Education

Since the beginning of the 21st century, academics in various disciplines have stressed the need to address democratic deficits in Europe as well as lacunae in the citizenship development of European youth. In this article we explore the value of various types of democratic engagement for strengthening the democratic character of local and international communities throughout Europe. To this end, we present our democratic engagement typology and its derivation from empirical and conceptual research, and discuss several strengths and limitations of each type of engagement. We also explain the additive value of our typology in relation to existing engagement typologies, and conclude that in order to vitalize democratic communities, local and (inter)national communities and institutions also need to cultivate a thick type of democratic engagement among European youth.

Narrative learning in civic education: A theoretical framework Whilst research into the theory and practice of narrative learning in adult and religious education has gained popularity in the last decade, this type of research is still scarce in the area of civic education. This article reports the first results of a theoretical social scientific inquiry into key characteristics of narrative learning in democratic citizenship education. The framework for narrative learning in civic education that resulted from this study envisions how students can develop their narratives on three components of democratic citizenship identity (citizenship philosophy; civic self-image and democratic learning experiences) through learning from narratives; through engaging in the process of narrating; and through locating one's citizenship narratives. By developing the framework this study aims to contribute to the theory and practice of education for personal, civic and professional development .

In the last decade, educational researchers have identified various key components of a thick type of democratic citizenship education. This article presents our conception of thick democracy and explains how this conception resulted from an explorative inquiry into existing conceptions of thick democracy in educational research. With this thick conception, we want to offer a framework that teachers and empirical researchers can use to reflect on their conceptions of democracy and subsequent contributions to democratic citizenship education.

This study explores the teaching of common values in Europe, in
particular democracy and tolerance—if and how they are addressed by
EU Member States' official curricula for students in secondary education.
The role of civil society and non-governmental organisations is also
considered. Country chapters set out the situation in 12 EU Member
States and show that in many cases, there are considerable gaps
between general policy aims and concrete implementing measures, and
between policy and practice.

Political simulations are considered promising tools to instigate democratic learning in schools. This article reports a qualitative inquiry into student involvement in the organization of the 2012 mock elections-the shadow elections that schools can organize in conjunction with the official elections-in eight high schools in the Netherlands. The objective of this inquiry is twofold: to evaluate student involvement in mock elections in these schools and to lay the theoretical groundwork for further quantitative inquiries into student participation in political events. For the deductive analysis of student roles in organizing the mock election, I adapted Fielding and Moss's (2012) "patterns of partner-ship" typology using a critical democratic citizenship education lens. The analysis of interviews with teachers suggests that students were rarely envisioned as sources of data or as active respondents; they were not invited to deviate from existing planning protocols; and student-staff collaboration was not framed as a political project in its own right. Based on the empirical findings and the typology constructed for this study, I conclude with several recommendations for furthering meaningful student participation in mock elections and related events and for improving the quality of political spaces in schools. Submit a response to this article Submit online at democracyeducationjournal .org/ home Read responses to this article online

Over the last decades, many European Union countries have invested in strengthening participatory learning in citizenship education policy and practice. This survey study provides insight into how high school teachers in the Netherlands advance critical democratic citizenship and a democratic school culture in the context of mock elections. A quarter of the schools that organized mock elections in 2017 participated in the study. Analysis reveals that attention for critical, valuerelated teacher aims and teacher aims directed at strengthening a democratic school culture is still limited in mock election-related education. It also shows that half of the participating schools offer less than one hour of mock electionrelated educational activities, and that one-third of the teachers would like to offer additional educational activities.

Armed conflicts in the Middle East since 2015 have led to an increase of refugee children in Dutch society and Dutch schools. This article describes an exploratory qualitative study into how primary school teachers promote bonding in classrooms and schools with newcomer students. Following research in worldview and citizenship education, we identify three interrelated ways in which bonding can be promoted in (newcomer) education: by fostering a) exchange, b) a feeling of being listened to, and c) the co-creation of a shared cultural world. We then present the results of a multiple-case study which examined teacher practices and challenges in two schools in this regard. Thematic analysis of the data revealed how the teachers experience their work as highly meaningful, despite the challenges that stem from the super-diverse character of newcomer classes and a lack of suitable materials. The teachers offer various playful learning activities to advance exchange and a feeling of being listened to. Moreover, they employ creative, playful and imaginative learning strategies to stimulate the co-creation of a shared cultural world. Overall, our study introduces a conceptual vocabulary and provides insights into how to foster a shared space in newcomer classrooms and schools.

