Primary school pupil knows too little about citizenship
After more than ten years of attention for citizenship education in primary schools, the results are disappointing. The Education Inspectorate notes that pupils in group 8 know slightly less about citizenship than in 2009.
Picture: Education Inspectorate
The differences between what students in the Netherlands know about citizenship are very large. The Education Inspectorate checked the knowledge of group 8 students. Some only managed to answer 7 percent of the questions correctly, others 98 percent. The majority, four in five students in the Netherlands, master half to almost 90 percent of the knowledge and skills in the field of citizenship. In 2009 it was slightly more. But even then the results were 'far below the desired result', writes the Education Inspectorate in its report report coming out today.
Democratic
According to Anne Bert Dijkstra, professor of Educational Sciences and associated with the Inspectorate for Citizenship Education, schools find it complicated to put this education into practice. Last August, the legal mandate*The Citizenship Education Act, which came into effect on August 1, 2021, states that all students must learn about basic values of the democratic constitutional state. Think of freedom of expression, equality, understanding for others, tolerance, autonomy, a sense of responsibility and the rejection of intolerance and discrimination. They should not only acquire knowledge about those values, but also acquire skills in applying those values. For example, learn to debate, deal with people who think differently and form your own opinion. to primary and secondary schools to provide citizenship education. in the fall the Education Council pleaded for more concrete core objectives, attainment targets and qualification requirements in the field of citizenship. 'Dutch education in democratic citizenship can and must be better, more thoughtfully and more systematically,' wrote the Education Council.
Because group 8 students find it particularly difficult to act 'democratically', according to the most recent survey by the Inspectorate. The students are better at dealing with differences and with conflicts and socially responsible behaviour. Before the new legislation, in the 2019-2020 school year, this research was conducted at 94 primary schools with 2237 students.
Example of a knowledge question that the Education Inspectorate presented to group 8 students. The correct answer is in bold.
According to Dijkstra, this is because democratic action is further away from what happens every day in primary schools. “Take a skill like learning to deal with conflict. There are conflicts at school every day. Children get into an argument and learn to talk it out and resolve it.” Further from the classroom are subjects such as the war in Ukraine, the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty, the construction of an asylum seekers' center and the arrival of a wind farm. Dijkstra: “Children have no direct influence on this. It is more abstract and more complex.”
Ukraine
It is precisely then that the goals and skills of citizenship come into play, says Dijkstra. He elaborates on the example of the current war in Ukraine. “The underlying conflict has to do with how you want to make decisions together in a society. For example, do you want one strong leader who takes the decisions? Or would you rather decide on topics together? The abstract learning objective is then: to transfer knowledge about representative democracy. You can give examples of countries with a democracy and countries with a strong leader. If you then want to promote the attitude of 'taking each other into account', you can answer the question: how is that shaped in a country where one person is in charge? Who will a strong leader take into account in particular?" Dijkstra concludes: "If you know which learning goals you want to work on, you can use any current situation to work on citizenship."
There is no time for teachers to develop learning objectives themselves
In the report, thirteen experts and stakeholders respond to the research results. One of them is Pieter van Rees, PhD student in the history of citizenship education at the University of Groningen. He thinks that the lack of improvement in citizenship education has to do with the pressure on the professionalism and autonomy of teachers. Van Rees says in the report that 'there is no longer any room for general education of students based on a thorough and individual vision of education and upbringing'.
Example of a knowledge question that the Education Inspectorate presented to group 8 students. The correct answer is in bold.
Rozerin Top is a teacher at the Jan Ligthart School in The Hague. She also looked at the research results and notes that colleagues 'have no specific lessons for the social aspects of citizenship'. In the report she says: 'There are learning objectives, but they have to develop the rest themselves and that takes a lot of time. There is currently no such luxury in primary education, given the teacher shortage, for example.' Esther van den Berg, citizenship ambassador for the School & Safety Foundation, also sees a link with the teacher shortage: 'As a result, the emphasis is on other matters.'
Socialization and personal development: schools have been doing this for as long as they have existed
The Education Inspectorate especially wants to see schools formulate a vision in the short term that goes further than 'we prepare our students for the multicultural society', according to Dijkstra. Schools hardly have them yet, the research shows. Dijkstra emphasizes that citizenship education is not something new. "It doesn't add up. Socialization and personal development: schools have been doing that for as long as they exist."
Example of a knowledge question that the Education Inspectorate presented to group 8 students. The correct answer is in bold.
According to Dijkstra, it is mainly about creating coherence in what the school is already doing and working more purposefully on knowledge and skills. “We think that is doable, provided schools have their own vision, an ideal of life. How do they want to prepare their students for the world?" What the inspectorate now sees is mainly a patchwork quilt. Dijkstra: "For example, a school adopts a May 4/5 monument and will lay flowers there every year. Very nice, but why do you do that? You value freedom. But what is the knowledge that you want to teach students in group 4 about freedom? And what attitude do you want to promote in group 7 students?”
This education does not happen by itself
Describing those learning objectives and the coherence does not have to be finished tomorrow. But, emphasizes inspectorate spokesperson Daan Jansen: “Make sure to focus, because citizenship education is one of the three basic skills in education. In addition to language and arithmetic/mathematics.” According to Dijkstra, the ball is in the school board's court: “This education does not arise by itself. Directors must set up their organization in such a way that there is room to give substance to this.”
The Education Inspectorate made a podcast about citizenship education
