Active Citizenship

Democracy is a highly desirable but contested concept in education. However, little is known about how current and future educators perceive, experience and relate to democracy, which could have a significant impact on how students learn about, and become involved in, civic engagement and democracy. This paper reports on a study of 129 College of Education students, finding that they generally have a narrow conceptualization of democracy, primarily focused on electoral politics, only weakly connecting it to education. Social justice, in particular, was highlighted as requiring more attention.

There is a conflict between civil society's larger purpose and the self-interest of professionals who work in the sector. That conflict can only be resolved if developmental professionals strive to become irrelevant by enabling the dispossessed to take control of voicing their own interests and demanding their rights.This brief excerpt from a keynote address is intended as a cautionary note for civil society, which can develop a vested interest in the very miseries it seeks to abolish.

As we are living amid an unprecedent environmental crisis, the need for schools to empower students into environmental citizenship is intensifying. Teachers are considered as the main driving force in fostering students’ environmental citizenship. However, a critical question is how teachers conceive environmental citizenship and whether their perceptions of environmental citizenship are well-informed. There is an urgent need to investigate teachers’ perceptions, considering their crucial role in the formation of students’ environmental citizenship. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of environmental citizenship through a systematic review and thematic analysis of relevant empirical studies. The selected studies (n = 16) were published in peer-reviewed journals during the timespan of the last twenty-five (25) years (1995–2020). The thematic findings of this review revealed that teachers’ perceptions: (a) manifest a relatively decreased understanding of environmental citizensh...

What are the European Youth Goals and how do they relate to the EU Youth Strategy? Do they embody the principles of solidarity? Can they contribute to solidarity in the youth field at a national and European level and if yes, how?
This paper examines the EU Youth Strategy, especially the Youth Goals, from two different perspectives. This will be done on the one hand by understanding solidarity as a cohesive system and on the other by viewing solidarity as a common value. It will further give an insight as to whether the European Youth Goals incorporate the principles of solidarity. Lastly,
it assesses the role of the EU Youth Strategy and the Youth Goals as tools to achieve solidarity.
The analysis conducted in the paper provides the following insights. Solidarity can be understood as a cohesive system of cooperation in the European youth field. Each stakeholder has a specific role and knowledge base with which they contribute to the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy and the process of the EU Youth Dialogue. Additionally, solidarity as a common value has become even more crucial than before in the second EU Youth Strategy and in the European Youth Goals. However, the implementation of these documents depends on national realities.

This paper presents a case study conducted as part of a PhD Thesis on testing Life Coaching as a learning method for fostering emancipation in vulnerable groups (adult patients), using a participatory-action-research approach.
The lessons learnt provides empirical insights on the implications for the implementation of non-medical methods that could allow a shift from a situation of passivity (patient
care) to a new one of participation to the definition of new objectives or projects of life (active citizenship).
This paper was conceived to fulfil an identified need to study and test innovative and non-medical methods for fostering adult patients’ self-determination.

As we are living amid an unprecedent environmental crisis, the need for schools to empower students into environmental citizenship is intensifying. Teachers are considered as the main driving force in fostering students’ environmental citizenship. However, a critical question is how teachers conceive environmental citizenship and whether their perceptions of environmental citizenship are well-informed. There is an urgent need to investigate teachers’ perceptions, considering their crucial role in the formation of students’ environmental citizenship. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of environmental citizenship through a systematic review and thematic analysis of relevant empirical studies. The selected studies (n = 16) were published in peer-reviewed journals during the timespan of the last twenty-five (25) years (1995–2020). The thematic findings of this review revealed that teachers’ perceptions: (a) manifest a relatively decreased understanding of environmental citizensh...

