Modalities of education for democracy

“Creating” virtuous citizens

There are two general ways to “make” citizens with the desired level of civic virtue for a democracy to function properly. The first focuses on the participatory nature of citizenship and takes a non-instrumental view of politics, framing it as an end in itself. This means participation in politics itself, ensures the change in and education of the participants, and thus forms the experiential basis for learning in the sense of the Aristotelian argument of ‘learning by doing’.

The second way focuses on citizenship education as a ‘conscious learning process’. Meaning that citizens acquire the knowledge and skills required to competently fulfil the role of a citizen. The former represents an unconscious social reproduction that enables the continuity of societies, while the latter refers to the conscious shaping of future democratic societies.

Political socialisation refers to processes that promote the transmission of political values, attitudes and behaviours to the citizens of a democratic society. In contrast, democratic education focuses on the practises of deliberate instruction by individuals, on the educational influences of institutions created for educational purposes. It also refers to the ways in which citizens are enabled to influence the education that determines the political values and behaviour of future citizens.

Citizenship education

Citizenship education thus refers to institutionalised forms of acquiring political knowledge that take place within the framework of formal and non-formal education, as well as in the workplace, and through less institutionalised forms of informal learning. There is ‘specific citizenship education’, which is implemented through curricular or extracurricular activities and the hidden curriculum, and there is ‘diffuse citizenship education’, which refers to the level of education in general.

The three forms of curricular provision for specific citizenship education – the formal curriculum, the non-formal curriculum and the informal curriculum – explain the complex variety of learning experiences associated with education across different sectors (adult education, youth work…) as well as to the environments of the workplace. The formal curricular provisions provide for separate subjects or courses, integrated approaches or cross-curricular themes. The non-formal curricular provisions include extracurricular and co-curricular activities that are standalone or linked to the formal curriculum. The informal curricular provisions encompass the totality of daily, natural and spontaneous situations that occur in life.

Education and democratic citizenship

There is no doubt that the education ecosystem, including non-formal education and education and training at the workplace, is a crucial link between education and citizenship. Such education has a direct influence on an individual’s tendency to participate in political life, and that education is indeed the strongest predictor of political participation, even when other socio-economic conditions are taken into account. Nevertheless, the link between education and democratic citizenship is frequently overestimated when it comes to formal education, and underestimated when it comes to non-formal education, including workplace education and training. The emphasis should therefore be on experiential learning and the creation of a multitude of opportunities that can create a robust backbone of lived experience that will enable young citizens to become the guardians of troubled democracies.