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Abstract The European Union (EU) faces challenges that affect its persistence, including the revival of national populism in many EU member states. Studies have shown that individuals with immigration histories identify less strongly with Europe than individuals without immigration histories. Therefore, fostering a strong identification with Europe is more relevant than ever. This paper will explore the possible historical roots of different levels of identification and examine if differing access to learning opportunities can explain the difference. Drawing on data from the German sample of the International Civic and Citizenship Study 2016, this paper aims to determine the relevance of individual variables and learning opportunities for the development of students’ identification with Europe. Multilevel analyses at individual and classroom level were conducted introducing different independent variables. Results show that having no immigration history from outside the EU, being Christian or atheist, and learning about Europe at school are predictors of a stronger level of identification with Europe. The effect of having an immigration history from outside the EU loses significance when socio-economic status classroom composition is entered into the model. We conclude that differences in identification are not due to different access to learning opportunities, but likely due to personal characteristics.

This paper aims to open a reflective framework, that should be useful to the Romanian education system and encompass ways in which citizenship education is studied in other European countries, at primary and secondary levels. In this regard, the article presents the characteristics of the school systems which are based on maximalist and minimalistic approaches to citizenship education, the critical approaches to citizenship education and, consequently, the concept of “critical citizenship”. The article also includes a brief timeline of legislative and public policy efforts at European level to support education for democratic citizenship, starting from the Maastricht Treaty and reaching the “Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture”. Last but not least, the paper will highlight a series of reforms and approaches to citizenship education at European level (as a separate or integrated school subject, or in a crosscurricular perspective), that references the latest Eurydice study on citizenship education in European schools.

The aim of this paper is to document the difficulties faced by teachers in Spain, since the General Education Law of 1970, in implementing education in and for democracy under the conceptual paradigm of the common good. This issue is explored from three perspectives: legislation, the relationship between school and society, and classroom methodologies. A qualitative approach was employed, based on interviews from which testimonies were collected from nine teachers in basic education. The results show the teachers’ interest in providing education in democratic values and the obstacles they face in achieving this objective, a result of a separation between the political and sociocultural purposes of education, the influence of each ideological context, and a failure to understand education as a common good.

There is a common assumption that the removal of civics from the curriculum between 1995 and 2002, when Malawi became a democracy might have deformed citizenship and civic education (CE). This narrative assumes that civics, as a discipline, was critical for instilling democratic and civic values among Malawians. This then prompted the Tonse Alliance Government (TAG) to change the Ministry of Civic Education and Culture (MoCC) to the Ministry of Civic Education and National Unity (MoCENU) as the first step. Additionally, the then Minister of MoCENU proposed a policy change to reintroduce civics in schools arguing that, it is only through this subject that democratic citizenship can be realized. Accordingly, this paper sought to argue that mere changing of MoCC to MoCENU, and reintroducing civics in schools may add nothing toward the creation of democratic citizenship when we consider global trends. This paper therefore utilized qualitative research design especially Critical Hermeneutics to analyze available literature on citizenship and CE trends, its conceptions and common issues around the globe. In doing so, the paper sought to explain whether Malawi's CE projects have been on the right trajectory or not, and how power-relations and political interests have shaped its development. Mainly, we ascribed to the epigram that, straightening a tree is better done in its sapling. In other words, the best spaces for behavior change and habit formation remain the schools because they are naturally designed to prepare children for such roles and functions. While our arguments might not be final, we still understand that many researches have held a fragmented view of citizenship and CE. We thus sought to analyze these two concepts in the lenses of Critical Pedagogy as suggested by Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux who understood schools as political spaces where the hegemony captures the curriculum to oppress society while protecting their interests. By advocating for a democratic model of education anchored in humanization, problem-posing, and critical conscientization, Critical Pedagogy molds students into future citizens who values critical thinking, transparency and democratic values.

The article outlines the ways of engaging young people in the development of civil society in Ukraine. Socially and politically active young people are one of the necessary conditions for forming a democratic society and establishing sustainable and functioning civil society institutions. Therefore, in this paper, the scholars aim to identify the ways of youth interaction with public authorities in Ukraine and general levels of youth civic engagement, as well as to characterize the culture of citizenship as a factor in involving young people in civil society development. The research reveals the relevant issue regarding the prominent role of civil society in various spheres of activity of state authorities and local self-government bodies, a qualitatively new level of interaction between civil society, especially youth as an active part of it, and state and local self-government bodies in order to establish effective dialogue and partnership relations of state bodies authorities, local self-government bodies with civil society organizations. The research combined interdisciplinary approaches of several related scientific fields (political science, public administration and education), which allowed to set broader goals and find new ways for improving youth engagement in the development of civil society in Ukraine. The authors developed and conducted an expert survey on youth engagement in the development of civil society and identified possible ways to improve youth participation in public and political life. Authors interviewed 24 experts aged from 18 to 60 years from various fields who are interested in building a democratic state governed by the rule of law: leaders and members of public organizations, teachers of higher education institutions, scholars, deputies of regional and local councils, civil society activists and businessmen. It was determined that the effective participation of youth in decision-making processes consists in creating opportunities to involve youth in influencing, shaping, developing and promoting policy and development of services and programs. These opportunities are created by developing a range of formal and informal mechanisms for youth participation, from youth advisory groups to focus groups, from ongoing consultation work to supporting youth projects. As a result of the study, the authors developed a set of conclusions and recommendations addressed to educational institutions, public authorities, local governments and civil society organizations.

