Cultivating Democratic Engagement in Formal Education: Practices and Possibilities

• In Event: 31.083 - Critical and Innovative Approaches to Democracy and Civic Practices in Social Studies Education

Abstract

In the Netherlands, citizenship education has become compulsory in 2006. Yet, only few schools have framed their citizenship curriculum in the context of the protection and development of the democratic character of the Dutch society. In this paper, we explain how an empirical study into the democratic engagement of Dutch adolescents has led to the distinction of a passive, thin and thick type of democratic engagement. We explain what this study and related studies indicate about the types of democratic engagement that Dutch schools currently cultivate, and we theorize about the types of democratic engagement that schools need to cultivate in order support the vitality of democratic communities.

Authors

• Isolde de Groot, University of Humanistic Studies

• Wiel M. Veugelers, University of Humanistic Studies Utrecht