Purpose: Preparing citizens for participation in pluralist democracies also requires a type of citizenship education that fosters critical democratic citizenship (CDC). This study inquires into an educational activity with a long history in many EU-countries: mock elections. It explores the extent to which elements of CDC-literacy, competences and identity are commonly fostered in education related to mock elections in the Netherlands, and teacher rationales in this regard. Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted. Data from semi-structured interviews with teachers from eight schools were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings and implications: Data analysis revealed an emphasis on offering a participatory experience. Five elements of critical democratic citizenship were commonly advanced in mock election related education in these schools. Teacher narratives also revealed how teachers had different understandings about political identity and their role in advancing identi...

To be able and willing to become a democratic citizen in a pluralist society, a person needs to develop a positive attitude towards democracy and diversity. This article discusses a couple of elements that are considered prerequisite for a young person to be willing and able to develop a 'true' democratic attitude. These elements, categorised in five dimensions of democratic citizenship, are the result of a literature study about features of democratic citizenship from several disciplines: sociology, psychology, philosophy, pedagogy and political science. This theoretical frame is part of an empirical study that investigated the way in which youngsters in Utrecht relate to their citizenship, especially towards the democratic and pluralist character of the Dutch society. The empirical study also investigates the validity of the theoretical frame.

Since the beginning of the 21 st century, academics in various disciplines have stressed the need to address democratic deficits in Europe as well as lacunae in the citizenship development of European youth. In this article we explore the value of various types of democratic engagement for strengthening the democratic character of local and international communities throughout Europe. To this end, we present our democratic engagement typology and its derivation from empirical and conceptual research, and discuss several strengths and limitations of each type of engagement. We also explain the additive value of our typology in relation to existing engagement typologies, and conclude that in order to vitalize democratic communities, local and (inter)national communities and institutions also need to cultivate a thick type of democratic engagement among European youth.

Narrative learning in civic education: A theoretical framework Whilst research into the theory and practice of narrative learning in adult and religious education has gained popularity in the last decade, this type of research is still scarce in the area of civic education. This article reports the first results of a theoretical social scientific inquiry into key characteristics of narrative learning in democratic citizenship education. The framework for narrative learning in civic education that resulted from this study envisions how students can develop their narratives on three components of democratic citizenship identity (citizenship philosophy; civic self-image and democratic learning experiences) through learning from narratives; through engaging in the process of narrating; and through locating one’s citizenship narratives. By developing the framework this study aims to contribute to the theory and practice of education for personal, civic and professional development.

Scholars in different fields have theorised about the value of narrative learning and narrative education for advancing components of civic professional and worldview development. Whilst research into the theory and practice of narrative learning is more widespread in adult and religious education, it is still scarce in the area of democratic citizenship education. This article reports a theoretical social scientific inquiry into the key characteristics of narrative democratic citizenship education. After defining the key elements of narrative learning and the educational philosophy this study is based on, it elaborates on four modes of narrative learning in democratic citizenship education: learning from narratives; learning in the process of narrating; learning by recognising personal and cultural narratives; and learning by locating these narratives. It then illustrates how each mode of narrative learning can contribute to advancing democratic citizenship identity and cultural narratives on good citizenship and the good society. Building on this framework and the work of educational researchers who specialise in civics or narrative learning, the article concludes with a discussion of the desirability of employing narrative learning to cultivate citizenship identity in formal education.

