The Project Citizen Research Program (PCRP) was a three-year research initiative that evaluated the effectiveness of the Center's Project Citizen teacher professional development (PD) program and curriculum intervention for middle and high school students. The program took place over three academic years that were impacted by the COVID-19…

Project Citizen is an interdisciplinary curriculum for students, youth organizations, and adult groups that encourages citizens' competent and responsible participation in local and state governments in about 35 countries worldwide. In this article, based on an example of Project Citizen activities done with university students, the application…

This article critically explores how laws and practices of states and international organisations attempt to control refugees, drawing upon conceptions of 'biopower' and 'technologies of anti-citizenship' (Foucault 1972). This is examined in the Lebanese context, which has an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees (HRW 2016a), in an overall…

Civic education historically has focused primarily on preparing students to influence politics and government policy. Less attention has been paid to the curricular implications of civil society, even though it is a crucial site for deliberatively informed action and one of the primary ways in which students will enter the public sphere. This…

Classroom discussion and deliberation have been widely touted in the research literature as a centerpiece of high quality civic education. Empirical studies, however, of such processes are relatively few. In a public policy deliberation on immigration conducted in three Midwestern high schools during the academic year 2015-16, the authors found…

The transition from the 20th to the 21st century has been the stage of contradictory messages regarding youth citizenship. There is a powerful public and academic rhetoric on youth political disengagement and apathy and, concurrently, an assumption that young people are not knowledgeable, competent and responsible enough to be active citizens, and…

In an effort to increase students' preparation for and participation in civic life, teachers and schools across the United States have incorporated action civics programs into their social studies courses. These programs resemble many of the key characteristics of the public policy analysis process. However, there is little evidence suggesting…

This tool is part of the Countering Truth Decay initiative, which is focused on restoring the role of facts, data, and analysis in U.S. political and civil discourse and the policymaking process. RAND researchers developed this educational tool, consisting of five sequenced lesson plans for middle school teachers, with the goal of improving RAND's…

There has been a long tradition of demonstrating formal education's direct relationship with many dimensions of development, including increased productivity, health, reduced mortality, population control etc. There has also been a literature looking particularly at the 'democratic dividend' from education, both through the lens of global…

Although experiential approaches to democracy education are gaining increased support from educators and scholars, few educational resources exist to support youth in constructing and delivering high-quality, evidence-based policy arguments to authentic audiences. Such presentations are often the first time that young people step into the public…

The article analyses how citizenship is conceptualised in policy documents of four key international organisations. The basic assumption is that public policy has not turned away from adult learning for active citizenship, but that there are rather new ways in which international governmental organisations conceptualise and in some cases seek to…

David Orr suggests that environmentalist and peace educators must teach civics, law, government, and political history to deeply cultivate an understanding of the influences and policies that create and perpetuate environmental destruction and humanitarian crises. Citizens, especially students, must comprehend the political forces and the public…

Understanding multilateral institutions' role in the construction of desirable goals for educational reform is a key element to grasp the weight globalisation has on local practices of education. Comparative studies of civics and moral education point to the idea of 'citizenship' as a site revealing not only the political economy but also the…

This article examines the impact of problem-solving and creativity exercises on student interest in public policy making and behavior related to civic engagement. Researchers have long described policy making as a function of problem solving. Creativity has also been identified as an important component of the process. While these skills are…

This article explores the legacy of John Dewey, reconsidered and reconstructed within the challenging context of neo-liberal globalization. A free-market approach to the delivery of public education and other social services has come to dominate public policy, with increasingly well-documented and potentially devastating consequences. As prospects…