The Reciprocal Link Between Civic Literacy and Open Classroom Climate: A Longitudinal Perspective

• In Event: Discussing Controversial Issues in Class: Classroom Climate, Critical Consciousness, and Civic Competence

Abstract

Background
Schools are key spaces where young people engage in democratic and civic practices (Godfrey & Grayman, 2014). These environments support civic literacy not primarily through the memorization of norms, but through dialogic engagement with diverse perspectives (Campbell, 2008). Deliberative democracy theory highlights the importance of such discourse (Goodin & Spiekermann, 2018), making an open classroom climate central to civic education. It has been shown to predict students’ ability to articulate political ideas and engage in dialogue (Owen & Riddle, 2017), and is positively linked to political knowledge (Schulz et al., 2024). Cognitive mediation models attribute this to elaborative processing of political content (Eveland & Thomson, 2006). Beyond knowledge, open classroom climates are associated with political efficacy (Manganelli, 2013), interest (Alscher et al., 2022), voting intentions (Castillo et al., 2015), and political trust (Claes & Hooghe, 2017; Sun, 2024). However, while research has mainly viewed classroom climate as a driver of civic outcomes, the reverse direction may also matter. Students’ existing levels of civic literacy may shape how they engage in and perceive their classrooms. For example, politically efficacious students might contribute more confidently to discussions and view their classrooms as more open, while less efficacious students may feel intimidated or excluded (Hoskins et al., 2017).

Purpose
This study examined the reciprocal relationship between students’ perceptions of open classroom climate and their civic literacy (i.e., political knowledge, political interest, internal political efficacy, and democratic attitudes) in lower secondary education. While previous research has predominantly treated open classroom climate as a causal antecedent of civic outcomes, this study challenges this unidirectional assumption by exploring whether civically literate students themselves actively shape or reinforce their perception of classroom openness.

Methods
We analyzed three-wave panel data from 555 students across 12 German schools and 39 classes. Students were surveyed first in Grade 7 (MAge = 12.47) and again in Grades 8 and 9. To address longitudinal attrition, missing values were imputed based on available background data (e.g., demographic and school characteristics). To estimate reciprocal effects over time while controlling for prior levels, cross-lagged panel models were applied.

Results
Findings show that civic literacy dimensions exhibit greater temporal rank-order stability than perceptions of classroom climate. Political knowledge, interest, efficacy, and democratic attitudes show moderate stability across waves, while classroom openness is less consistent, with significant autoregression only between Grades 8 and 9. Regarding cross-lagged paths, political knowledge, and, to a lesser extent, democratic attitudes were associated with students’ later perceptions of classroom openness. For political interest and internal efficacy, associations with later perceptions of classroom openness were confined to the period between Grades 7 and 8. Conversely, classroom climate was associated only with political knowledge and only between Grade 8 and 9.

Discussion
Overall, results suggest that while open classroom climates can foster civic development, students’ existing civic literacy, especially political knowledge, shapes how they perceive and respond to these environments. This underscores the importance of inclusive, participatory teaching practices that are responsive to varying levels of civic readiness.

Authors

• Pascal Alscher, TU Dortmund University

• Daniel Deimel, University of Duisburg-Essen

• Elisabeth Graf, TU Dortmund University