Taking direction from the well-received exhibition Design with the Other 90%: CITIES (2011 – 2012) in America, this paper will refer to the notion of  ‘Architecture “with the Other 90%”’. By making reference to collaborative community-led architectural projects emanating from the African continent to illustrate the shift towards ‘Architecture “with the Other 90%”’ in addressing spontaneous urbanism in these regions. The main case studies that will be analyzed in the discussion is the Makoko Floating School in Lagos, Nigeria by NLÉ Architects lead by Kunlé Adeyemi (NLÉ Architecture & Design, 2016a) and the Design Indaba 10x10 Low-Cost Housing project by Luyanda Mpahlwa, from MMA Architects, for a family home in Freedom Park (Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town) (Design Indaba, 2016a). This paper’s central focus is to illustrate a shift in social responsibility design and approach in Africa by referring to interdisciplinary architectural and design projects that are community-led, participatory, human-centered and promotes active citizenship.

After we analyse the terms political thinking and critical political thinking, as two of the main kinds of thinking that sociopolitical education subjects should cultivate among students of secondary education, we propose different teaching approaches which may promote these forms of thinking, so that students can become capable of analysing critically and perceiving politically the current and existing sociopolitical reality. Finally, we suggest teaching methods and techniques that will help students adopt attitudes that will make students acquire attitudes that embrace political participation in an effort to increase the probability that they will become active citizens, as adults, following a democratic path.

Vatandaşlık; sosyal, siyasal, ekonomik ve hukuksal boyutlarıyla uzun yıllar sonucunda şekillenen ve hala dönüşüm içerisinde olan bir olgudur. Bireyin devlet ve toplumla sahip olduğu geleneksel ilişki biçimlerine farklı bir boyut getiren modern vatandaşlık, insanın akıl ve irade sahibi bir varlık olarak konumlanması sonucunda ulaşılmış bir statüyü niteler. Fakat bu statü durağan ve tek boyutlu bir ilişkiyi ifade etmez; aksine dinamik, karmaşık ve girift bir yapıya sahiptir. 20. yüzyılın son çeyreğinden itibaren ve özellikle 21. yüzyılla birlikte, bu ilişki biçimini derinden etkileyen ve klasik vatandaşlık yaklaşımlarına meydan okuyan dönüşümlere şahit oluyoruz. Vatandaşlık artık sadece hukuki bir bağla açıklanamayacak bir bağlam kazanmıştır. Kimlik ve aidiyetlere ilişkin farkındalık ve talepler, dünya sorunlarındaki artış, bilimsel ve teknolojik gelişmeler, bu olgunun her seferinde yeniden üretilmesine zeminoluşturmakta, kavram da gittikçe çok boyutlu ve disiplinlerarası bir nitelik kazanmaktadır. Vatandaşlığın anlamına ve kapsamına yönelik bu tartışmalar, vatandaşlık eğitiminin hedeflerini ve içeriğini de doğrudan şekillendirmekte; “Nasıl bir vatandaş yetiştirmek istiyoruz?” sorusu farklı ülkelerde, farklı dönemlerde değişik yanıtlar bulabilmektedir. Eğitim sistemi açısından oldukça hayati olan bu soru, vatandaşlık ve vatandaşlık eğitiminin daha bütüncül bir şekilde incelenmesini gerekli kılmaktadır. Türkiye’de vatandaşlık konusunda olgun bir literatürün oluştuğu söylenebilir. Bununla birlikte vatandaşlık eğitimi açısından aynı yargıda bulunmak zor görünüyor. Bu durum konunun önemi dikkate alındığında büyük bir boşluğa işaret etmektedir. Kuramsal Temeller ve Güncel Tartışmalar Işığında 21. Yüzyılda Vatandaşlık ve Vatandaşlık Eğitimi isimli bu eser, vatandaşlık ve vatandaşlık eğitimi konusundaki güncel tartışma ve eğilimleri ele alarak bu boşluğun kapanmasına bir katkı sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Kitapta vatandaşlık ve vatandaşlık eğitimini çeşitli yönleriyle ele alan on dokuz bölüm yer almaktadır. Bölümler, hem teorik ve tarihsel açıdan vatandaşlık kavramının gelişimini ve özellikle 20. yüzyılla birlikte yaşadığı dönüşümü, hem de bu dönüşümlerin vatandaşlık eğitimine yansımalarını incelemektedir. Eserin, bu alana ilgi duyan okurlara faydalı olması dileğiyle…

