A school for citizens: Civic learning and democratic action in the learning democracy

Abstract

First paragraph: Schools never operate in a vacuum. They are always subject to different and often conflicting expectations and demands from a range of stakeholders. In modern societies schools are expected to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need for their future employment. Yet schools are also expected to make a major contribution to the socialisation of young people so as to prepare them for their future participation in the wider life of society. This comprises a number of partly overlapping agendas such as the inculcation of norms, values and standards of ‘good behaviour,’ the promotion of social integration and inclusion, and, not in the least, the education of active and contributing democratic citizens. Over the past two decades there has been a worldwide resurgence of interest in this latter function. In new and emerging democracies the focus has been on how schools can contribute to the formation of democratic dispositions and the development of a democratic culture. In established democracies the focus has been on the role of schools in the revitalisation of citizenship, often fuelled by concerns about decreasing levels of civic participation and political involvement and by wider concerns about social cohesion and inclusion.