This project has been implemented in a class of 17 children over a period of five schoolyears. A laboratory teaching aimed at creating compelling and increasingly challenging experiences for our students. In particular, the History of the Governor Palace in the old town of Cento in the time of the Este family and the Partecipanza Agraria were crucial to bring our children back to the origins of this territory. Through a “re-appropriation” of their own history – whose legendary significance was told by old relatives and friends – children have become aware of the past of this landscape area. A journey through time by consulting old papers, maps, written and iconographic documents. An active investigation of the past by visiting the municipal historical archives of Cento and the headquarters of Partecipanza Agraria. Transversal competencies have been definitely acquired by students and teachers as well as through this multifaceted experience.

The importance of youth participation is underlined by international policies, which widely stress youth’s fundamental role in developing more just and sustainable societies. At the same time, disaffection from the more traditional democratic processes is registered by young people, who instead seem to be looking for forms of expression of a different nature. This paper aims to question the forms of participation of young people, offering to consider them as resources for the broader society within the perspective of public pedagogy (Biesta, 2012), suggesting that the institutions let themselves be informed by what is happening.

This paper provides an introduction to the book symposium on Julian Culp’s Democratic Education in a Globalized World. In this paper we introduce the themes and core claims of Culp’s book, sketch the contributions made by authors of this symposium, and highlight the plausibility of the book’s significance for debates in political philosophy, philosophy of education, educational public policy, as well as for the practice of political education. The issue includes three critical essays by Michael Festl, Martin Beckstein, and Michael Geiss as well as a response to the critics by Culp.

Purpose – This paper considers how online character education applications can be applied by educational practitioners within the school environment to meet curriculum requirements and increase the learning opportunities for citizenship education. Design/methodology/approach – The Draft Curriculum for Wales 2022 is used as an example of how this can be achieved through innovative applications that are linked to the areas of personal development within the Margerison C-Model. Findings – The five aspects of the framework focus on how practical applications can be used by teachers to enable individual development of character strengths. In particular, reference is made on how technology plays an increasing role in enabling both students and teachers to access learning opportunities. Practical implications – The paper suggests practical applications to enable the integration of technology into personal and social learning. Social implications – This aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, (SDG4), which highlights social–emotional development and learning as a specific area of educational importance. Originality/value – The paper indicates ways to enhance identity and life-long learning.

This paper seeks to present a research findings related to the philosophical foundations of citizenship education in terms of the opinions of two of the most important contemporary philosophers of the post-structuralism school - Derrida and Foucault - from a comparative perspective. The article has six sections: The first section deals with the necessity and purpose of the research. In the second section, a brief overview of the theoretical foundations and background of research topic is explored. The third section briefly explains the research methodology. The fourth section is devoted to the findings of the study, which consists of two parts: The first section presents a rotational evolutionary model of the relationship between philosophical schools, political system, educational system, social education and citizenship education. The researchers then show how Derrida and Foucault - while criticizing authoritarian political systems - view the main dimensions of education systems in the service of citizenship education. The fifth section is concerned with examining the similarities and differences of two philosophers’ opinions on citizenship education. The paper ends with a conclusion.

This special issue contains three interesting articles which provide some innovating teaching experiences across different East Asian societies. They have presented some salient educational issues across different societies in this East Asia, which can possibly provide some references for other societies when they embark on educational reforms. This collection of papers further upfront recent issues such as moral education, community participation for social cohesions, and using educational institutes to promote culture as soft power.

The need to include citizenship education in the school curriculum has been considered as significant for advancing democratic values, social justice, and human development. Debates on citizenship formation focus on various dimensions, such as human rights and global citizenship with limited focus on how “curriculum transposition” of citizenship education in teacher education has been undertaken. This paper argues that there is a need for citizenship education that advances democratic values, human capabilities, and social justice. It draws on 5 lecturer participants’ voices in a case study on the operationalisation of National and Strategic Studies, a variant of citizenship education, in two Zimbabwean teachers’ colleges. The paper investigates the form of citizenship cultivated by National and Strategic Studies, how this is achieved, and the challenges and opportunities to advancing critical citizenship among future teachers. The findings suggest that, despite aspirational moments of teaching and learning for critical thinking, curriculum and pedagogical practices represent an imperfect realisation of advancing critical citizenship. The paper proposes the need for curriculum and pedagogical practices in citizenship education to be more critical and democratic to form a robust form of citizenship that is democratic and critical.

The role of people and society is very important in children's growth, because with the education provided by parents and the community to instill value education and civic education. This paper is a qualitative research using literature review method, the data is then analyzed and studied inductively. The results of this study indicate that the role of people as first educators in the family environment has an influence on children's personality development and supports children's education. Meanwhile, the role of the community in value education and civic education is its role as the organizer and implementation of quality education in everyday life in society. However, an obstacle is an obstacle in instilling value education and citizenship education both in the family or community environment that does not support the formation of a value. The efforts of parents and society in instilling value education and civic education properly for children by realizing a culture of mutual cooperation, not littering, and reprimanding children for taking bad actions.

Highlights • Constitutional freedom of education affects democratic citizenship education policy. • Citizenship education legislation in 2006 and 2007 placed little demands on schools. • Legislation introduced in 2021 has further specified what is expected from schools. • Studies of citizenship education in practice are largely critical of the extent to which schools teach about, through and for democracy. Purpose: This paper discusses developments in citizenship education policy and practice in the Netherlands, and outlines key challenges as faced by the different stakeholders involved. Design/methodology/approach: Our discussion is based on existing research and policy documents in the Netherlands. The authors, from three Dutch universities, are experts in the field of research on citizenship education. Findings: Promoting citizenship education in primary, secondary and vocational tertiary education in the Netherlands has been challenging, particularly in light of the constitutional freedom of education in the Netherlands. Five issues are discussed in this regard: the contents of CE legislation, the normative character of legal requirements, integration of CE legislation in national curriculum aims, clarifying expectations from schools in teaching CE, and teacher education and professionalization.

