Owning the Nation: Public Citizenship in Private Spaces in Liberia and Ghana

• In Event: Democratic Citizenship in Education 3

Abstract

Widespread efforts to promote quality education for all emphasize the fundamental role of schools in developing of democratic citizens (UNESCO 2008). In many emerging democracies without the capacity to provide schooling for all citizens, private schools play a large role in educating the population. This research investigates how students in private schools in Ghana and Liberia learn to be "citizens," whether of their local community, wider nation, or world (Banks, 2008). Using student surveys, focus groups, teacher surveys, and policy analysis, this paper reports vertical case studies (Vavrus & Bartlett, 2006) of citizenship education within four urban schools in two very different democratic nations in West Africa. This comparison illuminates some similarities and differences in civic education within the region.

Author

• Laura Jeanne Quaynor, University of South Carolina - Aiken