What citizen is of most worth? The role of public education in preparing children for citizenship
Abstract
This study investigates the school experiences providing citizenship lessons to students and their effect on students' ideas about citizenship. Prior research finds education to be an important predictor of adult political behavior but most studies, focused on the socialization role played by schools, were unable to find a relationship between school content and children's ideas about political behavior. This research argues that the total school experience provides students with many different (often competing) messages about appropriate citizenship behaviors. Consequently, student ideas about citizenship, reflecting these messages, are much broader than prior political science research acknowledged. Four curriculum theories, the humanist, social efficiency, constructivist, and social reform, are used to interpret the prescriptive citizenship messages within federal, state, school district, and school education policies. These messages are then compared to the citizenship ideas expressed by students from the Willamette School District in Oregon. These students describe citizenship primarily as a social relationship, between the individual and the community. Connections between student ideas about citizenship and their school experiences including the curriculum, citizenship/character education programs, and community service are found. The implications of these findings on adult citizenship behavior are discussed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
McCann, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Political science|Curricula|Teaching|Social studies education
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