Constructing Civic Knowledge for Secondary Schools: What Can We Learn From an Israeli Civics Curriculum?

• In Event: Democratic Citizenship in Education Paper Session 1

Abstract

Engagement in the civic sphere requires certain knowledge and understanding of the political world. Public education should be clear as to what that means in theory so it can go ahead and provide it in practice. This paper contributes to the "civic knowledge" theory through empirical qualitative content analysis of Israeli civics curriculum and textbook. I will present the findings regarding the existence of a curricular phenomenon coined "middle conceptualization". This construction of civic knowledge limits the civic understanding of Israeli secondary school students. I then discuss how this should affect the theory for a better teaching of civics in state schools, offering a theory of a three stage conceptualization of the public sphere.

Author

• Hillel Wahrman, Oranim Academic College of Education