Education For Active Citizenship Research Articles

CONFINTEA Vll Marrakech Framework and the Challenge of and Urgency for Active Citizenship Education

A rear-view mirror approach indicates that citizenship education and adult learning and education (ALE) for lifelong learning have been prominent throughout history, dating back to the League of Nations and continuing through the United Nations and UNESCO. The League of Nations was founded in 1920 after World War I when humanity realized that settling disputes through violence—bombs and guns—was indicative of lack of citizenship education. Central to the League’s Covenant was the need to employ “negotiation and arbitration.” In addition to the International Adult Education Conferences, UNESCO has used other forums to affirm the imperative of lifelong learning and citizenship education. For instance, in the Faure Report, there is emphasis on “education and society” and on the “complete man” ( Faure et al., 1972 ). The complete man/woman is an “educated” citizen. In The Fifth Global Report on ALE, UNESCO (2022a) connects citizenship education to the task of empowering adults for change. This article uses the Marrakech Framework for Action (MFA) that resulted from CONFINTEA VII as background to analyze and present active citizenship education as a necessary condition for human sustainability and global transformation. I conceptualize education broadly to include indigenous ways of knowing. In addition, although active citizenship education is the focus of this piece, I argue that there is a symmetric relationship between lifelong learning, adult education, and citizenship education.

‘Theory is beautiful’: Resistance and counter‐resistance to gender equality in teacher training

AbstractThe European Union has made a firm commitment to quality education for active citizenship taking up the demands of international movements and organisations, making gender equality a fundamental part of it. As previous research has shown a precarious implementation of these demands in Spain, in this study, we conduct 24 semi‐structured interviews with key informant university professors who provide clues about the existing resistance and counter‐resistance in the implementation of gender equality in initial teacher training. The results show how agents and their discourses impact on training, both positively and negatively, as well as the institutions in relation to their own organisational culture, resources and material elements, and influences. The information they supply provides insight into the limitations and possibilities for changing the culture and practice of higher education organisations at the international level in order to enhance gender mainstreaming in universiti.

Evaluating and Designing Active Citizenship Education for Youth Resilience to Preventing Violent Extremism at Public Sector General Universities of Sindh, Pakistan

Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Pakistan have experienced unprecedented on-campus violent extremism. Large-scale research led approach is needed to prevent homegrown violent extremism through transformative active citizenship education at HEIs in Pakistan taking into account that youth under the age of 30 constitutes 63% of the total population of Pakistan. As recognized repeatedly by the UN Security Council, violent extremism poses a significant threat to global peace and stability, with tremendous impact on social cohesion, eroding development progress and hindering future gains. This paper assesses the current state of citizenship education at Higher Education Institutes in Sindh province. The problem, however, is that many countries, including Pakistan, do not give citizenship education the importance it deserves, nor use approaches appropriate to the development of informed and participatory citizenship. (Dean, 2000; Kerr, McCarthy, and Smith 2002; Torney-Purta and Amadeo 1999). Citizenship active citizenship in youth is a social leadership program that promotes intercultural dialogue and social responsibility as key leadership competencies in the 21st century and results in community resilience. For this purpose, institutionalizing active citizenship for developing youth resilience to violent extremism warrants a massive radical reform of the education system to develop critical analysis skills among youth enabling them challenge violent extremist narratives. This is a preventive and initiative-taking strategy to develop active citizenship to be capitalized as glue for social inclusivity, integration and national cohesiveness in Pakistan. Active citizenship encompassing volunteering, democratic engagement, environmental sustainability, community development and reflective thinking is most likely to prevent vulnerability to recruitment of violent extremist organizations.

Social ecology and the school-to-work transition: global prospects for sustainable development

ABSTRACT Educational policy goals for 22 jurisdictions provide data to test and refine a social ecological model of education by analysing them for the mode of work expected to follow upper secondary school, classified according to the World Bank’s Development Indicators as either employment, entrepreneurship, or workers’ cooperatives. A global statistical analysis of rates of wage-labour, as a proxy for employment, versus educational achievement augments the policy analysis. The results are interpreted in terms of two contrasting conceptions of sustainable development, Brundtland’s versus Daly’s, based on their views of economic growth, suggesting the results support Brundtland’s sustainable development, but detract from Daly’s. The results support the social ecological model, particularly its emphasis on active citizenship education.