This thesis inquires into possibilities for young children‘s active citizenship as provoked through a practice of social justice storytelling with one Preparatory class of children aged five to six years. The inquiry was practitioner-research, through a living educational theory approach cultivating an interrelational view of existing with others in evolving processes of creation. Ideas of young children‘s active citizenship were provoked and explored through storytelling, by a storytelling teacher-researcher, a Prep class of children and their teacher. The three major foci of the study were practice, narrative and action. A series of storytelling workshops with a Prep class was the practice that was investigated. Each workshop began with a story that made issues of social justice visible, followed by critical discussion of the story, and small group activities to further explore the story. The focus on narrative was based on the idea of story as a way knowing. Stories were used to explore social justice issues with young children. Metanarratives of children and citizenship were seen to influence possibilities for young children‘s active citizenship. Stories were purposefully shared to provoke and promote young children‘s active citizenship through social actions. It was these actions that were the third focus of the study. Through action research, a social justice storytelling practice and the children‘s responses to the stories were reflected on both in action and after. These reflections informed and shaped storytelling practice. Learning in a practice of social justice storytelling is explained through living theories of social justice storytelling as pedagogy. Data of the children‘s participation in the study were analysed to identify influences and possibilities for young children‘s active citizenship creating a living theory of possibilities for young children‘s active citizenship.

The study aims to determine the effect of the National Youth Commission (NYC) Volunteers’ Program on active citizenship in the Philippines. The researchers decided to focus on the Volunteers’ Program because it stresses the important role of the youth in nation-building. The researchers’ main objective is to assess whether the National Youth Commission is truly effective in instilling active citizenship through encouraging the youth in participating in activities where they can serve the local or national community. This study analyzes government documents such as the Commission’s accomplishment reports, the budget reports of events under the Volunteers’ Program, and the Volunteers’ Program Report. Data was also solicited from the NYC officials that facilitate the Volunteers’ Program and from the youth volunteers themselves. Youth volunteers are individuals ranging from 15-30 years old. Their answers were examined through thematic analysis. The findings of this evaluation research will be used to propose reforms and recommendations to further improve the Volunteers’ Program.

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it has been stated that all learners should acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. Consequently, and also with the great proliferation of knowledge and rapid changes in technology, it is important to develop students’ understanding of the principles of sustainability.
The Special Issue “Geography Education Promoting Sustainability” focuses on views and
experiences in geography education at schools and in teacher education, which support curricular
work and school practices sharing a vision of a society that lives in balance with Earth’s carrying
capacity. In addition, the special issue presents and reflects on the ideas that offer learners a context
for developing active, global citizenship and participation for understanding of the interdependencies
of ecological, societal, and economic systems.

The purpose of The Special Issue “Geography Education Promoting Sustainability” is to enhance understanding of sustainability and foster initiatives and applications of sustainability based activities at schools and in teacher education.

The book includes a multi-sided view of sustainability and sustainable development, and many useful teaching and learning ideas for promoting them in Geography Education at different educational levels.

This PhD research project tackles youngsters’ role as citizens, by recognising them as experts of their own life experiences, capable of giving unique contributions and views on addressing certain issues related to their local and learning needs. The youngsters engaged in this process belong to the local community of Miragaia in Porto, coming from an elementary school with an age bracket between 12 and 16 years old.


Through a participatory action approach, the aim is to encourage youngsters’ self-empowerment through codesign practices. This is established by co-sharing and co-deciding conditions for the learning environment, co-creating the learning tools and discussing the learning process, through which young people can reflect upon their identities as learners within the school context and life-long trajectories.
 Since schools are the first window and practice of belonging to a wider society, there is a certain parallel drawn between active learning and active citizenship having in mind that students have the right and the duty in learning to learn by actively engaging in a democratic process within the school life and its local communities.


