Article published in the Bulgarian Journal "Pedagogika" Issue 1/12, p

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1 The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and its Relevance for Educational Practice Dr. Claudia Lenz/ The European Wergeland Centre Article published in the Bulgarian Journal "Pedagogika" Issue 1/12, p I. Introduction This article presents a series of events the Educators Consultations introducing the findings of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2009) to educational practitioners in a variety of European Countries. It will be argued, that the ICCS findings support approaches in citizenship education as promoted by the Council of Europe, including a holistic view on knowledge, skills and attitudes/dispositions, a focus on democratic school development and an integration of young people s civic experiences in the wider community. Training activities (both pre- and in-service) should, therefore, equip educators with the strategies, methodologies and skills needed to become effective supporters of young people s development as active citizens. The article introduces the European Wergeland Centre, the initiator of these events, followed by an outline of the ICCS approach and selected findings of the study. Concluding, highlights from experiences regarding past Educators Consultations are presented. II. The European Wergeland Centre The European Wergeland Centre (EWC) is a resource centre on education for human rights, democratic citizenship, and intercultural understanding, established in The Centre is the result of an initiative between the Norwegian government and the Council of Europe (CoE). It provides activities for education professionals, such as teachers and teacher trainers, as well as researchers, administrators and decision-makers. The Centre is open to all member states of the CoE, and its neighboring countries. As a part of its mandate, the EWC contributes to bringing research and educational practice in the fields of education for democratic citizenship (EDC), human rights education (HRE) and Intercultural Education (ICE) together in order to facilitate the transfer of ideas, creativity and inspiration from one field to the other. Concretely, what does this mean? A lot of research in the above mentioned fields has been carried out which can inspire and inform educational practice. This includes theoretical and methodological approaches and empirical studies. However, few of these results are communicated to and used by educational practitioners. As a response to this situation, the EWC arranges yearly a series of events, presenting fresh research findings to education practitioners (teachers, teacher trainers, teacher 1

2 students) NGO representatives and policy makers. However, all events aim not just to hold academic lectures for educators, but instead to discuss the research findings with regard to their relevance for educators professional practice and educational policy. Usually the events last one or two days and include presentations, but most relevance is given to interaction, discussion and cooperative development of ideas/initiatives for innovative educational practice. Beside of these structural principles, the Educators Consultation format is very flexible and open for local adaptation, something which has proven to be a strength since it has been introduced in In the ongoing series of Educators Consultations, focusing on ICCS, events in Vienna and Innsbruck/Austria and Sofia/Bulgaria have been organized; events in Germany, Poland and Spain are planned. Some of the experiences from the realized events will be presented in the end of the article. III. The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) The International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) is one of the recent studies which bear a great potential to inspire reflection on questions of educational practice in formal and non-formal environments, teacher s professional development and school governance related to citizenship education. The study was undertaken in the period , with the period of data collection in 2008 (southern hemisphere) and 2009 (northern hemisphere). The overall aim of the study is to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in the 21st century in a range of countries. ( In order to get a comprehensive answer to this question, the study covered several perspectives: Students: Students were tested with regard to their knowledge, conceptual understanding, and competencies in civic and citizenship education. A questionnaire also investigated student dispositions and attitudes relating to civics and citizenship. Teachers and school principals Through questionnaires for teachers and school principals information about the context in which students learn about civics and citizenship, including teaching and classroom management practices, and school governance and climate were gathered. Additionally, national context surveys have been conducted. Insights regarding the provisions of civic and citizenship education in the participating countries completed the 2

3 findings from students, teachers and school contexts. ( ICCS is the largest international study on civic and citizenship education ever conducted. Data gathered from more than 140,000 Grade 8 (or equivalent) students, in more than 5,300 schools from 38 countries, from more than teachers in those schools Contextual data collected from school principals and national research centers. (Schulz et.al. 2010) In addition, regional modules were organized. Twenty-four European countries involved in ICCS took part in a European module (exceptions Norway and Russia). Here data from more than 75,000 students of an average age of 13,5 years (in most countries: eights year of schooling) in more than 3,000 schools were gathered. In addition to the student data, data from 35,000 teachers in those schools were collected as well as further contextual data from school principals and the study s national research centers. (Kerr et.al. 2010) The European module focused on students knowledge and understanding of civics and citizenship in a European context and their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors with respect to specific European-related civic and political issues, institutions, and policies. [Kerr/ Sturman/ Schulz, & Burge 2010:4] ICCS builds on the previous International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) studies of civic education. The first IEA study of civic education was 3

