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The Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) and the German Library Association (dbv) are promoting 15 libraries in rural regions of Germany as part of the project "Land.schafft.Demokratie" (Land creates democracy). These libraries will offer events on the topics of democracy, dialogue, and diversity. The goal is to strengthen democratic discourse and promote democratic values. The selected libraries have presented convincing concepts for library work that strengthens democracy and will develop tailored offers for promoting democracy in the coming months. Further information about the project can be found on the website of the German Library Association. [Extracted from the article]

This article enhances the understanding of individual and school-related drivers of socialization connecting to trust in political institutions. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016, the authors show that pupils in Germany report high levels of trust in political institutions that is reduced for pupils with international biographies, experiences of teacher unfairness, and in schools with a high proportion of pupils with international biography, as well as in academic tracks (Gymnasium). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Voluntaris: Journal of Volunteer Services & Civic Engagement / Zeitschrift für Freiwilligendienste und Zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research as a social process suggests that the collective research agenda of a discipline is shaped by its structural features which thus helps to explain why we actually discuss what we discuss within an academic domain. This assumption also substantially informs publication patterns and co-authorship networks in German civic education research: Who are the most central researchers? What groups of collaborating researchers exist? How do these clusters diverge in their characteristics? The article addresses these questions by drawing on an encompassing dataset that considers multiple publication types including book publications, journal articles and chapters in edited volumes with more than 3000 contributions and 900 authors published between 2014 and 2020 in German civic education research. Using bibliometrics, different techniques of network analysis and consensus graph clustering methods, the analysis reveals patterns of co-authorship and presents the first systematic mapping of the discipline. In this way, the most important research clusters, their characteristics and the major researchers in the domain of civic education research in Germany are assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Slovak Journal for Educational Sciences / Pedagogika is the property of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Educational Research Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study analyzes the scientific research that has been developed in Germany on the discipline of political training. It depicts the foundations of political training as a realm of scientific study in pedagogy. The critical-hermeneutical method is used, and the objective of the study is characterized based on a review of contemporary German literature. The explanation of training as a scientific field is based on three components: theory of political training, didactic policy and practice. Results: The study shows the theory of political training defends a concept of critical democratic citizenship that promotes intellective capabilities and skills not only to understand, analyze and emit political judgments, but also to develop responsible actions within a democratic society. The analysis of didactic policy picks up the theoretical debate, acknowledging the constitutive quality of this scientific field by pointing to its synoptic nature and its relationship with baseline and specialty concepts. The article ends with an indication of the lines of research developed in Germany within the field of political training and the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European dimension is of salient importance for understanding and shaping politics especially, but not only, in Europe. The European Union by now has become a compulsory content of civics classes in secondary schools throughout Germany. For teachers, however, teaching this topic is connected with manifold difficulties, for example, due to the complexity and dynamics of European integration, the (perceived) distance of European Union politics, and popular prejudices. European Union content and didactics are not always included in teacher training; moreover, civics is often taught by teachers who have not been trained in this subject. Thus, special continuing education for civics teachers with regard to teaching the European Union is needed. In the context of the Jean Monnet project Politiklehrerfortbildung zur nachhaltigen Vermittlung Europäischer Bürgerschaftskompetenzen [Civics teachers’ continuing education for sustainable teaching of European citizen competencies] (http://peb.uni-goettingen.de), 180 teachers participated in nine continuing education courses throughout Germany. The training courses were developed at Göttingen University and designed to update both teachers’ knowledge on European integration (focus: Treaty of Lisbon; the ‘Euro Crisis’) and their capacity to convey European Union knowledge and competencies to pupils. Practical experiences in various methodological approaches were integrated into the training course as well as a visit of a member of the European Parliament. The courses were accompanied by an empirical study with pre-, post- and follow-up-tests (standardized questionnaires, both paper and pencil and online; pre/post sample N = 179). This contribution introduces several key results of the accompanying study regarding the European Union-related characteristics of participating teachers (e.g. the relation between European Union knowledge and attitudes towards the European Union, controlling for background variables such as gender and school type), the current practice – including goals, approaches, methods and problems – of teaching the subject of the European Union from a teachers’ perspective and the effects of the teachers’ continuing education series Politiklehrerfortbildung zur nachhaltigen Vermittlung Europäischer Bürgerschaftskompetenzen. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Journal of Social Science Education is the property of SoWi Online e.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

European societies increasingly implement diversity education as part of citizenship education (CE) curricula in order to provide young people with skills for dealing with diversity. This article analyses the policies and practices of diversity education at both the level of the European Union and the Council of Europe, and on the level of nation states, focusing on Germany and Russia as examples. In Europe, diversity education at schools simultaneously pursues two separate goals: on the one hand, teaching materials and education policies generate a grand narrative of celebrating European diversity. On the other, those same materials and policies stipulate that issues of inequality are to be dealt with separately. Thus, within European citizenship, diversity education and inequalities are often decoupled. Conceptualizing diversity in terms of heterogeneities and inequalities, this article reveals the ways in which diversity and inequalities are decoupled in citizenship and civic education and asks what happens when diversity is treated only as a matter of celebration. Examining blog posts from LGBTQ youth who are minority learners who experience exclusion, the article demonstrates the way in which the narrative of celebration of diversity disempowers them and how it contributes towards more uncertainty and more (self-)exclusion of those learners who do not find themselves within celebration of diversity narratives. The article argues for a reintroduction of the term 'heterogeneities' into CE and concludes by suggesting that diversity education as part of CE should begin with the question of whether there are any heterogeneities that do not require action or critical reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to generate higher levels of interest in politics and participation in political processes, political or citizenship, education in schools must be at the heart of the curriculum and be characterised by active, learner-centred approaches. This paper hypothesises that, when compared with Germany, a more limited form of political education in Irish post-primary schools may be impacting negatively on the extent to which it is achieving such aims. In order to begin to explore this hypothesis, the results for seven items relating to interest in politics and participation in political processes from the most recent (2010) round of the European Social Survey are compared for the Irish and German populations. In addition, the nature and status of political education in the German and the Irish school systems are compared. Conclusions are drawn and the implications for future research in this field and for political education in both countries considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal for Sociology of Education & Socialization / Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung & Sozialisation is the property of Julius Beltz GmbH & Co. KG Beltz Juventa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the state of civics education in Germany in the early 21st century. The author examines whether civics teaching is affected by declining political engagement and participation by citizens and by challenges to political science scholarship. Topics discussed include the role of civics in educating citizens on the political aspects of the mass media, civics education in public schools, and the use of civics education to combat political extremism.