From influencing school food to handling hate speech: Methods, areas, and limitations of active citizenship in Finnish social studies textbooks

Historically, education for active citizenship has not been a high priority in Finnish schools. In this discursive study of Finnish social studies textbooks for grades 4–6, we investigate how students are encouraged to practice active citizenship, where the focus of active citizenship lies, and how active citizenship is limited in antidemocratic ways. Referring to the theoretical discussion about democracy in education, we note a discursive focus on individual influencing and communication skills as methods for active citizenship education. We find that active citizenship focuses on students’ immediate surroundings, the school, and the local area as potential fields of influence. We note how antidemocratic threats to active citizenship are often portrayed with a focus on individual feelings and manners, not on understanding democratic structures and antidemocratic threats such as silencing voices through online hate speech. We welcome a discussion about how young students can become active citizens, by encouraging a more democratic classroom culture within social studies, thereby creating space for imagining alternative futures and utopian thinking.

A ‘good’ neoliberal citizen: A policy analysis of conceptions of young Singaporean citizens

Globalisation has driven the pursuit of more active citizenship forms. Many governments see educational policies as critical to preparing young citizens with the necessary skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours to thrive in a changing global context. However, what active citizenship education is and means varies across countries. Little is known about how active citizenship is conceptualised in educational policies in Singapore and the kinds of citizens these policies and programmes aim to nurture. This article draws on an analysis of 20 Singapore policy texts, such as political speeches, press releases, and curriculum documents, to examine the kind of Singaporean citizens the Singapore government seeks to nurture. We argue that globalisation provides a critical context for local conceptualisations of citizenship, but the active Singapore citizen is not an individualistic nor a universal neoliberal citizen subject. In line with Asian conceptions of citizenship, which posit that ‘good’ people make good citizens, active citizenship in Singapore has a prevailing focus on ‘good’ character and an active citizen who prioritises the well-being of the collective, yet caught in a paradoxical pursuit of a neoliberal citizen.

Contributor biographies

Contributor biographies

The Voices of Primary School Boys and Girls on Human Rights and Their Historical Agency

The teaching of History in primary school must integrate education for active global citizenship in the face of inequalities and social injustice caused by the constant violation of human rights in the present. The transformative framework at school promotes global citizenship from a humanizing perspective and a respect for diversity. All of this comes in a context marked by the effects of the capitalist economic dimension of globalization, which translates into a crisis in the exercising of fundamental democratic values. Below, we show the first-phase results of educational research comprising a qualitative exploratory study that investigates what primary school students think about and know. The participants come from a public school in the city of Almería, south-eastern Spain. Given the volume of information obtained from the semi-structured group interviews conducted on a total of 126 students (male and female) and seven teachers at the school, a qualitative content analysis has been carried out to extract relevant meaning regarding the research objectives; these focused on what the students know and feel about human rights, social problems and injustices, and the role of girls and boys throughout history. Hearing, listening to and recognizing the voices of primary school boys and girls has provided us, first of all, with ethical cues to design professional teacher development experiences in line with the new times of change and uncertainty, from the framework of a critical teaching of the contents of school history. Secondly, it has guided us in the configuration of training opportunities to cover the weaknesses caused by the democratic deficit and strengthen democracy by increasing child citizen participation. In this way, we hope to contribute to the education of a global citizenry that is more critical and committed to the common good in collective decision-making in an interconnected world.

Measuring and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Active Citizenship Education Programmes to Support Disadvantaged Youth

The current Special Issue has been inspired by the Seventh Annual Conference on Citizenship Education that was held in Roehampton University London, on 26–27 September 2019 [...]

Meaning and applications of elementary social studies value learning for active citizenship education

Meaning and applications of elementary social studies value learning for active citizenship education

Collective autobiographical reflexivity on active and compassionate citizenship in the COVID-19 crisis

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, socio-economic inequalities have become exacerbated and COVID-19 related hate crimes have increased. This paper explores how citizenship education might be reimagined in response to this context, with the vision of rebuilding a more equitable and compassionate society. By using a collective autobiographical writing approach, this study documented six different autobiographical reflexivities of citizenship education scholars who were from different parts of the world: China, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, Nepal and the United Kingdom. It also observed the way the pandemic played out in the location where they were situated during the research as well as how it played out in their countries of origin, and further, how it affected the civic development in each context. The scholars' range of autobiographical expressions resulted in insights for developing a type of citizenship education, namely, education for active and compassionate citizenship.

