Preparedness for active citizenship among lower secondary students in international comparison

The IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study investigates the ways in which young people in lower secondary schools are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a wide range of countries from Europe, Latin America, and the Asian-Pacific region. A central aspect of students' preparedness to become citizens in a democracy is their disposition to actively participate in society. This paper contains an analysis of measures of students' intentions to participate as citizens in civic life and students' current participation in civic activities in their eighth year of schooling. It is based on data from approximately 140,000 students from 38 countries comprising measures of student civic knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and background. Additional contextual data were collected using surveys of principals and teachers of the sampled schools. The paper describes extent of past, current and expected civic participation and which factors are influencing students’ current involvement or motivation for future active participation.