Future Citizens Research Articles

Fostering language awareness through Citizen Science: results and implications of a project with Polish teenagers doing language-related research

This article reports on the rationale, implementation, results and evaluation of four rounds of co-creative Citizen Science (CS) projects (2021–2024) conducted with 10 public secondary schools in Opole, Poland. These educational interventions consisted in facilitating 18 team research projects designed and executed by 55 teenagers (15–17-year-olds) on topics related to communication, linguistic diversity, multiculturalism and language learning. The article shows how such interventions are conducive to pupils’ increased language awareness, their reflectivity about the scientific methods in linguistics, and an inclination towards future citizen engagement regarding literacy-­related issues. The article also focuses on the potential of CS for allowing pupils themselves to enhance their language awareness and socio-linguistic competences while producing experiential and situated knowledge that is relevant to their communities. The project evaluation that was undertaken subsequently traces which learning outcomes are likely to be achieved during co-creative CS and recommends some adaptable tools for monitoring the increase in language awareness in secondary language education, also beyond the Polish context.

Truth-telling about (Teacher) education as settler-colonial project: ‘The past is always with us’

ABSTRACT One of the Editors’ 2022 Challenges to the Field was: What is the story this government wants us to tell our children? What is education for? Continuing this conversation leads to a related question: What can be learnt from reviewing the history of schooling in Australia in this light? I argue here that the nation’s founding discourse of White Australia produced a purposeful project of schooling and teacher education designed to ‘keep rural Australia white’. This also led to the disassociation of rural education and Aboriginal education that remains problematic for rural schools today. As a form of truth-telling from a non-Indigenous perspective, I offer a basis for reflection on the extent to which 21st Century educational practices continue to (re)produce this discourse. Understanding the past – about how the newly federated Australian states century set out to educate their future citizens – is crucial for teacher education aiming for social and environmental justice and change. An anti-colonialist reading of this history of colonial settler schooling might help us understand why the discourse of White Australia (and the systematic regimes of ‘truth’ about our country, its original inhabitants, and its waves of new settler-citizens) has remained so powerful over time.

Walk-centric deliberations

This article outlines methods of practice-oriented teaching at universities integrating democracy, sustainability, and learning in adult education.. The methods highlight the potential for democratic innovation in local communities in which diverse perspectives come together to address societal challenges. With a focus on sustainability and the connection among place, space, and pedagogy it introduces ‘Voice-Resonance Walks,’ a deliberative method piloted in Stuttgart, Germany, for social work education. It also highlights pilot deliberations at the district (Mini-Studentlab Deliberative Walks) and cityscape (Public Transport Walks) levels in Hamburg, Germany, involving interdisciplinary student groups in lifelong learning. These examples illustrate how higher education institutions are engaging with the public sphere, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups of citizens and on fostering civic learning. They aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills to become future experts, decision-makers, and active citizens, capable of understanding the challenges facing both their local neighborhoods and diverse urban spaces.

Teaching literacy to adult migrants in Norway. An interview study exploring teachers' reflections on professional practices

Through an interview study, this article explores teachers’ reflections on professional practices when teaching Norwegian and literacy to adult migrants with little or no previous formal education. Data were collected from ten experienced teachers at three learning centers. The interviews were individual, based on a semi-structured interview guide and conducted on Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic 2021–2022. The study builds on sociological and pedagogical theories of professional practices in which teaching is seen as a profession between macro and micro challenges. The curriculum for teaching Norwegian to adults is a regulation to the Integration Act, which requires teachers to contribute to an “early integration” and “a lasting connection to working life” in addition to transforming the subject content into forms that works for their group of students. Specific language requirements (CEFR B2 level) to obtain Norwegian citizenship add pressure to the teaching situation. The interview study made it possible to explore professional practices as described by the teachers themselves, from within the profession. The analysis uses Biesta’s (2015) three purposes of education as a lens: qualification, socialization and subjectification. All teachers describe their practices as a matter of balancing between choosing and transforming content and caring for their students. They also act as bridge-builders between the adult migrants in their situation as newcomers and their situation as future citizens of Norway, thus reflecting a strong dedication to their students’ lives as adults in Norway and combining all three of Biesta’s purposes of education in their professional practices.

