documents and studies supported by Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Location research in the civic education study programs Faculty of teacher training and the education. Research results showed civic literacy students relating to problems – problems or issues – issues in democracy and elections are lacking it is seen when a student performs an analysis of the outstanding issues and develop in the public good of the mass media both print and social media, students can not provide an analysis of those issues because the student is not at all know those issue</em></p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><strong> </strong><em>civic literacy, democracy and elections, civic atitude</em></p>

Hong Kong adolescents’ future civic engagement: do protest activities count?

ABSTRACTProtest is a common, if somewhat contested, form of political engagement. Little is known, however, about the decision to participate in illegal protest as a form of civic engagement. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009 (ICCS 2009) (Schulz et al. 2010), the current study explored Hong Kong adolescents’ intentions to engage in protest activities. Mixture Rasch modelling was chosen for data analysis. Two latent classes with different participation patterns were identified and labelled ‘Radicals’ and ‘Rationals’. Multilevel logistic regression was used to assess key predictors of group membership. Student-level results indicated that citizenship-efficacy, corruption acceptance and the use of connections were the predictors for inclusion in the Radical group. Parents’ political interests, good student–teacher relationships, positive attitudes to good citizenship, support for gender equality and traditional cultural values predicted membership of the Rational group. School-level results indicated that in less SES advantaged schools, students’ endorsement of illegal protest was higher.

A cross-national comparison of teachers' beliefs about the aims of civic education in 12 countries: A person-centered analysis

This article examines teachers' beliefs about the aims of citizenship education in 12 countries from Europe and Asia. A latent class analysis of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study of 2009 identified three distinct profiles of teachers' beliefs about the goals of citizenship education. These profiles are associated with teachers' characteristics and with national indicators of democratic development. Profiles can be more useful than single beliefs in understanding how teaching contributes to students' civic development. Teachers across countries thought it far more important to foster students' participation in the school or local community than to foster future political participation.

Comparative Analysis of the Factors Affecting on Youth’s Civic Participation in the East Asian Countries

본 연구는 한국, 홍콩, 대만 등 동아시아 3개국 청소년의 시민참여에 영향을 미치는 개인배경, 교육경험, 사회인식 요인들을 분석하고, 한국 청소년의 시민참여를 독려하기 위한 교육적 시사점을 도출하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이를 위하여 2018년에 공개된 국제시민교육연구(ICCS) 2016 데이터를 활용하여 동아시아 청소년의 현재 시민참여와 미래 성인기의 시민참여 및 17개 영향요인들의 영향력을 실증하였다. 분석결과, 청소년 시민참여에 영향을 미치는 요인은 국가별로 다르게 나타났고, 동일국가 내에서도 현재 시민참여와 미래 시민참여에의 영향요인이 다름을 확인하였다. 첫째, 한국 청소년은 부모의 시민적 자원은 높은 수준이었지만 학교에서의 시민교육 경험은 상대적으로 낮았고, 대만 청소년은 국민정체성이 비교적 높았다. 둘째, 시민참여에 영향을 미치는 요인들은 개인 배경보다는 학교 밖에서의 경험이 더 많은 영향을 미쳤는데, 3개국 모두 대중매체의 영향력이 유의하게 나타났다. 셋째, 학교에서의 비교과 문화체험의 중요성이 확인되었는데, 특히 미래 성인기에서의 시민참여에 있어 비교과 문화체험의 영향력이 높게 나타났다. 이러한 결과를 토대로 본 연구는 시민참여를 독려하기 위해서는 학교에서 시민교육 기회를 확대할 뿐만 아니라 다양한 체험활동을 제공할 필요가 있음을 제안하였다.The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of individual background, educational experiences, and social awareness on youth’s civic participation in the three East Asian countries (South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan), and provide educational implications for encouraging Korean youth’s civic participation. And we estimated the effects of 17 variables on the youth’s current and future civic participation using ‘International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016’ data opened in 2018. The result showed that the factors affecting on the civic participation were significantly different between the three countries. And significant differences on current and future civic participation were confirmed within the same country. First, Korean youth have high level of their parents’ civic resources but the level of civic education in school is lower than other countries, and Taiwan youth have relatively high level of national identity. Second, the factors affecting on civic participation are more influenced by educational experiences than individual background such as parents’ socioeconomic status, and the mass media have significant effect on youth’s civic participation in all the three countries. Third, non-formal program and cultural experiences in school have significant effects on civic participation in future adulthood. Based on these results, this study suggested that it was important to provide various non-formal activities as well as expansion of civic education for encouraging youth’s civic participation.

