The influence of civic and citizenship education achievements on the development of students’ citizenship attitudes

Periodical
Problems of Education in the 21st Century
Volume
52
Year
2013
Page range
21-34
Access date
October 10, 2017
Relates to study/studies
ICCS 2009

The influence of civic and citizenship education achievements on the development of students’ citizenship attitudes

Abstract

Civic skills, knowledge, and attitudes are the elements forming the citizenship concept. How do they suit multicultural societies? What are the mutual links among civic attitudes, knowledge, and skills of different ethnic groups? The aim of the research is to establish the model of students' civic competence and to find out factors which explain the influence of civic achievements on civic attitudes, IEA (the International Association for the Evolution of Educational Achievement) ICCS 2009 (the International Civic and Citizenship Studies 2009) are used for the analysis. SEM (Structural Equation Modelling) is used for data processing. The authors used multi-modelling to compare Latvian and Estonian majority and minority, sample groups. The results indicate that the level of civic knowledge and skills influences civic attitudes of Estonian and Latvian students. Students with a higher level of civic knowledge and skills have a more pronounced sense of global belonging and ability to adjust and live a multicultural society. The civic knowledge of Estonian students with the Estonian language of instruction influences most essentially the civic attitudes and a sense of belonging to Europe. Latvian students with the Russian language of instruction have the least influence on the mentioned factors.