Designing Learning Centres that Facilitate Knowledge Construction on Science Process Skills in Early Childhood Classrooms

Science education is perceived to have the potential to develop 21st century competencies. In Zimbabwe, the teaching of science in early childhood by using learning centres is considered as a way of empowering young learners with scientific knowledge and skills to become productive citizens in future. To strengthen the initiative, resources are being channelled and policies crafted to support the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Despite considerable efforts to introduce STEM in early childhood development (ECD), research concerning the benefits of developing science skills using learning centres is sparse. This study adopted an interpretive paradigm and multiple case study design for three schools and three purposively selected ECD teachers. Data was solicited through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and classroom observations. The variable nature of learning centres in ECD classrooms is an indication of shortcomings in policy on teaching using learning centres. At learning centres, learners construct scientific knowledge, ideas and skills through interaction with peers and developmentally appropriate materials. Teachers should be creative and innovative and create learning centres that enable learners to explore the world and construct scientific knowledge through active participation and sharing ideas. A policy to guide the teachers on constructing appropriate learning centres for effective teaching of science skills should be drafted.

Gamification for Sustainable Management Education: Prosper Management Edition's Role in South Africa's Climate Policy Engagement

The escalating climate crisis necessitates inventive strategies to engage diverse stakeholders in sustainable management and policy-making, particularly in regions like South Africa. "Prosper Management Edition," developed under the GREAT project, leverages gamification to foster communication between future corporate leaders, citizens, and policy stakeholders. This educational game connects sustainability principles with their practical application in management and policy, focusing on the integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into business operations. This paper presents the initial design stages, implementation strategy, expected outcomes, and theoretical underpinnings of the game, aiming to enhance participants' awareness of sustainability and strategic thinking.

Can inclusion of different levels of participation effort improve volunteer diversity and retainment in a citizen science project?

ABSTRACT Citizen science is becoming increasingly popular and important due to the benefits it provides scientists, society, and the environment. However, challenges still exist with the recruitment and retention of demographically diverse volunteers for the success and growth of environment-based citizen science programmes. This study used an avian monitoring citizen science project to investigate (1) the effectiveness of different recruitment methods in obtaining different demographics (gender, age, education), (2) how demographics affect the amount of “participation effort” volunteers were willing to contribute, and (3) whether the amount of “participation effort” influences the intent to undertake future volunteer work. Volunteer demographics did not vary amongst different recruitment methods (aim 1), nor did the level of participation effort influence the intent to volunteer in the future (aim 3). However, older volunteers and those having only completed secondary education were more likely to contribute higher levels of effort, in time spent and additional travel (aim 2). Findings suggest that providing multiple roles that differ in level of effort may be beneficial for future citizen science projects by facilitating the needs and restrictions of different demographics.

Beyond the shore: nurturing future marine biodiversity citizen scientists through Coastal Marine Science Fieldwork programme

ABSTRACT This study aims to assess the impact of the Coastal Marine Science Fieldwork (CMSF) Program in enhancing students' systematic thinking. To prepare students for their role as future global citizens, it is essential to expose them to socioscientific issues and provide first-hand experiences that reveal the interconnectedness of Earth's systems and human activities. Our research yielded the following insights: (1) Students demonstrated a significant increase in systems thinking, environmental nature of science views, and citizen science literacy after the CMSF program, (2) The program afforded students the opportunity to immerse in scientific investigations in ecological environments, effectively bridging the gap between textbook knowledge and the natural world, and (3) Fieldwork opportunities empowered students to assess their compatibility with scientific research, aiding them in making informed career choices in the field of science. This study holds educational significance for students pursuing majors in marine science or related fields at the higher education level. The integration of fieldwork into the learning process allows students to fortify their perspectives on the nature of science, ultimately promoting a greater number of students to consider science as a profession or actively participate in civic action.