The belief is widespread in educational circles that ethnically mixed schools contribute to inter-ethnic tolerance and community cohesion. Some political science studies, however, have found that trust and participation are lower in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. This paper explores the relation between classroom ethno-racial diversity, ethnic tolerance and participation in England, Sweden and Germany using data from the IEA Civic Education Study among 14-year-olds. Controlling for various conditions at the individual and classroom levels, it finds a positive effect of classroom diversity on ethnic tolerance in Sweden and Germany, which is in agreement with the contact perspective on inter-ethnic relations. However, it does not find an effect on tolerance in England. Moreover, classroom diversity only shows a positive relation with participation in Sweden. The effect of diversity thus varies substantially across the two outcomes of interest and the three countries examined. It is therefore tentatively concluded that country-specific factors shape this effect to a significant degree. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article is focussed in the German nowdays legislation about the syllabus of Politics in the Primary, Secundary and High School Education. The origins of this syllabus are situated in the Republic of Weimar, keeping on until nowdays, with obligatory character during six years of the Secondary Education and two more years in High School, as compulsory matter or optional according to the different Lander. In the present research we pay attention to the common elements of the German system, in order to emphasize the importance of these syllabus in Germany, the reason for its introduction in the school programs, the laws which were being introduced arriving to the actual situation and the skills of the teachers who give these matter. Finally, there are suggested some recommendations for the preparation of the Spanish teachers who are encharged of the matter of Civic Education and Human Rights in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate on the structure and content of legislation for adult education was initiated in the mid 1950s in the Western world, and especially in the Federal Republic of Germany. Until then it had been a traditional stance of adult education to oppose any influence on the part of the State. But as the field became increasingly regarded not only as a part, but also as a fourth pillar of the overall educational system, professionals in the field began demanding a legal framework to guarantee the existence, development, and financing of adult education provision. Toward the end of the 1990s, within the context of the Stability Pact, a process was initiated in the countries of South Eastern Europe to develop legislation designed to establish adult education as an integral part of lifelong learning and to bring vocational training, basic education, and civic education under one roof. Civic education in this connection was regarded as in instrument for promoting tolerance among minorities and overcoming the constraints of ethnic nationalism. In the present article, the author explores some of the stages of this legislative process based on his own work and experience in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ÖZP - Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft is the property of Oesterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the Europeanization of citizenship education policy through a comparative analysis of two European states, Germany and Spain, with strong traditions of regional control of education policy. While previous studies have tended to focus on national responses to and implementation of EU initiatives, they often disregarded the complex relationship regional actors have with national state and supranational actors. Using evidence from interviews and a detailed framing analysis of citizenship education curricula, textbooks, and policy documents, this paper looks specifically at Catalonia and Bavaria to explore the conception of the 'ideal citizen' within and across local education practice(s), regional policy imperatives, central state-level citizenship education policy, German and Spanish federal policy related to citizenship and immigration, and EU educational initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians and political sciences have begun to discuss how and when postwar Germany overcame its authoritarian past and reestablished democracy and a tolerant civil society. This article argues that the national and regional Offices for Political Education have contributed significantly to the recivilizing process. The article provides the first preliminary academic attempt to outline the offices' historical background, their changing institutional structure, and their place in the civic education context since the mid 1950s. A series of case studies examine the historical literature disseminated by specific offices to illustrate the process of overcoming a problematic past and constructing new identities. In turn, the historical role models promoted by the offices, the manner in which federalism was presented, the timing of and fashion in which the Holocaust became a significant theme and the way in which regional identities were understood and fostered, are examined. These cases illustrate how historical information was employed, at first in fairly simple and propagandistic fashion, but always to inculcate democratic and civil norms. The question of the impact of the offices' work is left open, since research on reception has yet to be undertaken, but some evidence about their important contributions to reshaping German values is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary relevance of the German philosopher of vocational education, Georg Kerschensteiner, is first indicated in general terms in relation to current debates and policies. Kerschensteiner’s main ideas are then outlined. There is a discussion of his relationship with progressivism, his ideas about learning and the importance of practical activity. His ideas about the nature of work and the relationship between work and paid unemployment are then considered. Kerschensteiner was particularly concerned with the role of work in promoting the development of character through the ‘bourgeois virtues’ concerned with the work and the ‘civic virtues’ concerned with the relationship between work and the broader society. His views on character formation are related to this discussion of civic education. Kerschensteiner’s innovations to schooling in Munich are then described in relation to his philosophical outlook and finally his views on the German tradition of liberal education or Bildung and how these relate to vocational education are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Hanns Seidel Foundation which was established on April 11, 1967, with the aim of supporting the democratic and civic education of the German people with a Christian basis. The organization has offices in more than 60 countries across the world and it opened its office in Zagreb, Croatia, in March 1997.