Sustainably Strengthening the Political and Social Participation of Young People

The study results show that school‑based education must not be limited to conveying political knowledge. “It is too narrow to assume that this automatically achieves other central goals of civic education,” emphasizes study director Dr. Pascal Alscher. IFS Director Professor Nele McElvany adds: “Especially in lower secondary education, targeted didactic approaches are needed to positively develop motivation, attitudes, and willingness to participate. These competencies are essential for securing democratic participation in the long term and for further developing our democracy. To regularly assess the status and development of these competencies among students in the German education system, we need nationwide educational monitoring of civic literacy. The instruments are now available.” To this end, the IFS developed a civic‑literacy framework model that makes key competencies for participation systematically measurable. The model describes civic literacy as a multidimensional construct that encompasses knowledge, motivational aspects, attitudes, and the willingness to participate politically and socially, and it has now been empirically examined for the first time in a longitudinal study.

Overview of the Study Results

According to the findings, the political and social competencies of adolescents developed differently from grade 7 to grade 10. Political knowledge increased continuously and was significantly more pronounced in grade 10 than in grade 7. Willingness to participate, for example, taking part in demonstrations or petitions or engaging in volunteer work, was at a relatively low level in grade 7, declined even further at first, and returned to its initial level between grades 9 and 10. The adolescents’ motivation was also generally low. Both political interest and internal political efficacy – that is, the feeling of being able to influence political matters – rose slightly over the years but remained at a low level. External political efficacy – the belief that politics responds to the concerns of citizens – was somewhat more pronounced in grade 7, changed little over the years, and likewise remained at a rather low level.

With regard to attitudes, the adolescents showed, on average, a positive stance toward a pluralistic society. For example, they supported the idea that the opinions of minorities should be considered in decision‑making and that differing opinions should be accepted. In grade 7, the adolescents viewed democracy neutrally to somewhat positively; this attitude developed positively in the following years but remained moderate overall.

Sustainably strengthening the political and social participation of young people, the IFS researchers argue, is an important task for safeguarding democracy – especially in times of societal polarization, growing uncertainty, and declining civic engagement.

Information on the Center for Research on Education and School Development:
https://ifs.ep.tu-dortmund.de/
 

On “Tuesdays for Education”

Since 2023, the team at the Center for Research on Education and School Development has hosted the series Tuesdays for Education: once per quarter, multipliers from across Germany come together in a webinar – from teachers to journalists to representatives of ministries and educational institutions. Selected findings from current IFS research are presented and discussed with participants.

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