Contextual moderators of the link between national and European identity among European youth

ABSTRACTIdentification with Europe can constitute an important part of psychological citizenship for European citizens. From a self-categorization perspective, higher-order (e.g. with Europe) and lower order subgroup identities (e.g. with the nation) may interfere with each other if they are seen as incompatible. We were interested in contextual moderators at school and country level of youth’ national identity on identification with Europe. We used multi-level regression analyses based on data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study, collected from 14-year old students (n = 71,282) from 22 European countries. Results showed strong positive effects of national identity at the individual, and classroom-level on European identity. However, main effects of national identity at the individual level were qualified by a number of interactions with contextual-level moderators. The relationship between national and European identity was weaker for adolescents attending classrooms or living in countries with lower average levels of trust in EU institutions. Living in countries with higher gender and income inequalities, less friendly immigration policies, and a communist past lessened the association between national and European identity. Results point to the powerful effects of context in shaping the relationship between national and European identity.

The Improvement of Indonesia Students ‘Engagement in Civic Education through Case-Based Learning’

This paper reports on a study of civic education, conducted in a lower secondary school in Indonesia. Civic education plays an important role in students’ engagement in human rights issues, and problems which lead to active participation in society. The Indonesia government has an educational policy for the implementation of civic education in schools through curricula integration. Students study civic education to increase critical appreciation of social and human rights realities. This qualitative study was conducted using multiple methods of interviews and observations in civic education classroom. The researcher worked with the 15 students and the teacher in a secondary school in year 2. The study was conducted in the second semester of academic year 2016. In this study, teachers provided opportunities for students to engage in active learning through discussion and reflections in the case-based Learning. The process not only transformed knowledge, but also developed a mutual respect between teacher and student. The study found that civic education through case-based learning has improved students’engagement and students’ critical. It also provided the teachers to transform teaching practices. In addition, mutual respect were developed between teachers and students through the research process of providing students with freedom in their learning.

A Cross-national Examination of Political Trust in Adolescence: The Effects of Adolescents’ Educational Expectations and Country’s Democratic Governance

Can the predisposition to attain education affect the trust adolescents have in their country’s political institutions? Utilizing data from 2009 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), this study examines the effect of educational expectations on adolescents’ political trust. My multilevel analyses produced nuanced results. While educational expectations have statistically significant effects on adolescents’ political trust in most countries, the direction and strength of such effects are conditional upon the country’s overall quality of existing democratic governance. Political trust in adolescence may well be a function of one’s predispositions to attain education as well as national democratic conditions.

Previous civic experience and Asian adolescents’ expected participation in legal protest: mediating role of self-efficacy and interest

ABSTRACTNot yet citizens, adolescents are encouraged through civic education to consider an active role in the future political life of their societies. This study seeks to understand the mediating role of political self-efficacy and political interest in the association between previous civic experience and Asian adolescents’ expected participation in legal protest. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2009, which included 23,654 students from South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Thailand, a multi-group multi-level path analysis based on Rasch measures was employed to investigate how adolescent civic experiences both in and out of school influence their expected participation in legal protest. The results showed the effect of political discussion and that of school participation were fully mediated by political interest and self-efficacy. The effect of community participation was partially mediated by political interest and self-efficacy in the five societies except South Korea. While the total effect of school participation is relatively low across the five societies, the total effect of political discussion is stronger for adolescents in East Asia (South Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong) and that of community participation is stronger in South East Asia (Thailand and Indonesia).