Newcomer refugee and immigrant youth negotiate transnational civic learning and participation in school

This article analyses the perspectives and experiences of refugee and immigrant secondary school students in the USA who are from the Democratic Republic of Congo to examine the interplay between identity and civic education, and broader socio‐political discourses around immigration and inclusion. Data are drawn from a 2‐year qualitative study that took place between 2016 and 2018, and included interviews, field notes from classroom observations and recordings of classroom discourse in high school civics classes. Findings are analysed through anthropological framings of citizenship and provide important insight into how marginalisation in one context is experienced in another—how refugee and immigrant youth’s socially conscious identities in resettlement contexts can be borne out of personal and familial histories that transcend geographical borders. In so doing, it showcases how civic learning can involve a dialogic process of self‐representation and representation of group memberships. This research emphasises these youth’s inherent agency and resistance to single‐story narratives about their lives. It concludes with implications for teachers and learners on incorporating active, critical and participatory transnational citizenship education into the classroom.

The role of the school in inculcating citizenship values in South Africa: Theoretical and international comparative perspectives

In view of the serious moral decay in South African society, this article reports on our research regarding the role of the school in the inculcation of citizenship values (as part of the brief of South African education). We regard a set of citizenship values consonant with a democratic dispensation to be a core component of a moral order essential for South Africa. Using a combination of interpretive-constructivist and comparative approaches, we examine and evaluate the experiences of other post-conflict societies in using education to inculcate citizenship values. We conclude that schools can be successful with respect to the inculcation of citizenship values, provided that the curriculum itself does not discriminate against any group or category of people. Desegregation can only be beneficial in the absence of negative depiction (including criminalisation) or the unequal treatment of any particular societal grouping. Our research suggests that active citizenship education is needed in schools. For this reason, we contend that teacher education has to form an integral part of a moral revival project. Lastly, we highlight the importance of finding democratically agreed-upon ways to continually engage with parents, legal caregivers and other stakeholders and role-players before and during the execution of any such project.

Citizenship education in conflict-affected areas and nation-states: empowering teachers for sustainable reform

ABSTRACT Government agencies and civil society organisations in nation-states and areas affected by conflict strive to develop citizenship education programmes to empower children as agents of change. However, the pedagogical culture within these contexts demands that children memorise information provided by higher authorities and avoid sensitive and controversial issues. Such practices disempower children. This article presents two arguments. First, it demonstrates how roots of destructive conflict and conflict-sensitive approaches to reform weaken top-down efforts to rebuild education for active citizenship. Second, it describes how teachers in conflict-affected areas who have autonomy exercise humility and are inspired by new approaches that can initiate a transformation in the pedagogical culture from banking to engaging young people in critical pedagogies. These high-impact teachers’ innovative learning activities catalyse educational change, which suggests the emergence of a professional grassroots theory of change for citizenship education reform.

Training Teachers for and through Citizenship: Learning from Citizenship Experiences

This article illustrates how one university-based initial teacher education (ITE) course sought to develop links with civil society organisations to develop meaningful active citizenship education. The purpose of the project was to enhance citizenship education for ITE students preparing to become secondary school teachers. The article discusses recent developments in theorising teacher education 3.0 to ensure teachers are empowered to engage with a wide range of social and political challenges affecting young people and their communities. It then describes a small project that involved university staff and students in a local community organising project, bringing together a range of local community groups to work together for social justice. The article explores how student teachers working within that community organising group developed an increasingly politicised view of their role—as public sector workers in a politicised policy landscape; as potential agents for the promotion of democracy; and as political actors in their own right. The article concludes that these insights into practice illustrate the potential for a broader conception of teacher education, involving civil society partners beyond schools and universities.

Local history and identity building: a case study in the field of active citizenship education.

The case study, carried out in a primary school, examined whether and how inquiring into local history can support identity building in pupils and promote active citizenship. The research was part of a broader Erasmus Plus project that assumes citizenship education to require participatory experience in the students’ local territory and activities based on interaction between the environment, heritage and communities, with both local and global dimensions. The investigators’ choice of method, namely Teacher Professional Development Research, was guided by the awareness that analyzing teaching practices and promoting a reflective posture in teachers demands a solid alliance between researchers and teachers. The data was collected via questionnaires, interviews with teachers and conversations with the children and analysed using a coding system that was both data- and theory-driven. It was found that the more children have the freedom to engage in independent inquiry, discuss and share with others the discoveries they made and the knowledge they acquired, the more their learning became meaningful to them. Supporting the building of an inclusive identity fosters their appreciation of local heritage, encouraging them to take responsibility for preserving and communicating it. The results also showed that the impact of the project did not extend beyond the walls of the classroom, eliciting little involvement on the part of the wider school and town community.

