Schools, Citizenship Education, and Democratic Dispositions Among European Youth: A Comparative Analysis Using ICCS 2016 Data

• In Event: ICCS Panel 1: Civic Engagement and Democratic Dispositions in Times of Crisis

Proposal

European societies today face multiple and complex social challenges, including the rise of populist and authoritarian ideologies, political polarization, eroding trust in democratic processes, mass migration, disinformation, and violent conflicts. These trends are particularly concerning when they affect young people, who are seen as key actors shaping the future of Europe and the world. In response, preparing young people to become informed, responsible, and engaged citizens has become a priority, as reflected in educational policy initiatives (Council of the European Union, 2021). High-quality citizenship education is recognized as a key solution, playing a central role in fostering essential democratic dispositions among youth (Campbell, 2019; Knowles, Torney-Purta, & Barber, 2018; Malak-Minkiewicz & Torney-Purta, 2021; Teegelbeckers, Nieuwelink, & Oostdam, 2023). However, citizenship education remains peripheral in curricula compared to established subjects like mathematics and reading. It is marked by diverse conceptualizations, prioritizations of outcomes, and varying implementation practices across European education systems (Abs, 2021). Given these challenges, researchers, educational practitioners, and policymakers continue to explore the extent to which educational systems can shape young people’s democratic dispositions and identify the most effective teaching and learning approaches.

This paper addresses these issues by leveraging data from the IEA’s International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016 (Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Losito, & Agrusti, 2016) from 14 European countries. The ICCS study stands out as the sole international, large-scale study of civic and citizenship education, collecting data from representative samples of young adolescents, specifically 14-year-olds, in various educational systems around the world. The study assesses several cognitive, affective, and behavioral democratic dispositions, such as students’ civic knowledge, young people's endorsement of equal rights for immigrants, their participation at school, expected electoral participation, and expected participation in legal protest activities, as well as information on citizenship education teaching and learning approaches.

Building on these data, theories of political socialization, and educational effectiveness (Isac et al., 2014), and employing multilevel modeling (Snijders & Bosker, 2011), this research examines how different citizenship education approaches promote various democratic dispositions among adolescents. The aim of the research is twofold. First, evidence is provided regarding school differences in terms of their students’ democratic dispositions. Second, an account is given of the relationship between various citizenship education teaching and learning approaches and the democratic dispositions of youth. A comparative stance is taken to illustrate differences based on the type of democratic disposition and the context of the European educational system under study. Our results indicate substantial variation in cognitive democratic dispositions (i.e., civic knowledge) across schools in different European educational systems. In contrast, affective and behavioral democratic dispositions generally exhibit smaller variations attributable to schools and more varied patterns. Additionally, our findings reveal several key patterns in the relationships between school factors and students’ democratic dispositions. Overall, although the results vary widely depending on the type of democratic disposition and the country in question, the most consistently impactful school factors across all outcomes are schools' average socioeconomic background, opportunities for participation at school, and an open classroom climate.

Authors

• Maria Magdalena Isac, KU Leuven

• Daniel Miranda, Universidad de Chile