4 conducted in The second study, the IEA Civic Education Study (CIVED), was carried out in An additional survey, of upper secondary students was undertaken in The fact, that ICCS builds on the experiences in previous studies is not only mirrored in the extended scope, but also in a conceptually refined and analytically ambitious approach towards the elements constituting young peoples capacity and disposition to act as citizens in the future. As David Kerr, one of the Co-directors of the study has expressed it in an interview published at the website of the Network of European Citizenship Educators (NECE): ICCS took account of the considerable change in interest in civic and citizenship education that had taken place in the 10 years since CIVED. The study deliberately adopted the term civic and citizenship education in recognition of the broadening of the concept, processes and practices that have occurred in this area since CIVED. The research design was built on an acceptance of this broadening and the need to focus on students civic and citizenship knowledge, dispositions to engage and attitudes relating to civic and citizenship education in modern, 21st century, democratic societies. The ICCS assessment framework was based around three dimensions (content, affective-behavioural and cognitive) and four content domains (civic society and systems, civic principles, civic participation and civic identities). These dimensions and content domains addressed the broadening concept. These changes in the research design will be further elaborated in the following paragraphs. The argument goes, that this makes ICCS more interesting with regard to improving educational practice than its predecessors. IV. Why ICCS as a topic for Educators Consultations? As mentioned, the EWC Educators' Consultations in 2011 and 2012 deal with the findings of ICCS. The EWC regards the findings of the study as highly interesting when it comes to basic challenges of EDC in schools. Why is this so? As indicated before, the ICCS study sets out to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens and that not only student s achievements in the field of civic knowledge and cognitive skills have been tested (something which has been given too much emphasis in the light of the current obsession with international ratings). What is most interesting about ICCS: it offers insights regarding the preconditions, contexts and constellations that foster or hinder young people s political capabilities and motivations to engage in their society s political life. By drawing a quite comprehensive picture of the interrelated factors that are involved in learning [about] democracy, the study can serve as a starting point for reflection on existing teaching and learning practices, it highlights challenges and possible ways of improvement. Not only the findings, but already the design of the study can be regarded as thought provoking. A look into the research questions: 4

5 1. Variations in civic knowledge; 2. Changes in content knowledge since 1999; 3. Student interest in engaging in public and political life and their disposition to do so; 4. Perceptions of threats to civil society; 5. Features of education systems, schools, and classrooms related to civic and citizenship education; 6. Aspects of student background related to the outcomes of civic and citizenship education. Without doubt, knowledge is seen as a crucial condition for young people s capability to act as active citizens in the future, but this precondition is interrelated with a range of other factors, non the least educational contexts and students social backgrounds. What might be most interesting with regard to the concept of preparedness, is research question 3., touching upon the motivational aspects of civic participation. Even the most informed and skilled person will not become an active citizen, if she/he does not assume taking the step out and use these capacities in a necessary and/or meaningful way. These assumptions are also mirrored in the design of the student questionnaire. Here, the cognitive dimension comprises knowledge and understanding as well as skills (such as critical thinking), whereas the affective-behavioral aspects comprise attitudes/ beliefs, Interest/ motivation as well as actual and intended participation. The topic of intended participation is, again, differentiated regarding the intention to use the right to vote in elections and to participate in other forms of political and civic engagement following the distinction between conventional and unconventional forms of political action (Ainley/Schulz 2011:2). The study has, therefore, the potential to show, which understanding (broad or narrow) of democratic participation is evoked by different approaches and practices of citizenship education, and which are the factors that make a 5

6 difference when it comes to empowering and encouraging young people on to become active citizens. The design of the study thus, touches upon crucial questions regarding EDC in the classroom, as part of school cultures and beyond: - Which ideas on political/civic participation are expressed by ways of teaching do they meet young people s perception of politics/the political? - What do young people need in order to be prepared to be future citizens in terms of teaching and learning contents, methods, school climates, encouragement and incentives to engage in political life beyond school? - Which teaching approach and learning methods address knowledge, skills and attitudes in a way that really empowers young people? - What is the impact of school and classroom climate on student s capacity and interest to act as citizens? - How important are students socio-cultural backgrounds for their civics related learning achievements? - Is there any relation between Citizenship Education and young people s civic experiences in the broader community? Each of these questions point, again, to the roles of teachers in EDC and to the question: which competences teachers need in order to become effective mentors of their student s civic development? This is the starting point of the Educators Consultations concept. It seeks to address this type of question in a way combining reflection on individual professional development, sharing of experiences and collaborative quest into how educational practice could be improved in the (wider) school environment. It takes into consideration student s backgrounds and local/community challenges and resources. This approach correlates with the principles of Council of Europe policy such as the recently adopted CoE Charter on EDC and HRE. The Charter defines Education for Democratic Citizenship as [E]ducation, training, awareness raising, information, practices and activities which aim, by equipping learners with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviour, to empower them to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society, to value diversity and to play an active part in democratic life, with a view to the promotion and protection of democracy and the rule of law. When it comes to the role of research, the Charter states (in paragraph 12): Member states should [..] provide stakeholders including policy makers, educational institutions, school leaders, teachers, learners, non-governmental organisations and youth organisations with comparative information to help them measure and increase their effectiveness and efficiency and improve their practices. 6

