31 July 2006
Citizenship is still high on the political agenda. This is not amazing if you look at the problems with which governments and citizens are confronted. Governments and the European Commission see citizenship education as a policy tool that has the potential to deal with these problems. Whether this makes sense is an open question and a point of discussion between experts.
In this article I will describe the research project that was initiated by the European Commission and which runs in 2006. The research is motivated by the desire to stimulate citizens to take responsibility for participation in politics and in civil society. Abstention from voting, the lack of trust in politicians and the belief that governments do not have enough control in a globalized world, is a growing concern in Europe. In addition there are concerns with respect to terrorist activities, the rise of racist acts, and the social and violent unrest (in the French suburbs) in relation to the exclusion of youngsters with migrant backgrounds. After the ‘no’ votes to the so called European constitution in France and the Netherlands and the low turn-out at the elections for the European Parliament, it is clear that citizenship should receive extra attention, including European citizenship.
For this research, a network of experts was composed. The research project should contribute to the understanding of levels of active democratic citizenship across Europe and look into the relationship between citizenship learning activities and the practice of active citizens. In other words: is there a relation between educational input and contributions of citizens to democratic practice (whatever the form)? The project will explore the development of two kinds of indicators (quantitative information): input and output indicators of citizenship education and output indicators of active citizenship. Special attention will be devoted to groups that are at risk of social exclusion, regional differences and the European dimension of citizenship.
In the so-called Lisbon Agenda, the European Union set the goal ‘to become the most competitive market and knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion’. Active citizenship is a major issue in the programs of the European Commission. Special working groups were established to formulate ‘basic skills, entrepreneurship, and foreign languages’, which was understood to include civic competences. One of the conclusions of the working groups was that indicators for citizenship were needed and that relevant data were missing. The research project also builds on the work that has been done by the Council of Europe (the Education for Democratic Citizenship project; see www.coe.int/edc).
A study was assigned to ‘Regioplan policy research’ in Amsterdam to investigate the possibilities of creating indicators and what options for the monitoring of active citizenship and citizenship education were possible and to assess data availability and identify data gaps. Regioplan’s definition of active citizenship focuses on participation, since this is central to the EU policy goals of active citizenship. Active citizenship was defined as ‘political participation and participation in associational life characterized by tolerance and non-violence and the acknowledgement of the rule of law and human rights’.
Seven indicators for active citizenship (the outcome of citizenship education) were formulated:
* voluntary work in organizations and networks;
* organizing activities for the community;
* voting in elections;
* participation in political parties;
* participation in interest groups;
* participation in forms of peaceful protest;
* participation in public debate.
As input indicators were identified: the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that result from the educational process. The culture of education, i.e. the classroom climate, interactive teaching methods, opportunities to participate in school decision-making or in the community, are also interpreted as input indicators.
Output indicators are the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that have been learnt in citizenship education. The Regioplan study identified 9 output indicators: political and civic knowledge; political efficacy; political trust; political interest; civic skills; tolerance; non-violence; acknowledgement of human rights; acknowledgement of the rule of law. The indicators apply to formal, but also to non-formal and informal education.
Regioplan researched if the indicators as just described are covered in international data. Five datasets were explored and checked for quality and country coverage: the Civic Education Study (CivEd), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, the European Social Survey (ESS), the Eurobarometer surveys and the World Values Study (WVS). The report concludes that indicators of active citizenship are sufficiently available in existing surveys (ESS, WVS and Eurobarometer), but that good indicators for citizenship education are missing. The amount of research into the relationship between citizenship education and active citizenship is limited. In order to establish the effects of citizenship education more research is necessary. The next round of the CivEd study on citizenship education and the ESS offer opportunities to adjust the questionnaires.
In two sessions of the research network, the definition problem was tackled and indicators were discussed. Currently, papers are written on input, output and outcome indicators in preparation for an international conference. This conference will bring experts and delegates from EU-ministries together. A European module for the CivEd study will be formulated, plus additional questions for the European Social Survey.
A summary of the Regioplan study is available at the website of Regioplan.
Ruud Veldhuis, the Netherlands
Ruud Veldhuis managed European projects for the IPP until May 2005. He participates in the European Commission indicators research project. For the National Academy of Public Administration, he is developing programs on promotion of good governance, democracy and human rights for third countries and is co-ordinating the training programs for local civil servants abroad.