The researcher reflects upon school’s constraints and conditions to learn by deconstructing the possibilities for youngsters’ meaningful participation inside and outside of the classroom, endeavouring the pluralistic approach to a more participatory education.


In 2014, a long-term project in Miragaia school has been initiated as a case study of codesigning participatory practices with, for and by youth. In the first stage "warmUP", an ethnographic and participatory observation was conducted through voluntary weekly sessions that tackled the wellbeing of youth in the school context, their motivational drivers and awareness towards learning and participating in loco. The gathered results demonstrated the intergenerational gap in communication and understanding of certain terminology related to citizenship topic.


In the second phase, "buildUP", students continued participation in the weekly sessions in which they were invited to take ownership and co-manage implementation of initiatives of their own interest, such as the Christmas party and the tournament in football. After the winter break, Miragaia students created a community of practice with design students from the Árvore school located in the same area. Together they co-created a learning tool - visual dictionary "Ilustracionário, à minha maneira 1.0" - by reflecting upon their own levels of understanding of 23 concepts that associate with the topics of youth policy and civic participation and representing them visually through illustrations.


"play" is the last phase which was implemented in the classroom and the students were invited to reflect upon their motivation to learn, learning practice and their competencies of co-creating learning tools that can be used inside/outside of the classrooms.


The principles of codesigning learning processes are based on individual needs and nonhierarchical, voluntary, learner-centred, collaborative, transparent, experiential, experimental and flexible approaches.
 The data gathered through weekly sessions in the last three academic years is analysed and contributes to shaping a learning framework in active citizenship, as a recommendation of applying to codesign in facilitating learning with, for and by youth.

Keywords: youngsters, codesign, citizenship, learning, framework

This paper has not been generally available. It was originally prepared  as an introductory paper for an EU  unit interested in promoting 'active citizenship'. It has been quoted in :

Nelson, J. and Kerr, D. (2006), Active citizenship in INCA countries: definitions, policies, practices and outcomes: Final report, London: Qualification and Curriculum Authority. p.6.

Ross, A. & Dooly, M. Young people’s intentions about their political activity
Citizenship Teaching and Learning, 6 (1), 43-60.

Schulz, W.,  Fraillon, J.,  Ainley, J.,  Bruno, L. &  Kerr, D.  International Civic and Citizenship Education Study – Assessment Framework. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, p.23.

This paper argues that the Hikajat Khonghoetjoe (The life story of Confucius), written by Lie Kim Hok in 1897, is a medium to propose modern ideas of flexible subjectivity, cosmopolitanism, active citizenship and the concepts of good governance to the Chinese Peranakans who experienced political and racial discrimination under Dutch colonization. Using the figure of Confucius, Lie aimed to cultivate virtuous subjects who apply their faith and morality in political sphere. He intended to raise political awareness and rights among the Chinese as colonial subjects and to valorize their bargaining power with the Dutch colonial government. By introducing Confucianism, Lie proposed that the Chinese reconnect themselves with China as an alternative patronage which could subvert White supremacy. Instead of using sources in Chinese, Lie translated the biography of Confucius from the European texts. In crafting his story, Lie applied conglomerate authorship, a technique commonly practised by Malay authors. It allowed him to select, combine and appropriate the source texts. To justify that Confucius' virtue and his teaching were superb and are applicable to contemporary life, Lie borrowed and emphasized European writers' high appraisal of Confucianism, instead of using his own arguments and opinions. I call this writing technique " indirect agency " .