7 So, what do the findings of ICCS actually indicate regarding effective ways of citizenship education, if the threshold of effectiveness is the degree in which students show the capacity as well as the interest and motivation to act as citizens comprising and transcending the role as voters? V. Describing the gap(s) identifying perspectives Aims of Citizenship Education: When trying to describe, how civic and citizenship education in school prepares young people to their roles as citizens, one base line question is, of course, how teachers and school principals interpret this task. Which intentions do they have, which priorities? Is their teaching based on a conventional or unconventional understanding of citizenship and which of the cognitive and attitudinal/affective aspects of civic preparedness to they want to support in their students? And, none the least: how do they do so? The study shows a quite clear picture for the majority of school teachers and principals: [T]he most important aims of civic and citizenship education are those relating to the development of knowledge and skills such as promoting knowledge of social, political, and civic institutions; developing students skills and competencies in conflict resolution; promoting knowledge of citizens rights and responsibilities; promoting students critical and independent thinking. Across countries, only minorities of principals and teachers viewed supporting the development of effective strategies for the fight against racism and xenophobia and preparing students for future political participation as among the three most important objectives of civic and citizenship education. (Caponera/Losito 2011:4) Class room climate: The authors of ICCS followed previous studies in taking the role of classroom climate into consideration, since this seemed to be associated with student knowledge. Items regarding class room climate were included in both ICCS student and teacher questionnaires. As to the findings, Caponera/Losito (2011: 4) state: On average, across ICCS countries, there was a positive association between teachers perceptions of classroom climate and students' civic knowledge. This correlates with the finding that Student perception of openness of classroom climate is a significant positive predictor of student knowledge across most ICCS countries. (ibd.) Most obviously, a positive, encouraging learning environment is a supporting factor for the acquisition of civic knowledge. Learning democracy is not only a question of what is learned but also how it is learned. But which impact does student s knowledge about 7

8 political phenomena really have on their behavior and/ or their ambitions and intentions to become politically active? Expected electoral participation Expected active political participation: Schulz, Ainley, Van de Gaer (2010: 12) give an interesting description of what constitutes the disposition for electoral participation and a surprising finding regarding what might prevent it: There is strong evidence that civic knowledge is a strong positive predictor of students expectation to vote. Active participation in forms of democratic student representation in school had significant positive effects on expected electoral participation in about two thirds of the countries. Students feelings of being competent and able to make an impact ( internal political efficacy and citizenship self-efficacy ) were positively related to expected electoral participation in most countries However: In most countries, participation in the community was not necessarily related to electoral participation. In a number of countries there were even negative associations of participation in the community with expected participation in elections. This brings up the very interesting and important question: Does Citizenship Education, as it is practiced in many classrooms today, communicate and transmit an understanding of conventional and unconventional forms of participation being unrelated or even opposed to each other? If this is the case, young people are not prepared to use the full range of their participatory options in pluralist democratic societies with their dynamic political cultures. When it comes to active political engagement and participation (beyond voting), there seems to be neither any association with family background nor with students civic knowledge. Schulz, Ainley, Van de Gaer (2010) give following description of relevant factors: [S]tudents self-beliefs (self-confidence, self-efficacy) had strong associations with expected active political participation. In addition, trust in civic institutions and support for political parties were also positively associated with expectations of future political engagement. Our conclusion is that expected active political participation is more strongly influenced by students wider experiences in the community and the beliefs they form than by civic knowledge, background and participation in school civic activities. (Schulz, Ainley, Van de Gaer 2010: 15) As a conclusion from the findings presented in the above paragraphs, the authors state that Citizenship Education as it is conducted in most of the countries, prepares students to their 8

