Critical-democratic citizenship in Dutch tertiary vocational education: analyzing opportunities for growth

Previous studies suggest that secondary school students in vocational tracks receive fewer opportunities to practice with critical-democratic citizenship than students in academic tracks. Less is known about the role of critical-democratic citizenship education in tertiary vocational education and training (VET). Utilizing questionnaire data collected in 2021 amongst 350 Dutch VET students, a structural equation model was constructed in which we conjointly studied to what extent differences in students’ attitudes towards societal awareness and sound opinion forming are associated with 1) students’ experiences regarding the curriculum content, 2) openness of the classroom climate for discussion, 3) autonomy and structure provided by the teacher and 4) intrinsic value of the experienced citizenship education. This latter element was found to be especially relevant, as it was associated with both societal awareness and sound opinion forming, whereas classroom climate played only a minor role. Students’ societal awareness was also associated with both the experienced curriculum content and the autonomy and structure offered by the teacher. These results offer important practical implications to further improve opportunities for critical-democratic citizenship in VET

Inspecting School Social Quality: Assessing and Improving School Effectiveness in the Social Domain

Purpose: School inspection of school social quality is, in contrast to inspection in the cognitive domain, still in its early phase of development. While schools are shown to affect social outcomes, the interplay of mechanisms makes it difficult to isolate the effect of the school. This paper aims to evaluate different approaches to inspecting school social quality. Methodology: Based on a school effectiveness model, we consider what aspects could be taken into consideration to evaluate school social quality. Findings and implications: Using insights from inspection of cognitive outcomes, we present three ideal-type models of inspection, focusing on outcomes, school improvement, or process. There is as of yet no clear best approach to inspecting school social quality, as inspection of school quality can influence school performance in a range of ways. Implications of the described models and possible strengths and weaknesses are discussed

Education for democratic citizenship in Dutch schools: A bumpy road

Purpose: This paper discusses developments in citizenship education policy and practice in the Netherlands, and outlines key challenges as faced by the different stakeholders involved. Design/methodology/approach: Our discussion is based on existing research and policy documents in the Netherlands. The authors, from three Dutch universities, are experts in the field of research on citizenship education. Findings: Promoting citizenship education in primary, secondary and vocational tertiary education in the Netherlands has been challenging, particularly in light of the constitutional freedom of education in the Netherlands. Five issues are discussed in this regard: the contents of CE legislation, the normative character of legal requirements, integration of CE legislation in national curriculum aims, clarifying expectations from schools in teaching CE, and teacher education and professionalization

Netherlands: Education for democratic citizenship in Dutch schools: a bumpy road

Highlights−Constitutional freedom of education affects democratic citizenship education policy.−Citizenship education legislation in 2006 and 2007 placed little demands on schools.−Legislation introduced in 2021 has further specified what is expected from schools.−Studies of citizenship education in practice are largely critical of the extentto which schools teach about, through and for democracy.Purpose:This paper discusses developments in citizenship education policy and practice in the Netherlands, and outlines key challenges as faced by the different stakeholders involved.Design/methodology/approach:Our discussion is based on existing research and policy documents in the Netherlands. The authors, from three Dutch universities, are experts in the field of research on citizenship education.Findings:Promoting citizenship education in primary, secondary and vocational tertiary education in the Netherlands has been challenging, particularly in light of the constitutional freedom of education in the Netherlands. Five issues are discussed in this regard: the contents of CE legislation, the normative character of legal requirements, integration of CE legislation in national curriculum aims, clarifying expectations from schools in teaching CE, and teacher education and professionalization

Netherlands: Education for democratic citizenship in Dutch schools: A bumpy road

Highlights Constitutional freedom of education affects democratic citizenship education policy. Citizenship education legislation in 2006 and 2007 placed little demands on schools. Legislation introduced in 2021 has further specified what is expected from schools. Studies of citizenship education in practice are largely critical of the extent to which schools teach about, through and for democracy. Purpose: This paper discusses developments in citizenship education policy and practice in the Netherlands, and outlines key challenges as faced by the different stakeholders involved. Design/methodology/approach: Our discussion is based on existing research and policy documents in the Netherlands. The authors, from three Dutch universities, are experts in the field of research on citizenship education. Findings: Promoting citizenship education in primary, secondary and vocational tertiary education in the Netherlands has been challenging, particularly in light of the constitutional freedom of education in the Netherlands. Five issues are discussed in this regard: the contents of CE legislation, the normative character of legal requirements, integration of CE legislation in national curriculum aims, clarifying expectations from schools in teaching CE, and teacher education and professionalization

Citizenship orientations, civic knowledge and macrosocial worries in adolescence: a person-centered approach

In this study, we aim to examine how adolescents’ macrosocial worries and civic knowledge are related to different citizenship orientations (i.e. patterns of civic participation, sociopolitical interest, political trust), using the Dutch sample of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study [ICCS] 2022. We build upon previous studies that use person-centered analyses to investigate patterns of citizenship engagement among adolescents, underlining the need of going beyond binary active-passive distinctions (Amna & Ekman, 2013; Tzankova et al., 2021). By analyzing patterns of sociopolitical interest, political trust and civic participation simultaneously, we aim to distinguish different citizenship orientations among adolescents. Furthermore, we aim to study how macrosocial worries of adolescents – worries about threatening events on macrolevel life domains (Boehnke et al., 1998) – and their civic knowledge are related to these citizenship orientations. The following research questions are formulated: RQ1: Which citizenship orientations can be distinguished among Dutch adolescents, based on sociopolitical interest, civic participation and political trust? RQ2: In what way are adolescents’ macrosocial worries related to these different citizenship orientations? RQ3: To what extent is the relationship between macrosocial worries and citizenship orientations moderated by citizenship knowledge