Participation of Energy Communities in Electricity Markets and Ancillary Services: An Overview of Successful Strategies

Energy communities are a transformative force in the electricity markets and ancillary services, reshaping the energy landscape through collective action. This paper explores the successful strategies adopted by these communities, highlighting real-world cases where they have participated directly in the market, or through aggregators, or sold their energy to retailers, which is of paramount importance because it serves as a foundation for those countries that wish to implement these entities as part of their decarbonization plan. It also serves as a model for the development of future citizen initiatives that aim to turn citizens into active users of the electricity system. The paper examines collaborative dynamics within the energy sector, highlighting how these communities optimize resource sharing and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable energy system. The study emphasizes the potential of energy communities in driving innovation and fostering a participatory approach to energy management. The results show that some pilot projects are being developed and several electricity cooperatives, one of the most common forms of energy communities, are participating in energy trading with their members and other entities. More efforts are also needed for energy communities to participate more directly in the market and/or through aggregators.

Innovate for Impact: Young Adults Education and Empowerment for Climate Action

AbstractAnthropogenic climate change is a significant driver of disasters, such as tropical storms, floods, drought and loss of biodiversity, amplifying their frequency and severity worldwide. The annual incidence of extreme weather-related events increases with growing human exposure to risks. The Sendai Framework and its associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise the interlinkages between disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and sustainable development. However, despite the best intentions of disaster planners, the current efforts are suboptimal in promoting implementation. Education is a critical goal to achieve sustainable development. Environmental Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) seeks to equip students with the knowledge, skills, values and agency necessary to address the complex challenges of climate change and global warming. One example of such an educational programme is the “Speak to Me in Numbers” programme. This interdisciplinary ESD programme educates 9th graders in SDG-related scientific content through scientific data analysis. It strives to inspire students to develop their agency and become responsible future citizens by taking local climate action to bring about sustainable development in their communities. Empowered young people who become agents that bring about global changes are crucial in the context of the climate crisis. However, such efforts should be undertaken cautiously to avoid doing more harm than good by evoking climate anxiety. These implications are discussed.

Evaluation of digital competency of professional teachers

Education is a critical tool for social transformation. Schools reflect society, shaping the future of a country. Teachers are the architects who build, direct, and shape society through their students, who are the future citizens. Therefore, the role of teachers is pivotal. Digitalization has revolutionized economies, governments, communities, and businesses to a great extent. The National Policy on Education 2020 is a major reform in India's education sector, emphasizing Outcome-Based Education (OBE). This article explores the implications of digital competency on pedagogical practices, curriculum design, and student engagement. It highlights the importance of seamlessly integrating technology into the educational process, promoting active learning, and nurturing critical thinking skills. Additionally, it discusses the impact of digital competency on teacher-student relationships, emphasizing the need for teachers to serve as digital role models and mentors. The current study investigates the degree of awareness and identifies the factors affecting the digital competency of professional teachers in Maharashtra's Palghar district. Primary data from 103 professional teachers was collected through structured questionnaires and online surveys. This study is significant as it addresses digitalization, e-learning, competency mapping, and capacity building of professional teachers.

Incorporating Climate Engineering into Secondary Education: A New Direction for Indiana’s Science Classrooms

Climate change represents a significant existential challenge in modern times, with widespread anxiety over its impacts. There's a growing desire among students to explore climate solutions and identify actions they can personally undertake to address climate change. Despite mitigation efforts, current greenhouse gas emission reduction measures are insufficient, and the development of negative emission technologies is both slow and costly. Consequently, the past two decades have witnessed an escalating interest in alternative strategies to temporarily and intentionally cool the planet. These strategies include injecting reflective particles into the stratosphere or increasing the reflectivity of low-lying ocean clouds. Collectively known as climate engineering, also called geoengineering, these approaches could serve as a temporary shield against the most severe outcomes of climate change, buying time while efforts to mitigate emissions and enhance carbon sequestration reach the required scale.In line with the Indiana state science standards (HS-ESS3-4), this article presents the Climate Engineering Teaching Module (CETM) and recounts firsthand experiences from its application in high school settings. Launched over three years ago, the CETM has been effectively integrated into fifteen Indiana classrooms. As the future citizens and leaders of Indiana, it is crucial that students are well-informed on climate engineering. Educating them about the scientific, ethical, political, and economic facets of climate engineering is imperative for fostering responsible decision-making. By examining the trade-offs associated with climate engineering and encouraging students to conceptualize ways to implement these technologies beneficially while minimizing risks, the CETM offers an innovative and practical approach to teaching climate change and engineering design. This method not only prepares students for active engagement in future discussions on climate engineering but also equips them with a comprehensive understanding of its complexities.

