Purpose: The aim of this research is to investigate youth understandings of citizenship against the dual backgrounds of inclusive citizenship education and exclusionary discourse in the public sphere. Design / methodology / approach: The topic was explored through group interviews with 10th grade students, while the emergent theme of material or…

The objectives of this research included to study the effects of democratic parenting and teaching activities on global citizenship according to logical reasoning in making decisions on political attitudes among 2,286 students from 80 classrooms. The research instruments included 1) a set of rating-scale questionnaires for students with 92 items,…

This one-page fact sheet presents findings from a quasi-experimental study to examine the effects of the We the People program on high school students' political knowledge, civic skills, and civic attitudes. The study included 822 program participants who were compared to 735 students in high school government classes with similar demographics. In…

Affective political polarization, or a sense of political identity-based animosity or distrust, became especially heightened during the Trump presidency. However, we know little about how youth experience such polarization in school and its effect on their political socialization. With unusual access to high-status independent schools, this paper…

The man began to live a civilized life in the study of human history; he realized the need and importance of living in a way that would not be a trouble to other living things. They were accustomed to shaping their lives because they had some understanding of the rights of others as well as their duties. The main reason for conflict to arise in…

The aim of this confirmatory grounded theory case analysis was to investigate the perceptions of high school civics teachers on the new Illinois civics curriculum and how this relates to concepts of citizenship. This qualitative study involved focus groups consisting of 20 public high school civics teachers to investigate the use of the…

This paper discusses how the construction of citizenship and citizen identities takes place among young students in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Considering that education is responsible for fostering the sense of citizenship, this research asked 209 students from a public high school to write letters to a future Brazilian president and to answer an…

Background: Civic participation is a fundamental element of democracy; therefore, upholding and supporting civic participation, especially among the upcoming generation, is important. Political efficacy -- an individual's understanding of their capacity to participate in civic life -- has been found to exert an important influence on the expected…

Political education in school is aimed at preparing adolescents for their role as citizens, which comprises political participation as well as political knowledge. While it is generally agreed that basic knowledge about politics is a prerequisite to participation, the specific link between knowledge and participation is left unclear in normative…

Background: The research-practice gap has not been explored within civics education, and in particular the role of evidence-based civics curriculum in times of political trauma. Such research is critical in equipping educators with evidence-based resources to help mitigate political trauma experienced by students. Here, we explore the types of…

Civic culture is a term for how citizens actively live out, perform, and create public life through our habits, actions, words, and public work. A vital civic culture, with an engaged citizenry, is one of the measures of a healthy democratic republic. In this inquiry, we explore how civic education--holistically envisioned across disciplines and…

American politics today is the culmination of historical, political, social, geographic, and economic events that have significantly impacted this country. Over the last year, America and the world have been tested to political, social, and economic extremes not seen in over a century because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Both the 2020…

Quality civic education is often understood as involving discussions of controversial social and political issues, a task made more difficult for teachers amidst the kind of political polarization that characterizes the current political climate. This study explores high school social studies teachers' thinking and sensemaking related to…

This paper presents findings from a study of high school students (N = 165) engaged in discussions of controversial political issues within Close Up Washington's civic education program. We report findings from pre- and post surveys to investigate how the group's views about the issues were affected by the discussion strategy they experienced. We…

Teachers often desire meaningful classroom discussions, but frequently shy away from introducing controversial topics. An instructional activity "Where Do You Stand?" was developed and used regularly with the goal of engaging students in discussion around politicized and divisive issues. Over 3 years of use in a secondary social studies…