Keywords: Citizenship education; Measuring citizenship competences; Output-driven approach; Data-use in education; Social outcomes of education Highlights: • Research on effective characteristics of citizenship education is still scarce. • An output-driven approach may improve the effectiveness of citizenship education. • We reflect on the feasibility of an output-driven approach to citizenship education. • We conclude that such an approach seems feasible for citizenship education. • Normativity and the availability and quality of measurement instruments need attention. Purpose: Scholars are increasingly paying attention to the characteristics of effective citizenship education. The systematic use of data to maximise student learning, also called an output-driven approach, is often presented as a powerful predictor of student outcomes. However, its effectiveness has not been studied in citizenship education. Therefore, this paper aims to theoretically reflect on whether an output-driven approach is also feasible for citizenship education. Methodology: We distinguish five building blocks of an output-driven approach and elaborate on their applicability in citizenship education. While doing so, we draw attention to the normative notion in citizenship education and the quality and availability of measurement instruments for citizenship competences. Both may challenge the application of an output-driven approach, particularly given the relatively young tradition of measuring citizenship competences. Findings: We conclude that an output-driven approach in citizenship education seems feasible, provided that the characteristics of citizenship education are carefully considered.

Citizenship and citizenship education face challenges due to globalizing factors affecting modern liberal-democratic states. Earlier models of citizenship, which were based on assimilation into the dominant society, have been challenged by scholars seeking to create a fuller understanding of citizenship more inclusive of diversity. This paper addresses the works of Martha Nussbaum and James A. Banks who present two possibilities for citizenship education: purified patriotism (Nussbaum) and transformative citizenship education (Banks). By considering values, identity and the national narrative, this paper compares their views in relation to these topics as well as gives supporting and opposing ideas from other scholars. It concludes by stating that these authors share a common commitment to the need for a critical civic culture, which in turn requires a willingness and openness on the part of all citizens to use their imagination and help foster the critical capacity to think anew. In this way, the traditional dichotomous debate over citizenship, values and identity within the nation and the world might be transformed. By utilizing what Freire refers to as deliberative dialogue, we can foster creative solutions to ensure that universal values of justice, tolerance, recognition and equality are not merely democratic ideals, but are practiced by all individuals and institutions. Furthermore, this paper addresses the need for a teacher training program which would teach educators how to promote and endorse a critical culture through dialogue within the classroom and create citizens who are capable of using their imagination and critical thinking to function cooperatively within a multicultural society.

This research analyzes how citizenship and communicative competences can be fostered through a task-based approach to language teaching. This paper proposes the design of a unit with social components as the main meaningful task for the teaching of the English language and for fostering citizenship competencies in A2 level learners. An action research method was used; data collection techniques included observations, diaries, interviews, and students’ artifacts. Findings report that tasks might foster English language use if those are designed by taking into account students’ context and interests. Furthermore, real-life tasks derived from contextual features can enhance civic engagement and promote values, which can be signals of citizenship.

Purpose: The aim of this country report is to offer an overview of civic and citizenship education in Spain. Approach: The report analyses the Spanish curriculum and the current legislative framework, examining the way social and civic competences are integrated in both primary and secondary education. Additionally, the paper also examines the latest educational reform, establishing a comparison between how citizenship education was addressed in the curriculum until 2013 and the way a cross-curricular approach has been adopted since then. Findings: The paper has been able to establish a clear difference between two political conceptions. On one hand, from 2006 to 2013, the Spanish government introduced “Citizenship and Human Rights Education” as a core subject. After the 2013 reform, the new government favoured instead a cross-curricular approach that avoided references to the idea of citizenship and limited the scope of civic education. A discussion is provided regarding what policy reforms can be expected in the near future in Spain.

In recent decades, discussions regarding citizenship and citizenship education have evolved from a marginal issue in political philosophy and the philosophy of education to one of the most pressing topics in contemporary discussions about the civic aims of public schooling. The place and contribution of citizenship education in public schools have become central points of discussion and debate in terms of theory, research, policy, and practice. Yet, existing conceptions of citizenship education differ considerably over various issues, including the basic motivational impulses associated with the civic aims of public education. In particular, the recent upsurge of phenomena as diverse as hate speech, populism, the shrinking civic space, radicalisation, and violent extremism have shifted the main justificatory impulse from consequentialist to urgency-based arguments. This shift of emphasis has had some unreflected consequences related to the justification for citizenship education in public schools. The central purpose of this article is to expound on the two main impulses associated with the civic aims of public schools and their interrelationship with social changes. The main part contrasts these two opposing motivational impulses associated with the justification of citizenship education. Each of the two impulses is presented and then clarified with an example to shed light on the basic justificatory procedure associated with it. The concluding part of this paper sketches the most distinctive challenges of the alternative conception of justifying citizenship education and its interplay with social change.

This paper discusses the effects of the learning environment on an important and unique 21st century learning outcome—that of active citizenship, in contrast to more conventionally measured cognitive and attitudinal outcomes. In our study, we utilized a learning environment instrument, the Place-Based Learning and Constructivist Environment Survey (PLACES) with an integrated environmental studies program prepared for high school students in the Canadian context. Our research used a retrospective case study design to investigate how aspects of this unique learning environment are related to long-term, active citizenship outcomes as perceived by students from two previous student cohorts (N = 24 and N = 36) who were contacted several years after the culmination of the program. To access information about student perceptions, PLACES was implemented as part of a range of mixed methods which also included focus groups and interviews. This study is important because it links key aspects of the learning environment to long-term citizenship outcomes and is unique in that the data were collected five and eight years later as part of a longitudinal study. Our findings demonstrate that the learning environment and citizenship outcomes were closely linked, and that students’ perceptions as measured by the PLACES instrument (past and present) were remarkably stable across all dimensions. These findings further indicate significant and positive implications for future learning environments research.