Over the last few decades in Mumbai, incessant urbanization stimulated by flows of property capital has pushed government to privilege private development over public space. In this neoliberal context, citizens’ groups have pressured government to act in the public interest and led the charge to conserve public spaces in the city. This article examines the relationship between citizenship and city building in Mumbai by presenting two case studies of citizen action: the struggle over Land’s End and the making of the Bandra Bandstand promenade. It critically engages the expansive and divergent literature about the politics of the middle class in urban India and resists the tendency of characterizing this group as merely consumerist and anti-poor. The article argues that the roots of middle class involvement in Mumbai’s urban transformation goes back to the 1970s and beyond and posits that the politics and activism of numerous citizens’ groups builds on historical struggles for environmental and social justice in the city.

Measuring active participation and Citizenship

Martin Billingham, MA. Institute of Education, University College London.

Keywords: communication, cooperation, participation, assessment, teamwork, dialogic education

UNICEF have declared that ‘communication, cooperation, participation’ are necessary for active and informed citizenship. We can predict that the problems the next generation face will be complex, multifaceted and fundamentally require social cohesion. Therefore, we need a society
that has the ability and the drive to solve problems from varying perspectives, a wide set of skills and the drive for collaborative action. However, students are leaving compulsory education lacking in these valuable skills and so lacking the agency and ability to understand and improve the world around them.

To assess something is to reach for an understanding of value and if we believe that these skills are indeed ‘valuable’ for citizenship we must find a means to assess them. This is not just to demonstrate its value to stakeholders, not just to manage the function of learning outcomes, but
in order to make iterative and continual improvements in the skills, knowledge and ability of the next generation to function as a society that values equality of outcome, inclusion and co-production.

There are emerging assessment methods focused on the measurement of teamwork, oracy and dialogue - but how valid and reliable are these methods? To what extent are these assessments for formative or summative purposes? and fundamentally can these tools be used
to support disadvantaged students to reach their potential and become active citizens that can learn, negotiate and take action together?

This paper will explore the use of 'codifying speaking and listening' as a means to assess communicative abilities through the Cambridge SEDA model and the assessment of ‘communication, cooperation, and participation’ in group work. There will also be a demonstration of ‘Team Talk Tracker’ a piece of software in development to help educators and
students measure, track and assess their ability to think, talk and work together as active citizens.

Delivered at the 'Measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of active citizenship education' conference Roehampton university, 27th Sept 2020

The 20th century has been characterized, amongst other ways, by the new role of intellectuals in public debate. Julien Benda’s book La Trahison des clercs represents a sort of summary of all the problems that emerged until the end of 1920s concerning the relationship between politics and culture. By going beyond superficial readings of his work, it is possible to identify that which is key for intellectuals as they carry out their specific role as citizens. In fact, along with the process of democratization, various forms of so-called ‘active citizenship’ have appeared. It is right to collocate, among them, intellectuals’ actions, when are invested, with a sense of responsibility, in the pursuit of the defence and development of common goods.

O Projeto IRRESISTIBLE teve como objetivo envolver professores, alunos e membros da comunidade na discussão sobre Investigação e Inovação Responsáveis (IIR), promovendo a construção de conhecimento sobre tópicos de investigação de ponta (e controversos) (Controvérsias Sociocientíficas - CSC) e a discussão sobre os critérios que os processos de investigação/inovação devem respeitar para serem considerados responsáveis. Este artigo apresenta resultados sobre o potencial educacional das exposições IRRESISTIBLE construídas pelos alunos sobre CSC e as suas dimensões de IIR. As exposições foram construídas pelos alunos em diferentes contextos - escolas, universidades, museus e locais públicos - e foram assumidas como uma estratégia de ativismo através da qual os alunos informaram a comunidade sobre a CSC que haviam investigado e desencadearam discussão sobre as condições necessárias para garantir práticas de IIR nessas áreas. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas com alunos participantes de 10 países. Os resultados gerais indicam que os alunos melhoraram as suas perceções sobre as suas competências de desenvolvimento de exposições como forma de conscientizar sobre temas relacionados com ciência, tecnologia e sociedade. Esta atividade reforçou a perceção dos alunos de que nas aulas de ciências eles desenvolvem projetos socialmente relevantes e aprendem como influenciar as decisões de outros cidadãos sobre questões sociais relacionadas com ciência, tecnologia e ambiente, com o objetivo de garantir um futuro mais sustentável.

