Interrogating Tensions Created by Civic and Democratic Citizenship Education Policies for German Youth

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Citizenship Education Policies From a Global Perspective (Table 13)

Abstract

Since the end of WWII, the German government has made concerted efforts to promote youth civic literacy and democratic citizenship in formal and nonformal education settings. Utilizing an embedded case study design, this paper investigates policy driven tensions within and across the civic and democratic citizenship education system in Germany. Through the lens of Farjoun’s (2010), Beldow et al.’s (2009), and Smith et al.’s (2017) theories of tensions and dualities, we completed three levels of coding of transcripts and accompanying analytic memos of four key German democratic citizenship education policy experts. Data analysis revealed that although civic and democratic citizenship education policies fostered innovation, they also posed challenges related to curriculum oversight and implementation, youth participation, and educator preparation.

Authors

• Casey E Hanna, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Katrina Struloeff, University of Pennsylvania

• Amanda Reinsburrow, Drexel University

• Vera J. Lee, Drexel University

• Bruce Levine, Drexel University

• Leah Katherine Saal, Loyola University Maryland