Cardiac arrest in school: the role of teachers as BLS-D providers

The implementation of BLS-D training courses in the school setting aims to increase the number of future citizens competent in the recognition and treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to increase overall survival. It is important to make teachers and students aware of their social responsibilities, consolidating collaboration with healthcare professionals. The present study investigates, through a cross-sectional cognitive survey, the perception of the importance of knowledge and diffusion of basic BLS manoeuvres and early defibrillation in the treatment of cardiac arrest. An anonymous questionnaire was sent to secondary school teachers, divided into 14 questions: 12 items in closed form according to the Delphi method and the 5-point Likert rating scale, and the last two with different response methods. The total number of teachers who participated in the survey was 120. The majority of respondents believe that it is essential to know and transmit notions related to BLS-D to students, without the need to have an official certification as an instructor. Most of the teachers consider useful to have specific information on the placement and use of the defibrillator, to set reminder systems on life-saving manoeuvres and to share protocols on the management of cardiac arrest. The introduction of BLS-D training at school determines a constant increase in competent students and therefore the birth of a network of people educated in the management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The teaching skills of teachers also allow them to identify the best strategies to make the learning method clear and valid for students. The autonomy of teachers in fulfilling the role of instructors is still poorly consolidated and shared, thus requiring the support of healthcare professionals.

‘But there’s no history here!’: children, heritage education, and the BBC Broadcasts for Schools, 1924–45

Abstract The BBC offered broadcasts for schools almost from its inception; a significant strand of this programming focussed on teaching children about the material remains of the past in their own localities. Employing an impressive roster of historians, writers, and educationalists, the BBC experimented with innovative formats to engage children with what we would now call ‘heritage’. In Scotland first, then England and Wales, programmes aimed to construct national identities on the basis of children’s aural encounters with specific historical sites and artefacts. Young listeners were encouraged to become ‘heritage makers’ themselves, investigating their historical environments, collecting local stories, archiving objects, writing guidebooks. While at first, these programmes seem largely concerned with the preservation of historic sites from the encroachment of modernity, gradually the localized remains of the past were used more explicitly as a means of moulding citizenship in the nation’s youth. The Second World War gave this nation-building programming a new urgency, while post-War broadcasts challenged children to use their historical environments as a basis for building better places for the future. Analysing broadcasts from the 1920s to the 1940s, this article shows how this local history, ‘Rural Environment’ and ‘Regional Survey’ school’s programming constitutes an overlooked chapter in the history of the BBC’s attempts to reach and influence new audiences. It argues that these broadcasts pioneered new ways of deploying place-based history to fashion future citizens, anticipating the educative function that has now become an expected part of the heritage provision.

Promiscuous Possibilities: Regenerating a Decolonial Genealogy of Samoan Reproduction

Most of the common ways of thinking about genealogical reproduction are influenced by colonialism and capitalism, which emphasize the importance of the nuclear family, heterosexuality and reproducing future citizens. Under colonialism and capitalism, Samoan women are disciplined into good reproductive laborers who reproduce the moral family and also wider society. This paper looks to Indigenous feminist discourse of regeneration to place Samoan reproductive labor outside of capitalism and within Indigenous feminist genealogies of world-building, asking what other promiscuous possibilities there are for Samoan regeneration. Here, we present a theoretical exploration: thinking with Indigenous feminism offers a decolonial intervention into Samoan reproduction, placing Samoan women’s labor into an alternative genealogy of Indigenous feminist world-building and outside of colonially imposed genealogies.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Ethical Reasoning about Climate Ethics and Climate Justice

The climate crisis is an ethical issue besides being an environmental problem. Therefore, examining pre-service teachers’ ethical reasoning about climate change is crucial since they will educate future global citizens. To achieve this aim, this study probed into pre-service teachers’ reasoning on climate ethics and climate justice by asking them to answer the questions in two different reflections. The participants of the current study were 31 pre-service teachers (10 males, 21 females) who study in the English Language Teaching Program at the Faculty of Education at a private university in Turkey. In the 1st reflection, they identified and justified ethical issues regarding climate change and discuss how they could teach them in their class. The 2nd reflection asked them to discuss climate justice and design an instruction to teach climate justice by using a story and a game. The results suggest identifying and naming the ethical issue as climate justice and asking pre-service teachers to design teaching on stories and games in a structured way to facilitate ethical reasoning.