A recurring motif in recent scholarship in the computing ethics and society studies (CESS) subfield within computing have been the calls for a wider recognition of the social and political nature of computing work. These calls have highlighted the limitations of an ethics-only approach to covering social and political topics such as bias, fairness, equality, and justice within computing curricula. However, given the technically focused background of most computing educators, it is not necessarily clear how political topics should best be addressed in computing courses. This paper proposes that one helpful way to do so is via the well-established pedagogy of citizenship education, and as such it endeavors to introduce the discourse of citizenship education to an audience of computing educators. In particular, the change within citizenship education away from its early focus on personal responsibility and duty to its current twin focus on engendering civic participation in one’s community along with catalyzing critical attitudes to the realities of today’s social, political, and technical worlds, is especially relevant to computing educators in light of computing’s new-found interest in the political education of its students. Related work in digital literacy education is also discussed.

It has been widely argued that effective citizenship education should focus on more than mere teaching of civic knowledge, but should provide a wider range of opportunities for the experience of participation and development of skills, efficacy and interest instrumental to active citizenship. Opportunities for critical reflection such as open classroom discussions, fairness at school, institutional efficacy and student participation at school activities have been linked to the development of civic and political attitudes. The capacity of school education to provide opportunities for critical reflection on students’ participative experiences, however, has not been explored empirically sufficiently. This paper aims to identify the contribution of different school characteristics to the development of civic and political attitudes and their impact on students’ level of participation in civic activities through a mixed methods study. Questionnaire data collected in two waves with 685 adolescents from Italy were analyzed through structural equation modeling to test the effects of school characteristics at Time 1 (democratic climate, student participation and critical reflection) on civic participation at Time 2, mediated by institutional trust, civic efficacy and political interest. In order to explore the quantitative findings and examine further students’ perceptions of the school aspects that support their civic involvement, focus group discussions were conducted with students from secondary schools with different tracks.The results highlight the importance of opportunities for active involvement in school and critical reflection in fostering political interest, efficacy and civic participation. Democratic school climate was found to impact institutional trust and civic efficacy, but not participation. Students’ accounts of schools’ citizenship education activities highlight further the need for a participative environment that rises above information transmission by inviting critical reflection and giving value to students’ active involvement in the institution.

This study focuses on continuities and changes in the dualism of national education after the collapse of the New-Order Regime in 1998. It argues that the Indonesian dualism of education may serve as a significant context in shaping the existing tensions in citizenship education in post- New-Order Indonesia. Drawing from a thematic analysis of citizenship education documents, related policy, and interviews with authors and higher education teaching staff, this study echoes the latest observations that reveal a more intertwining than rigid separation of the continuing dualism of national education. Yet, unlike the previous studies that reveal the tensions in more Islamic-based education, in its response to a more secular and modern demand, this study further highlights the intertwining of the dualism of education palpable in the citizenship education policy in post-New-Order Indonesia. It further calls for policy makers and educators to evaluate the existing citizenship education curriculum and its implementation within the context of an intertwined educational dualism in Indonesia. As such, this paper further aims to highlight the urgency of considering broader cultural and political contexts and actors involved in the process of reproducing official narratives of Indonesianess in the national curricula.

This article draws from a case study exploring the link between girls’ citizenship education and identity-based violence. The research was conducted in a girls’ government secondary school in Islamabad, Pakistan. The data was collected through participant observation, qualitative interviews and a participatory workshop with 23 school staff, as well as focus groups with 33 students. The focus of this paper is on how school practice – the day-to-day activities that happen in and out of the classroom – reproduces a gendered and classed notion of citizenship. Drawing on Galtung’s (1969; 1990) violence triangle, I then link the findings to the implications for violence against women. The findings indicate that for the urban middle-class girls of the case study school, citizenship is entwined with historical constructions of nationalist and religious notions of womanhood. Citizenship education teaches girls that their duty to the state is located in the private sphere of the home, as mothers and wives, while excluding them from the rights associated with citizenship that are located in the male dominated public sphere.These notions of unequal citizenship were evident in the responses from both teachers and students about the roles of women in creating a more peaceful Pakistan. Most of the teachers (all of whom are women) and students indicated that they had limited agency to affect change outside of an ability to influence their children and husbands. I argue that citizenship education in this school serves as a form of gendered cultural violence as it discourages girls from affecting change on the social structures that disempower them.

Citizenship education is considered an essential tool for democratic development. This article begins with a reflection of the central problems that are afflicting the democratic process in Iraq, issues such as corruption, civil and ethnic conflict, and populational diversity in Iraqi society. This article argues that by introducing a comprehensive citizenship education program into the school curriculum, it will have a positive effect on both national democratic development and political participation in Iraq. It will also help young learners to recognise their civic rights and responsibilities. The paper also analyses the extent to which citizenship education can play a role in building the Iraqi national identity. This application is not to deny other religious or ethnic identities in Iraq but to encourage them to adhere to civic and national identity. The questions that this article has addressed are the following: What is citizenship education? What is its importance? What are the significant problems facing democracy and citizenship education? And finally, why is citizenship education needed in Iraq?

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.

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.