9 role as future voters, whereas, encouraging broader participation in society as citizens remains a challenge. (Schulz, Ainley,Van de Gaer 2010: 16) This view is also supported by Barbara Malak-Minkiewicz, member of the IEA Secretariat, in her contribution to the EWC statement series. According to her, the findings of ICCS indicate a need for educators to broaden their understanding of citizenship education and to facilitate going beyond schools, for broader experiences that help increase interests and understanding of political and social issues. She continues: Further discussion among policy makers and practitioners is needed concerning goals of civic and citizenship education in school and possibilities to expand from knowledge and related skills to participatory skills and strategies. (Malak-Minkiewicz 2011) At this point, the usefulness of the ICCS study as a basis to discuss exactly these challenges ( and possible responses to them ) with educators is evident. In the last section of this article some experiences from the Educators Consultations held in 2011 shall be presented. VI. Educator s Consultations in practice The Educators Consultations in Vienna and Innsbruck gathered different groups of educational practitioners, researchers and representatives from Ministries of education. The Austrian ICCS findings 1 indicate, that EDC in Austria seems mostly to be oriented towards a very traditional view on the political, focusing on government, political parties and elections. Teachers within the subject of civic education are by most of their colleagues regarded to be the only responsible to prepare young people for their future participation as citizens. Democratic participation within school or in the broader community is only by a minority regarded as relevant aspects of civic education. It was, however, stressed that the Austrian syllabuses for civic education and structural frameworks for pupils councils would allow for a much broader approach. Persisting mentalities linked to notions of teacher s authority and hierarchies in schools seem to be restrictive factors regarding changes in educational practice. The intensive and engaged discussion focused mostly on the questions, how steps towards democratic school culture can be taken, allowing all members of a school to feel responsible for an environment in which young people can gain democratic competences through experiencing democratic structures and practices. 1 presented by Dr. Martina Zandonella/ SORA Institute for Social Research and Consulting (Vienna) and Dr. Helmut Fennes and Kathrin Helling/ University of Innsbruck 9

10 At the Educators Consultations in Sofia, researchers and representatives of NGOs dealing with Citizenship Education, Human Rights Education and Intercultural Education, as well as high ranking representatives of the Ministry of Education took part in the event. In the presentation of the Bulgarian ICCS findings 2, it was pointed out that the average achievements of Bulgarian students in the cognitive parts of the study were significantly lower than in the CIVED study from The decrease is most dramatic among the disadvantaged students who are often placed in so called practical schools. InBulgaria social background has a crucial impact on students cognitive achievements, something which is also reflected in the results of PISA. Working in groups, the participants discussed the possible impact of the ICCS findings, related to questions of learning and teaching methodology, democratic practices of young people in schools and beyond schools, as well as social cohesion. The fact, that relevant agents dealing with Citizenship Education and Human Rights Education had a forum for discussion, was experienced as a chance to come closer to common understandings and approaches as how to improve the situation indicated in the ICCS findings. Conclusion: Despite the quite different national contexts, the experiences from the first Educators Consultations held in 2011 have proven that the ICCS study can serve as an inspiring starting point and a rich source of information along with questions that practitioners in the field of Citizenship Education can use to reflect upon their every day practice and its conditions. These topics might include challenges faced by teachers, such as how to evaluate and assess pupils readiness to act as active citizens, but also concrete approaches such as participatory learning methods, inclusive class room environments, democratic school governance as well as EDC partnerships between schools and local communities. The format of Educators Consultations creates a space of interaction for different actors within educational systems (teachers, teacher trainers, educational bureaucrats, NGO representatives etc) and allows combining reflection on individual professional development as well as collaborative quest for institutional and political strategies of improvement. 2 Presented by Dr Svetla Petrova, National coordinator (ICCS), Center for Control and Assessment of the Quality of Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Science 10

11 References: Ainley, J., and Schulz, W. (2011). Expected participation in protest activities among lower secondary students in 38 countries. Paper prepared for the Annual AERA Meeting in New Orleans, 8-12 April. [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) Caponera, E., and Losito, B. (2011). The roles of schools and communities in civic and citizenship education. Paper prepared for the Annual AERA Meeting in New Orleans, 8-12 April. [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) Kerr, D., Sturman, L., Schulz, W., & Burge, B. (2010). ICCS 2009 European report: Civic knowledge, attitudes, and engagement among lower-secondary students in 24 European countries. Amsterdam: IEA. [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) Interview with David Kerr on the website of the Network of European Citizenship Educators (NECE): ml (viewed Dec 2, 2012) Malak-Minkiewicz, Barbara (2011) The findings of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and the challenges for educational practitioners in Europe. The EWC Statement Series 02/2011 [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) Schulz, W., Ainley, J. and Van de gaer, E. (2010). Preparedness for active citizenship among lower secondary students in international comparison. Paper prepared for the 4th IEA International Research Conference in Gothenburg, 1-3 July. [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) Schulz, W., Ainley, J., Fraillon, J., Kerr, D., & Losito, B. (2010). ICCS 2009 international report: Civic knowledge, attitudes, and engagement among lower-secondary school students in 38 countries. Amsterdam: IEA. [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) Schulz, W., Ainley, J., Fraillon, J., Kerr, D., & Losito, B. (2010). Initial findings from the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study. Amsterdam: IEA. [ (viewed Nov 27, 2012) 11