Highlights: – Students conceptualise migrants as three distinct types of agents in the migration process – Students attribute varying degrees of agency to migrants depending on agent framing – Understanding of migration factors primarily comprises push, pull, and aspiration-aspects – There are significant differences between how male and female students use migration factors – No significant differences between how immigrant and native students use migration factors Purpose: This study examines how students in a major immigrant-receiving country reason about why people migrate, focusing on migration factors and migratory agency. Design/methodology/approach: A nationally representative, randomly drawn sample (n = 437) of Swedish ninth-grade (ages 15–16) students’ responses (corpus size circa 51,000 words) to a high-stakes test was analysed using a mixed-methods approach. Findings: The findings demonstrate how students construct migrants as agents, supporting their reasoning with various migration factors and the extent of migratory agency. Research limitations/implications: The original data collection is somewhat dated, but there is no evidence to suggest that students’ understanding of migration would have changed considerably in the interim. The study provides a foundation for future research about migration in social science education. Practical implications: An empirically grounded framework of how students reason about migration is presented, which can be applied in teaching to develop a nuanced understanding of migrants as agents, in Sweden and beyond.
Highlights: – The study uses data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2022 to investigate interactions between political socialisation and tracking. – Tracking is related to differences in political self-efficacy in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, but not in Lithuania or the Netherlands. – Open classroom climate for discussions and experiences of participation are more strongly related to political self-efficacy in more academic tracks. – Formal learning is more important for vocational tracks. – Some country-specific patterns emerge. Purpose: Tracking influences students’ development of academic and political abilities and attitudes. This study investigates the differences in political self-efficacy in four tracked educational systems in three countries (Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia & Schleswig-Holstein; Lithuania; Netherlands). Design/methodology/approach: Representative data of Grade 8 students is used to conduct regression models. Formal learning opportunities, classroom discussions, opportunities to participate in school, and teacher support are investigated as potential predictors of political self-efficacy. Findings: Only in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, tracking related to differences in political self-efficacy. Analyses revealed that an open classroom climate for discussions is more closely related to political self-efficacy in more academic school tracks. Formal learning opportunities were more relevant in more vocational tracks. Research limitations/implications: Researchers and policymakers should be aware that tracking influences how schools prepare their students for becoming citizens. Practical implications: Formal political learning opportunities are very important for vocational-oriented schools.
Highlights: - The Culture and Citizenship in Québec (CCQ) program legitimates the law ex nihilo - The program favors relationships of subordination before the law and with the law - Addressing injustice is cast as something to be done outside school, not within it - Students thus learn that law and justice are unrelated, against the program’s own aims - A didactic transposition from legal disciplines could reconnect law with justice at school Purpose: This paper examines how legal education shapes students’ relationships to the law and justice, analyzing how Québec’s high school program Culture and Citizenship in Québec (CCQ) frames the law’s legitimacy, fosters citizenship, and mediates the tension between formal and hidden curricula. Design/methodology/approach: A socio-legal conceptual framework distinguishing three relationships—before, with, and against the law—guides a thematic analysis of the CCQ program. Findings: The program’s content is legitimated ex nihilo. It favors subordination before and with the law and casts addressing injustice as something to do outside school, without showing how to address it there. Research limitations/implications: The CCQ program ultimately teaches students that law and justice are unrelated concepts, which runs counter to its own objectives. Practical implications: A legitimate didactic transposition from legal disciplines is needed to legitimate legal literacy in the program and justice as the experience of law in school, moving from an ex-nihilo legitimation towards justice.
Highlights: - The development of social studies in Latvia has been shaped by democratic transformation. - Curriculum reforms have reshaped its aims, content and structure. - The Skola2030 initiative increased flexibility, but also introduced implementation challenges. - Language policy has had a strong influence on the development of social studies. - Social studies promotes civic understanding and democratic participation. Purpose: This country report examines the development and current configuration of social studies education in Latvia amid educational reform and democratic consolidation, supporting cross-national comparison. Design/methodology/approach: Utilising a descriptive, analytical, document-based approach, it synthesises legislation, curriculum standards, policy documents, official statistics, and research. Findings: Social studies education has evolved from a discrete subject into an integrated field encompassing various subjects, courses, transversal skills, and practical learning. The competence-based curriculum emphasises civic participation and increases school and teacher flexibility, while qualitative evidence indicates variation in reported implementation, and access to shared teaching materials varies. Latvia's educational trajectory is marked by two significant developments: Latvia’s mean civic knowledge score remained below the IEA ICCS 2022 average but did not change significantly between the 2009, 2016, and 2022 cycles. Research limitations/implications: As it is a document-based country report, the article does not generate any new empirical data. Therefore, its analysis is limited by the availability, scope and comparability of legislation, policy documents, official statistics and published research. Notably, it cannot determine the consistency with which curriculum reforms are implemented across schools but how teachers and students experience them. Further empirical research is required to examine variations in implementation and their implications for civic learning.