This paper focuses upon the community engagement of young peoplegrowing up in socio-economically disadvantaged areas and the creation ofapt civic learning spaces. It is in direct response to public policy within theUK, as in many other democratic countries, giving continued attention tohow young people’s active citizenship can be best supported. As aconsequence of processes of globalisation, social change and technologicaladvancement it is being increasingly recognised that young citizens faceunprecedented challenges in the 21st century. At the same time youngpeople growing up within areas of socio-economic disadvantage arecommonly identified as being most at risk of social exclusion anddiscouragement with regard to their civic participation.This paper draws from the EngagED project, a two-year study based inEngland that used a mixed methods research approach to explore the civicaction and learning of young people living in both inner city and rural areasof socio-economic disadvantage. It presents an eco-systemic model of thehost of factors and agencies that influence young people’s civic identity andpatterns of community engagement. It outlines two new civic learningspaces that were created in response to these complex ecologies and fromthese experiments in ‘pre-figurative practice’ proposes a set of keyprinciples for the effective civic pedagogue. This radical notion of the civiceducator moves away from educational strategies that seek to ‘transform’young people into good future citizens, towards finding personalised waysof supporting young people ‘as’ citizens.

In response to the violence of our era and the vast movement of people around the globe, the author argues that effective social studies education should include an understanding ourselves within communities of shared fate collectively building strategies of civility. Through conceptual analysis, the paper supports arguments that citizenship education should be grounded in communities of fate, rather than a sense of shared identity as a member of a particular country. Shared fate is the idea that our lives are intertwined with others in ways we perceive and ways we cannot. Civility is elaborated as concrete strategies that support or make possible broad participation in the demos. Looking at citizenship through the lens of communities of shared fate changes how we think about belonging and our responsibilities to one another in our shared world. The author provides examples of early career educators’ moral commitment to teaching from a perspective of shared fate and as well as their concerns to link the conceptual work to concrete practices within elementary school classrooms.

La estrategia pedagógica implementada a través de un conjunto de talleres educativos para favorecer el desarrollo de ambientes más humanos y algunas competencias ciudadanas es resultado de un proceso de investigación en aula de la línea de Pedagogía Social, del programa de Maestría en Educación de la Universidad de La Sabana. El artículo plantea el enfoque pedagógico Ambiente Humano como categoría conceptual para desarrollar comportamientos ambientales y ciudadanos que favorezcan la participación y la calidad de vida, en función tanto del perfeccionamiento personal como de la expresión de la libertad humana y del mejoramiento de habilidades sociales y de participación ciudadana. Se describen la planeación, desarrollo y seguimiento de once talleres educativos que abarcan los ámbitos de mejoramiento del ambiente humano (la persona, la familia, la institución educativa y la comunidad local-global); por lo tanto, están diseñados a partir de elementos conceptuales que sensibilizan a docentes y estudiantes sobre la necesidad de crecer en lo personal y lo familiar y de valorar la vida institucional y social tanto en lo local como en lo global.The teaching strategies for the development of "human environment" and civic competencies were introduced and implemented via a series of educational workshops. They represent the end result of a classroom research process. The strategies were planned within the framework of the Social Pedagogy outlines contained in the Master of Education Program at the University of La Sabana, Colombia. This paper presents a focus on "human environment" as a big conceptual category that may be used to develop environmental behaviours and civic competencies at different levels (in each person, the family, the school institution, the local community and the world). These behaviours and competencies should help to improve levels of civic participation and social skills, enhancing the overall quality of life and, most especially, with regards to the idea of personal improvement when seen as an expression of human liberty. In summary, this paper describes the planning, development and follow-up process that involved eleven educational workshops, all of which dealt with the field of "human environment." The workshops were designed from conceptual elements whose aim was to sensitize both teachers and students regarding the need for personal and family growth and the inherent value of living within society, its institutions and educational communities at local and national levels.

Global citizenship is driven by the belief that it is necessary to promote a global conscience, skills, values and attitudes in favor of a more sustainable and inclusive world, able to coun- ter serious criticalities, such as poverty, imbalances, forced migration, climate change, con- flicts, which often accompany current development models. This article is dedicated to the articles that make up this issue of the magazine and which were selected from those pre- sented in the call for paper “Towards Global Citizenship:Life And Training Paths For Youth Peopleˮ. Preliminarily to the description of the selected contributions, it seemed op- portune to dedicate some reflections to a complex theme that can be analyzed through nu- merous approaches and empirical researches.

For the past two decades, there has been a resurgence in the actualization of civic missions in universities; these universities have continued to demonstrate commitment to educate for the purpose of global citizenship. Global citizenship is both a skillset and a mindset. As universities engage in efforts to increase students’ capabilities for living and working in a diverse society, research in this area has often focused on students of social science disciplines in the United States, presenting an opportunity for an investigation into students’ sense of belonging and global citizenship in the STEM university context in the United Kingdom. Building on prior civic scholarship, which defines citizenship in part as a sense of belonging, this paper presents interview data from a longitudinal, mixed-methods study at a STEM university in the United Kingdom to explore the meanings and experiences of students’ belonging in a multicultural institution, and their attitudes about current political issues before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study presents theoretical and practical implications for citizenship education research and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to assess students’ social representations of forced migration as a relevant social problem in the last year of primary education and the opportunity for its curricular inclusion. The study was carried out by means of a questionnaire, filled in by 6th-year primary education groups (11–12 years old) (n = 70), in a state-supported private school in the city of A Coruña (Galicia, Spain). The questionnaire was supported by three pictures of forced migrations from the media. In this case, the children had to interpret the pictures through a series of questions that sought to investigate their representations, the causes they identify in this social problem, their opinions, and possible solutions. Finally, the opportunity for the inclusion of social problems as curriculum content was addressed. The study shows that the students are in favor of migrants, that they use concepts from the social sciences in their arguments—albeit simple ones, and that they are in favor of the curricular inclusion of social problems, in which they develop representations through different sources of information.