Samenvatting Dit artikel doet verslag van een onderzoek waarin de opvoedingswaarden van ouders die gebruik maken van kinderopvang Humankind in kaart zijn gebracht door middel van een survey-onderzoek en interviews met een aantal ouders. De belangrijkste uitkomst van het survey-onderzoek, uitgevoerd met een vertaalde versie van Schwartz's Value Survey (N=1518), is dat ouders het meest wensen dat hun kinderen opgroeien tot gelukkige en eerlijke mensen. Vergelijking tussen ouders van verschillende levensbeschouwelijke achtergronden laat zien dat seculiere ouders conformisme, traditie en zekerheid minder belangrijk vinden dan religieuze ouders. Interviews met humanistische ouders (N=10) laten zien dat ouders hun wens dat hun kinderen gelukkig zijn, invullen als: eigen keuzes maken, genieten van het leven, rekening houden met anderen, veiligheid, gezondheid en verbondenheid. Ouders vinden deze opvoedingswaarden belangrijk vanwege invloeden uit de opvoeding die zij zelf genoten hebben, hun levensoriëntatie, kenmerken van de samenleving, kenmerken van het kind en/of volwassenwording van het kind. Het artikel eindigt met een discussie van de resultaten.

Armed conflicts in the Middle East since 2015 have led to an increase of refugee children in Dutch society and Dutch schools. This article describes an exploratory qualitative study into how primary school teachers promote bonding in classrooms and schools with newcomer students. Following research in worldview and citizenship education, we identify three interrelated ways in which bonding can be promoted in (newcomer) education: by fostering a) exchange, b) a feeling of being listened to, and c) the co-creation of a shared cultural world. We then present the results of a multiple-case study which examined teacher practices and challenges in two schools in this regard. Thematic analysis of the data revealed how the teachers experience their work as highly meaningful, despite the challenges that stem from the super-diverse character of newcomer classes and a lack of suitable materials. The teachers offer various playful learning activities to advance exchange and a feeling of being listened to. Moreover, they employ creative, playful and imaginative learning strategies to stimulate the co-creation of a shared cultural world. Overall, our study introduces a conceptual vocabulary and provides insights into how to foster a shared space in newcomer classrooms and schools.

Discussions on modern pluralism have mainly focused on its socio-political dimension. This article focuses on the existential-phenomenological dimension of plurality, conceiving of pluralism as a responsive relationship between the self and the other. We advance a philosophical reading of Hartmut Rosa’s theory of resonance in order to further give shape to this existential-phenomenological approach to pluralism. The theory of resonance offers a framework to characterize the responsive relationships at play throughout human life. We argue that Rosa’s account is promising in its contribution to thinking the concept of pluralism as responsive relationship, but we problematize how Rosa tends to reduce resonance to subjective experience rather than taking the relationship itself as a focal point. We strengthen the potential of a philosophy of resonance by further embedding it in Arendt’s philosophy of worldliness; this, we conclude, leads to a conceptualization of pluralism as the respon...

This paper reports an explorative study into the criticism towards increasing corporate power, and the opportunities citizens have, individually or as a group, to influence decisions made by formal political institutions. Aim of this research was to theorize about the possible impact of increasing corporate power on citizens opportunities for political influence on a national and international level. Equal opportunity for political influence is a democratic ideal inherited from John Stuart Mills ideas on sovereignty which can be used to look at the impact of rising corporate power on the political influence of citizens. An exploration was made of the criticism toward growing corporate power in a preliminary fashion, using the analyses of three authors on the topic of rising corporate power, Crouch (2004, 2013), Beder (2008) and Goodson & Schostak (2012). These authors worry about the development of ‘post-democracy’ and ‘the inversion of democracy’ as a result of privatization and deregulation. The hollowing out of government through privatization and contracting-out, leads to a hollowing out of democracy and a diminution of the capacity of citizens to influence the public sphere in a political way. In their everyday life citizens no longer enjoy the same opportunities to influence the public sphere as they used to. Citizens move outside of the political sphere in search of influence, creating cooperations and self-help groups to address issues of equality and sustainability, creating internet platforms to address issues of justice and freedom, and using their power as consumers to address issues in the marketplace. In their everyday life people have to find new ways to deal with the empty spaces left behind by a retreating government and the growing power of business interests, if they want to enjoy any sense of influence in the public domain. The moving outside of the political realm is a symptom of a failing democracy, where the interest of the people is no longer represented in government.