Schooling Society - what role does schooling play in citizenship and cohesion in Europe in the 21st century?

The project examines the changing role of schools in the 21st century. A key assumption of many social policies and academic theories is that schools play a key role in preparing future citizens for their roles in civic and political communities. Schools are supposed to be a common experience for all children and young people, and to pass on the knowledge, values, skills, attitudes, and behaviours that they will need for an active and productive life in their civic, social, economic and political communities. It is this reasoning that led countries across the world to establish national education systems, to create national curricula and textbooks, and to monitor standards in schools.

Yet recent developments have suggested that we may need to re-think some of the assumptions we make about schools and societies. For one, the state is no longer as dominant in education as it once was. The combined forces of globalisation, Europeanisation, decentralisation, and privatisation have created new policy actors who can influence decisions about education and, by extension, lessen the influence that states have over practices in schools. Second, traditional conceptions of citizenship and social cohesion have also had to evolve. Societies appear to have become more fragmented and more culturally-diverse, while citizens have become disengaged and are less likely to participate in the 'conventional' civic and political activities that are supposed to be markers of a healthy and cohesive society. These developments have made education for citizenship and cohesion more salient for policymakers but also more challenging for schools and teachers. Indeed, as states have tried to adapt to the social and political challenges that globalisation presents, many countries have renewed their interest in promoting citizenship and cohesion at school in the hope that it will help maintain democratic stability amidst the socio-political upheavals taking place. However, the efficacy of these measures is thrown into question in light of the increased decentralisation and privatisation of schools. Meanwhile schools themselves have had to adjust their teaching strategies to respond to changing expectations about citizenship, cohesion, and the role of pupils and parents in school decision-making.

In light of these developments, this project therefore seeks to re-examine the relationship between schooling, citizenship and cohesion and to assess the extent to which school policies and practices have an impact on civic, social, and political socialisation in Europe. Questions that will be addressed as part of this project include:

- Do countries with more centralised state school systems have higher levels of cohesion and civic engagement than countries who have more independent schools?
- Does placing more emphasis on national identity in education help to create a stronger sense of belonging and civic commitment?
- Does citizenship education increase support for democracy or a greater willingness to participate?
- Do schools with a strong intercultural ethos have an impact on pupil attitudes towards tolerance and equality?

This project will examine these and other questions from an inter-disciplinary perspective, drawing on theories and findings from political science and the sociology of education. To answer these questions, the project will conduct multi-level modelling of data from the 2009 International Civics and Citizenship Study. The results from this analysis will be used to contribute towards current debates about citizenship, cohesion, and the role of education, and to refine existing theories and policies about how these complex phenomena interact. The findings will provide a fresh perspective to policy debates about youth civic engagement and the changing role of schools in communities, and to practitioner debates about school policies and practices.

The results of this study will be of interest to policymakers, practitioners and civil society organisations who work with children, young people, educational issues, and/ or on citizenship and cohesion.

IMPACT ON THE POLICY COMMUNITY
In terms of policymakers in the UK, the findings of this study will be of relevance for the Cabinet Office in their efforts to implement the Big Society Initiative and the Department for Education, who are responsible for the National Citizens Service and the National Curriculum review. For example, the findings from this project could provide evidence about the relative merits of different types of citizenship education, and thus contribute to debates about whether Citizenship should remain a statutory part of the secondary curriculum in England.

In the European context, the results will be of interest to officials in the European Commission and the Council of Europe (CoE). Both the EU and the CoE have an ongoing commitment to promoting learning for active citizenship and social cohesion. This project could contribute to these policy debates by helping to explain some of the similarities and differences in citizenship and cohesion outcomes across Europe. In addition, this study could also provide evidence about whether learning for active citizenship does, as their policy initiatives presuppose, lead to higher levels of support for democracy among young citizens and stronger intentions to participate in civic and political activities in the future.

IMPACT ON CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
The results of this study are most likely to interest civil society organisations who focus on citizenship and cohesion issues. These include the Citizenship Foundation, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the Schools Linking Network (SLN) in the UK, and the European Wergeland Centre (EWC) in Europe.

This study could provide an evidence-base to support the work that they are doing with policy-makers, schools, and communities. For example, this evidence could be used to inform their policies, to support their applications for funding, and/ or to buttress their efforts to influence local or national government policy decisions. In addition, the knowledge exchange proposals that this project includes could help to raise awareness of designing and using research effectively.

To give a concrete example, one of the questions that this study will examine is whether schools with an intercultural ethos lead to students having higher levels of tolerance and social trust. Findings from this analysis will be of interest and benefit to organisations which promote intercultural understanding through education, such as the SLN and the Pears Foundation. If an intercultural ethos does have a positive effect on tolerance and social trust, the study could also help to identify the factors that interact with intercultural ethos and can help or hinder its effects on citizenship and cohesion outcomes.

IMPACT ON PRACTITIONERS IN SCHOOLS
Finally, the findings of this project could also benefit practitioners in schools, particularly teachers of citizenship education.

On a general level, the results of this study could help educational professionals in understanding their changing role in the community and society as a whole. More concretely, it could help school leaders to understand how different policies result in different outcomes, and to assess the relative merits of different models of providing citizenship and cohesion learning (such as discrete lessons versus service learning or cross-curricular learning). A greater understanding of these issues could help professionals decide how to overcome the obstacles they face and maximise their potential impact on young citizens' attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, and skills.


The Pathways to Impact document describes the strategies that will be used to interact with and impact on these different audiences.