In Finland, the recognition of children’s rights to agency and voice in the educational process has a long-standing tradition. These rights are further underscored in the process of developing the new national core curriculum for Finnish preschool and basic education. The latest school curriculums in Finland emphasize students’ participation as well as the development of school cultures. Democracy, equality and human rights also belong to the core of the Finnish educational system, and they are essential in citizenship education (Finnish National Board of Education 2014). Children's involvement and possibility to influence matters related to themselves promotes the child's growth into an active citizen and gives preparedness to act in the democratic and equal society of the future. School has a big influence on the wellbeing of primary school aged children as an influential development environment. Discussion related to school is often only between the adults. How do the young themselves see their possibilities of participating and how do the participatory mechanisms that currently exist in schools meet their individual desires? Within the context of democracy in educational practices, the objective of this on-going research project is to find out in what way are involvement and equality practiced in the school culture. This paper is written from an empirical point of view. On the basis of the research material concerning children's involvement as well as its analysis, it will be possible to develop the concept of an involvement culture of children in a goal-oriented way, equally emphasizing the point of view of everyone – including the quiet children.

The paper builds on and contributes to literature in citizenship education studies in higher education. Many studies in this field have explored the history, development and implementation of various forms of citizenship formation as an advancement of social justice. However, little has been written on how the formation of critical democratic citizens 2 links with the notion of sustainable learning environments and how it relates to social justice. Studies by McKinney (2007); Waghid (2007; 2009), Lange (2012); and Leibowitz, Swartz, Bozalek, Carolissen, Nicholls &Rohleder(2012) are among those on citizen formation in the South African higher education context. Thisconceptual paper argues that the formation of critical democratic citizens through higher education relates not only to social justice, but also to the advancement of sustainable learning environments (SLEs) beyond physical spaces. The paper explores the normative value of a democratic education theory, Marion Young’s (1990) theory of justice and the politics of difference, and human development principles in advancing citizenship education. These foster both sustainable learning environments and social justice. A democratic education theory lays the foundation for an inclusive and deliberative form of education, while a theory of justice and politics of difference advances better justice and an environment that is non-oppressive. Human development principles set the tone for a sustainable human development, which becomes a framework through which asustainable learning environment is built in pursuit of social justice. Drawing on a Capabilities Approach framework and the philosophy of Ubuntu, with emphasis on substantive freedoms, opportunities, and the thriving of the common good, the paper illustrates how citizenship education advances a conception of sustainable learning environments and social justices not necessarily limited to physical spaces, distributive justice or economic motives, but inclusive of institutional arrangements, policy issues and relational justice.

Citizenship Education could play a pivotal role in creating a fairer society in which all groups participate equally in the political progress. But strong causal evidence of which educational techniques work best to create political engagement is lacking. This paper presents the results of a systematic review of controlled trials within the field based on transparent search protocols. It finds 25 studies which use controlled trials to test causal claims between Citizenship Education programs and political engagement outcomes. The studies identified largely confirm accepted ideas, such as the importance of participatory methods, whole school approaches, teacher training, and doubts over whether knowledge alone or online engagement necessarily translate into behavioral change. But the paucity of identified studies also points both to the difficulties of attracting funding for controlled trials which investigate Citizenship Education as a tool for political engagement and real epistemological tensions within the discipline itself.

The citizenship education programs in Australian as a multicultural society has been reviewed for nearly two decades and both major parties in the Commonwealth Parliament are intended to support this progress in the citizenship education. They also allocated funding for curriculum materials and professional development for teachers and educators. In recent years, both commonwealth and New South Wales (NSW) government have tried in making civic and citizenship curriculum as an educational priority in Australia. In this process teachers and educators have occupied a vital role in promoting of student’s knowledge, skill and understanding of civic values, as they are responsible to the way of how and what they have to teach students from different backgrounds and cultures. This paper investigates the role of citizenship education programs in NWSs’ high-schools in encouraging new generation to collaborate with each other in the multicultural society as good citizens as well as to explain how teachers and educators in high-schools play a central role to educate students from different backgrounds and cultures. The significance of citizenship education is that improve young student’s participation in political and civic life, and a developing body of evidence demonstrate that citizenship education can really have an influence on new generation’s participation in the society.

The School of Education at the University of New England incorporates civics and citizenship education in the Social Science Education curriculum. While it is assumed that after their studies pre-service teachers will have acquired knowledge and skills to teach this subject in schools little is known about their experiences on this programme at the institution. Yet often it is from this experience at the teacher training level that success in their teaching of the subject in schools can be realised. This paper reports on a study of pre-service teachers’ experiences on this subject at the teacher and school education levels. Data collected through qualitative surveys indicate that while the majority is knowledgeable about citizenship issues they also describe what and how they learnt as ‘too theoretical, basic and superficial’. In schools participants find little attention being directed towards teaching citizenship education. Participants made recommendations that could benefit both teacher education and schools on this subject.