Using experiential learning of NGOs to enhance active citizenship education in school curriculum

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate the implementation of an empathy model of experiential learning in real-life sites, with the help of NGOs, for developing students’ active citizenship in two Hong Kong Chinese secondary schools.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a case study in which teachers and the researcher engage in planning, implementing and evaluating an experiential learning unit which combines together both classed-based learning activities and experiential learning activities provided by NGOs in real-life settings. Qualitative interview findings are collected from teachers and students.FindingsIncorporating experiential learning activities in thematic learning units provided by NGOs for the active citizenship of students can facilitate teachers to develop student learning outcomes of empathy and perspective taking derived from authentic experience. In particular, teachers’ reflect on how to facilitate Chinese students’ reflect on disadvantaged people and ethnic minorities. This action research study recommends that students’ conceptual understanding of concepts such as poverty and ethnic minorities should be developed before they participate in NGO’s experiential learning activities, so that the experiential experiences can add something on what they have already learnt.Originality/valueThis study found some useful implications for exploring ways for teacher development by applying an experiential learning model in combination with classroom-based learning for active citizenship. This research study recommends implementing pre-experiential conceptual building activities and post-experiential classroom-based enquiry and reflection activities to help students consolidate their learning experiences through verbal and written reflection, as well as on what actions that they can take.

Hacia una educación para la ciudadanía digital crítica y activa en la universidad.

We start with the neo-republican model of citizenship proposed by Habermas to situate it in the context of the digital age. The digital citizen is defined as a person who exercises their rights on the Internet of citizenship from ethical and critical principles consistent with a political activism, in order to promote social change. This study has focused on the evaluation of digital citizenship through the Digital Citizenship Scale of Choi, Glassman and Cristol (2017), with the aim of ascertaining, what profile, dimensions and needs of digital citizenship characterize the university students interviewed (n = 250). The results show that young university students have high digital skills and technical skills, as well as a very regular use of digital media. However, the dimensions of critical approach and political activism o cyberactivsim are deficient. Finally, the fact of seeking information or information through digital means significantly leads to greater digital citizenship, while the accomplishment of activities and academic university tasks does not bring any increase. In conclusion, the university educational level faces the challenge of promoting critical and active digital citizenship education, especially in its dimension of activism or online engagement in all aspects of the teaching-learning process.

Formation and development of civil and social competences in the context of adult education development in countries of northern America: historical aspect

Nowadays adult education is viewed as a means of fulfillment of educational needs of adults, their perfection and self-development and as a means of civil society formation, for it helps to form socially active citizens. Main concepts of active citizenship are “participation”, “democratic society”. Movement for civil rights is key social phenomenon in the USA and Canada.Education for active citizenship is viewed as education, teaching, informative and practical activity, aimed at supplying those who study with knowledge, skills, understanding, formation of models of behavior and attitude in the sphere of democratic rights and duties protection as members of society. Key assignments of education for active citizenship are: provision of citizens with knowledge that are necessary for active participation in life of society, conducting of dialogue and conflict solving, finding of compromise, understanding of rights and duties of people, norms of behavior in society. Development of informal adult education depends on several factors, but the main factor is efficacy and quality of professional teaching of andragogs.There are different specialists such as teachers, psychologists, workers of centers of Adult education, social and rehabilitation centers, administrators, leaders of social organizations work with adults.There is no single classification of andragogs among American and Canadian scientists, but all andragogs are subdivided into two groups: specialists who have diploma in adult education and specialists who have experience in adult education.Key features of andragogs are independence, active position, ability to take risks, ability to work for long hours, respect, kindness and humanity to people, desire for self-perfection and self-criticism.Key functions of anragogs are systematized. Functions of planning, organizing and providing education for adults that presupposes singling out of educational needs and opportunities of adults, proving necessity of program for adults, working out of an educational plan, selection and structuring of an educational content, selection of forms and methods of education, analysis of results, perfection of a program, planning of self-development and self-perfection

Education for Active Citizenship of Saudian Girl

The Objective of the Current Research is to Clarify the Reality of the Practice of the Students of Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz University for Active Citizenship and Mechanisms for Activating it Among University Students; the Researcher Used the Descriptive Approach, The Tool Consisted of a Questionnaire Which Consisted of (59) Paragraphs Divided in to Three Axes, It Was Applied to a Random Sample of the Students of Prince Sattam University (200) Students in Scientific and Humanities Colleges, The Results of the Research Showed That the University of Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz Contribute Significantly to the Development of Active Citizenship of Students from Their Point of View, and that the Degree of Students Represent the University of Prince Sattam to the Dimensions of Active Citizenship Came all Significantly, The Results also Showed no Significant Differences to the Variable of Specialization from the Point of View of Female Students, While the Results Indicate That There are Differences of Statistical Significance Attributed to the Variable School Year, in Favor of the Fourth Year, the Research Ended With the Introduction of Measures to Activate the Role of the University in Promoting the Active Citizenship of the Saudi Girl.