New Civics, New Citizens

A 2023 CIES Book of the Month pick!

How we think about civic participation has changed dramatically and informs our understanding of how civic education is being transformed. Nations, globally, are redefining what is needed to be a ‘good citizen’ and how they should create them. ‘Civic’ participation increasingly extends beyond voting in elections, to informal and unconventional action. Making one’s voice heard involves diverse communication media and wide-ranging skills. Young people are motivated to engagement by concern about climate change and the rights of marginalised people. Social media empower but bring the threat of extremism. Civic education – New Civics – must channel and foster these trends. To create critical, active and responsible citizenship, knowledge alone is not enough; young people need to able to take critical perspectives on a wide range of social and political issues, and to acquire the social, cognitive and organizational skills to do so. How is new civics pedagogy being manifested? What traditional practices are under scrutiny? In this volume sixteen projects in eight countries address questions in research, practices, policy and professional development. What is civic identity and how does participation reflect it? Where do new discourses and definitions come from? How do contemporary social and cultural debates and issues intersect with practice and precepts?

Helen Haste, PhD, Professor Emerita in Psychology, University of Bath, UK, was Visiting Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education 2003–2018 where she led a program supporting doctoral research on civic education. She has published extensively on cultural and social factors in moral, civic and political identity.

Janine Bempechat, EdD, is Clinical Professor of Human Development, Boston University. She has published extensively on family, cultural, and school influences in the development of student motivation and achievement in low-income children and youth. Her research has been supported by the Spencer Foundation and the W.T. Grant Foundation.