Unlike the previous phenomenon of modern art, contemporary art strives to return to society and everyday life, while thematising the current issues that the individual faces here and now. One of its more frequent topics is that of sustainable development, and the accompanying issues of environment, values, relations to others, etc. All such topics are part of the concept of active citizenship, which is why understanding contemporary art calls for active citizenship. This particularly holds true for relational art, which demands active participation on the part of the viewer. This paper inquires into the possibilities of the connection of contemporary art and citizenship education in elementary schools. Contemporary pedagogic doctrine highly encourages cross-curricular teaching; therefore, I have focused my analysis on the curricula of the subjects of Art Education, and Citizenship and Patriotic Education and Ethics, determining that (from this perspective) their link is quite troublesome. The absence of contemporary art from the curriculum of Art Education has been criticised on many occasions, but the problem of its curriculum seems to be of a conceptual nature. Only by a more intense inter-institutional link between schools and contemporary art galleries and museums can the common goals of art education and citizenship education be realised. This paper will, therefore, strive to show potential cross curricular links in content on three examples of participatory practices (Proletarians of All Countries, Beggar Robot and EU/Others), while warning (from the pedagogic perspective) against the often neglected fact that contemporary art is experienced here and now.

The authors present theoretical and empirical arguments for adopting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (or CRC) to renew the teaching of citizenship to young students from a social justice standpoint (Giroux, 2003; Giroux & Searls-Giroux, 2004; Mitchell, 2010; Moore, 2008; Smith, 2007). The paper draws its analysis and conclusions from a descriptive, exploratory study with key participants from a 2009 rally hosted by Nobel nominee, child rights activist, and founder of Free the Children, Craig Kielburger. Four of the paper’s co-authors were senior elementary students initially chosen as interviewees for the investigation and subject to traditional research protocols for minors. During data collection, however, their status shifted reflexively to include their contributions – not as objects under study or subjects of the interviewer’s questions – but as co-constructors of new knowledge. Relative to the dominance of their teachers and other adult groups “engaging” their participation, this new status allowed a deeper exploration of the meanings they attached to active citizenship through an innovative dialogue (see Kellett & Ward, 2008; Kellett, Forrest, Dent, & Ward, 2004; also Devine, 2002). Through participatory lenses embedded within CRC principles, particularly Article 12, the analysis transcends traditional disciplinary silos to offer a critical and transdisciplinary alternative pedagogy.

This paper discusses how Universities, who train and educate professionals who work with children and young people, might contribute to the development of a citizenry for the Europe of the future. The paper considers strategies to help young people understand Europe, identify themselves with Europe, and feel that they can help frame the future of Europe. The identity and image of Europe in the minds of young people and their teachers may be very varied. Developing a positive sense and identity with Europe raises issues, particularly around those of European identity, which is only one among many possible identities (regional, national, identities of relationships). Europe is not necessarily the most dominant, and it is unlikely to be so. For young people, the identity of youth more may be more compelling and cohesive. The paper argues that enactive learning of citizenship will naturally involve enactive aspects of citizenship. This will focus on the involvement of young people in establishing rights in their own schools and societies, and extending rights to the third generation. Teaching Citizenship is learning citizenship through active participation – and is something that is done in partnership, educational institutions with and alongside a wide range of social organisations.

In this paper, we argue that philosophical enquiry, as practised using community of enquiry pedagogy, is an appropriate implementation strategy for Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) if the principles that underlie the curriculum are to be taken seriously. Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children Programme and its community of enquiry pedagogy were intended as a classroom means to enhance children's critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinking and prepare them for democratic citizenship. A previous study suggested that pre-service teachers benefitted from exposure to this pedagogy. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which pre-service teachers, after a brief experiential introduction to community of enquiry pedagogy, perceived its relevance to the CAPS curriculum. The research was positioned within an interpretivist qualitative paradigm with an emphasis on shared construction of meanings. In 2013 the final-year student group consisted of seventy-four students, of whom 30 volunteered to participate in focus group discussions at the end of the year. Themes were identified within the data and are reported within the following broad categories: perceived relevance to the general requirements of the CAPS curriculum, perceived relevance to specific curriculum areas, and constraints on implementation. Discussion focuses on the insights of participants, potential challenges, some limitations of the research and our plans to address them.

The place of religion and how it should be employed in education for citizenship is currently an issue in Europe. The challenges of increasing diversity are the underlying factors. The conception of maximal citizenship (a critical model of citizenship) gives a significant framework for analysis and scholarly perspectives about several European contexts on this matter. However, there is hardly maximal citizenship in Finnish contexts in scholarship. Hence, this work searches for the elements of maximal citizenship in educational policy for young people by employing the policy relating to citizenship in Finnish religious education (RE). Focusing on grades 7−9 of basic education, its primary data is based on selected national policy documents. The data were analysed using critical discourse analysis. The main findings suggest that citizenship in Finnish RE is only somewhat compatible with the characteristics of maximal citizenship. This reveals some policy shortcomings that could negatively affect the potential of critical-mindedness of young people and equal opportunities in a democracy. Hence, some suggestions that could improve the situation are embedded in the paper. Nevertheless, a linguistic conception of citizenship in Finland vis-à-vis a recent development in national educational policy seems to push the conception of maximal citizenship in a relatively new direction. Furthermore, an explicit use of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child” in Finnish curriculum broadens our conception of maximal citizenship in general. Moreover, while scholars generally agree that maximal citizenship is essentially “critical”, this piece suggests that every “critical” approach to citizenship education is not necessarily “maximal”.