This paper addresses the debate surrounding the participatory and emancipatory approaches in disability research. The purpose is to provide evidence in order to answer the research question related to what extent participatory and mancipatory research can represent a paradigm able to contribute to the emancipation of disabled people and to the development of a transformation of fundamental social structures and relationships.
The paper is mainly inspired by academic literature reviews and international document- analysis that have led to interpretations and suggestions for a new trajectory of research in the disability field.
The first section sets a brief summary of the main authors and theories in relation to the participatory and emancipatory research and how these approaches can develop into means able to support the self-determination of disabled people in the research field.
In the second section, the attempt is to tentatively - suggest a trajectory of research, in which: the participatory and emancipatory paradigm of research if applied to a model of disability as a civil rights problems, could guide the collection and analysis of data and information with the active
involvement and participation of disabled people in order to develop innovative solutions, transform social structures and change relationships.

While attention is now being paid to emotions and personal sustainability in social movements, relatively little attention has been paid to difference between social movement situations or broader cultural contexts. This paper locates the question in the broader history of thinking about ordinary people’s political engagement since the French Revolution. It explores various literatures relating to the topic, arguing that emotional sustainability is only one aspect of personal sustainability in social movements. Using the example of WB Yeats’ response to the 1916 Easter Rising, it highlights the importance of locating this in place, time and culture. The paper offers a typological approach as a counter-strategy to the assumption of uniformity, focussing on difference in social situation, organising contexts and background cultures.

The so-called ‘participatory turn’ or ‘social turn’ (Bishop) has been propelled by the arrival of the digital culture and new possibilities in the area of technology and communications, which offer audiences unprecedented possibilities for involvement. A tide of terms like ‘smart mobs’ (Rheingold), ‘collective intelligence’ (Levy), ‘people formerly known as the audience’ (Rosen) and ‘crowdsourcing’ (Howe) renegotiate (often uncritically) the place of audiences in creative process and suggest that audience is getting highly engaged in all areas of innovation and creativity. Moreover, a growing literature on citizenship tries to prove that arts participation is an active force in the creation of active citizenship (i.e. Stevenson, Mercer). However, recent researches of cultural needs and habits of Serbian population (Cvetičanin), especially younger part of it (Mrđa), show disturbingly low (and decreasing) interest for any kind of institutionalized culture or arts. I argue here that a very important factor for this is the same kind of low interest of artists, arts critics and producers for the audience. Thus, theorizing about audience activity is often distanced from the activity itself.
The main research question of this paper is how artists and cultural practitioners in the Serbian theatrical community construct the idea of their audience. What kinds of roles do audiences play in theatre? To understand and interpret the relation between artists (and other families of cultural system - Mollard) and audience, study focused on the discourses about audience, which were analysed using the discourse analysis method. Data derived from over one hundred interviews with ten most-acclaimed actors and actresses in the last twenty years in Serbia. Analysed interviews were published in special publications by the National Theatrical Museum in the occasion of awarding these artists with a lifetime achievement award ”The Ring of Dobrica.”
The results suggest that inside institutionalized, elite cultural scene in Serbia discourses about audience are oddly rare; in discourses that do exist, audience is most often constructed as passive mass; collaboration or any other sharing with audience does not exist. All this leads to the conclusion that the whole theatrical system of Serbia is in many ways distanced from the audience. This is arguably linked to the wider public dis-engagement in transitional Serbia. However, in order to become an agent of change, theatre and arts in general, have to create a new concept of audience.

The author explains that volunteer work currently arises as a tool of active citizenship and participation of citizens in an attempt to meet the community's social needs. She looks into volunteer work within the current social and historical scope, addressing the relationship between volunteering and Public Administration, both in Portugal and Brazil.