How Can the Inclusive School Leader Promote a Democratic Society? The Case of Greek Schools

School is a key factor in promoting democratic citizenship to all children, who are the future citizens of society. This article focuses on the role of the inclusive school leader and the good practices followed to promote equality and democracy for all children in the school. Six primary school principals from Greece, specifically from schools in Athens and Thessaloniki, participated in the research. The results of the survey showed that good practices adopted by inclusive school leaders promote equality and democracy among all children through actions implemented in cooperation with the local community. The article concludes with a discussion, with limitations and suggestions for strengthening the democratic culture of all children in order to promote social inclusion.

Can Empathy Provide a Route to Democratic Inclusivity?

How can democracies promote full consideration of all relevant interests in political decision-making? Is there a role for empathy, especially where there are obstacles to direct inclusion of relevant groups, as for example in the case of future generations and citizens of other countries? Critics of existing uses of empathy in political theory press that limits to our capacity to empathise can lead to bias and partiality. I argue instead for a more nuanced ‘holistic’ approach to the use of empathy into democratic design. The approach recommends, first, that we be sensitive to the potential consequences of catalysing empathy in specific decision-making contexts, rather than making general prescriptions. Second, it asks us to consider how different methods of empathic induction generate insight and motivation of different strength and degrees of generality. Third, the approach proposes not only that empathy be introduced into existing institutions and designs, but that we aim through democratic design to bring patterns of power into closer alignment with naturally occurring patterns of empathy. Fourth, the approach recommends taking a pragmatic view of which interventions might be most useful in any particular institutional context.

Are WIDA Test Results Appropriately Reflecting Multilingual Learners’ Language Skills According to ESOL Teachers’ Experiences?

Within the field of multilingual learner (ML) education, ESOL teachers’ voices are often overlooked and underrepresented despite their integral role in developing productive and knowledgeable future citizens. This study sheds light on the experiences of ESOL teachers that administer the federally mandated annual standardized testing created by World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA). It uses focus-group interviews to gather qualitative data from two neighboring school districts in order to gain insight into the WIDA assessments’ reflection of language proficiency. WIDA testing evaluates English language development by measuring academic and social language skills within the four language domains: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. MLs without severe, classified disabilities in grades K-12 participate annually in the Assessing Comprehension and Communication of English State-to-State (ACCESS) assessment by WIDA. Results place students into proficiency categories ranging from entering (a student new to English) to bridging (a near-fluent ML), as defined by the WIDA language proficiency standards. The interviews allowed the ESOL teachers to share their experiences with MLs’ classroom performances in the four testing domains compared to their performances on the online WIDA assessments. The interview data was analyzed and categorized into three main themes based on teacher responses: assessment preparation techniques, common perceptions of the assessment, and proposed changes to improve the assessment. Each of these themes, with their local and national implications, are discussed as they affect the nature of ESOL instruction and assessment.

“We will treat you well because you are helping our nation”: Migrant Wives and Functionalist Visions of Belonging in South Korea

Over the last three decades, cross-border marriages between non-Korean women and Korean men have become increasingly common, comprising between 4% and 10% of all annual marriages in South Korea since 2005. In this article, I explore the historically evolving gendered, racialized, and classed normativities that migrant wives have confronted during this period. Triangulating between state-collected statistical data; ethnographic, demographic, and legal studies on migrant wives in Korea; and the country’s changing laws and policies on marriage migration, I show how these normativities, or what I term “functionalist visions of belonging,” have defined the legitimacy of migrant wives’ presence primarily in terms of their imagined use-values. I suggest that migrant wives have been interpellated by at least three analytically distinct functionalist visions of belonging over the past three decades: (1) ethnonational, which interpellated them in terms of “blood (dis)similarities”; (2) social-Confucian, which interpellated them in terms of their ability to fulfill gendered Confucian social roles; and (3) biopolitical, which interpellated them in terms of their biological-reproductive potential and also as the molders, not merely the bearers, of future Korean citizens.