大學階段的人才培育是教育的重要課題，而它與普通高中教育有著密不可分的連動關係。隨著大學數量的擴增、全球化競爭與知識經濟之趨勢，大學教育已從菁英教育朝向大眾化教育，並且人才培育觀也從強調專精專門知識的人才培養轉而強調具備通識、跨領域能力及公民素養的全人教育觀。大學教育的這些轉變與發展，將連動高中教育的定位與課程改革，包括重新定位普通高中的通識教育功能、強化跨領域學科能力、公民素養的培養，以及如何與大學端的優質銜接等。本研究係在此脈絡下，首先說明大學發展趨勢及人才培育觀的轉變，其次探討現行普通高中教育，特別是課程綱要及學校課程在此方面的回應、連動影響與相關現況。最後，則針對未來十二年國民基本教育普通高中階段之課程改革提出若干建議。 The increase in the number of universities has coincided with the growth of international competition in higher education and the development of the global knowledge economy. Universities have responded to these challenges by shifting from an elite view of education to a more popularized model, from prioritizing specialized knowledge to a more holistic emphasis on general knowledge, transdisciplinary skills, and civic literacy. The basic functions of general high school education will have to be reimagined to reflect these developments in university-level education and better links between these two levels will have to be forged. The first part of this paper is an exploration of the changing views of university education. This is followed by a discussion of how the general high school curriculum is evolving in response to these changes. Finally, I offer a number of high school curriculum reform recommendations.

This paper discusses results from a small scale qualitative study of howprimary and secondary schools in three English local authorities respondedto the introduction and subsequent inspection of a legal duty to promotecommunity cohesion, following a series of ‘race’ riots in 2001 and theLondon bombings of 2005. The policy itself is seen as reflecting widerdiscourse and is shown as shifting in focus during the period it wasofficially inspected between 2008 and 2011. Schools respondeddifferentially to the duty and its inspection, with those in more multiculturalareas responding with higher degrees of confidence than those inmono-ethnic areas. Some policy ‘slippage’ is seen to occur in the wayschools re-framed the duty. Over time, most schools came to identify thecurriculum and the school’s ethos as the most important weapons in theirarmoury. Teachers embraced the new duty with different degrees ofenthusiasm – for some it confirmed the importance of holistic approachesto education which they felt had been sidelined in recent years, whilst othershowed various forms of resistance. Teachers encountered some subtle andchallenging professional dilemmas in the course of discharging the duty.Overall, the respondents in this study felt that the imposition of the dutyand its inspection had been more of a benefit than a burden.

Citizenship education has been debated for some time and has faced various challenges over time. This paper introduces the lens of “ableism” and ability expectations to the citizenship education discourse. The author contends that the cultural dynamic of ability expectations and ableism (not only expecting certain abilities, but also perceiving certain abilities as essential) was one factor that has and will continue to shape citizenship and citizenship education. It focuses on three areas of citizenship education: (a) active citizenship; (b) citizenship education for a diverse population; and (c) global citizenship. It covers two ability-related challenges, namely: disabled people, who are often seen as lacking expected species-typical body abilities, and, advances of science and technology that generate new abilities. The author contends that the impact of ability expectations and ableism on citizenship and citizenship education, locally and in a globalized world, is an important and under-researched area.

This paper aims to introduce new theories and practice in Social Studies in Japan since the 1990s, to outline some trends and characteristics relating to the question ‘Is Citizenship Education the aim of Social Studies as a school subject?’ and to identify ‘Applied’ and ‘Academic’ Social Studies as two separate categories. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology has long advocated the merits of Applied Social Studies, but recent trends have seen educational researchers and local education administrators actively supporting the reformation and promotion of Social Studies from an ‘applied’ perspective. Going even further, several schools and districts are so in favour of this development that Citizenship Education has been incorporated as a subject or topic into the school curriculum. However, defence of Academic Social Studies is also deeply rooted; its argument being that Social Studies means Social Sciences. According to this view, Geography, History and Civics (comprising politics, economics and sociology) are treated as distinct fields of Social Studies.

Referring to a critical review of eight international research initiatives (e.g. studies, surveys, research reports) conducted between 2001 and 2010 in the field of citizenship and citizenship education, this paper examines the relationship between different conceptualisations of citizenship and the nature, role and impact of citizenship education. I focus on the Europeanaspects of these research initiatives and draw on the knowledge they disseminate to reflect on the theory of citizenship and the practice of citizenship education in Slovenia. First, I present an overview of the methodology used in the literature review and reflect on the significant limitations in conducting international and comparative research. Second, I reflect on the various relationships between different conceptualisations of citizenship and their effects on citizenship education practices as presented in the overviewed literature. On the basis of the knowledge and results of the literature review, I then make several observations which are relevant to the advancement of citizenship theory and citizenship education practice in Slovenia. Finally, I argue that different conceptualisations of citizenship can have a significant influence on the practice of citizenship education, as evinced by the analysis of the recent results on civic knowledge in Slovenia.

In this paper the authors present how they research and innovate in Initial Teacher Education programmes throught the `Exploring our world´ project (6-12). Along the article aspects related to the why, what for and how to teach of the curricular project are analysed by means of the example of `Exploring current and historical societies´. Trainees´ productions on this Field of Research are presented, in which they deal with the three afore-mentioned elements throught the design of didactic units that form part, like a portfolio, of the group reseach file.

In contemporary democratic societies that deal with cultural and linguistic diversity, education faces new challenges such as how to promote a shared knowledge and competence framework about “citizenship,” how to prepare the young generation to enter a complex world, and how to help immigrant students to integrate into the school system. Some of the European recommendations focus on the importance of promoting “intercultural education”. However, so far little is known about concrete practices and their outcomes. This paper aims at documenting and providing elements of reflections about the difficulties and contradictions faced by both teachers and students involved in pedagogical intercultural activities in Switzerland. From the results of a qualitative research based on a sociocultural perspective, identity and institutional issues of addressing “otherness” in school are discussed. It stresses the importance of a frame in order to allow elaboration and transformation of personal and emotional experiences into thinking and reflexive processes.