Young citizens and their parents, peers, and teachers in a changing world: Social contexts of citizenship competences in adolesence

Citizenship knowledge, attitudes, and skills enable adolescents to understand and participate in a pluriform and democratic society. Adolescents today grow up in a complex and uncertain world, facing serious challenges. In different social settings, adolescents share opinions, exchange ideas, practice principles of democracy, and experience what it means to be part of a community. This dissertation aimed to enhance understanding of the associations between adolescents’ citizenship competences and contextual factors. The central research question was: “To what extent are adolescents’ experiences with their parents, peers, and teachers, as well as their concerns about the world’s future, associated with their citizenship competences?”. A quantitative, large-scale, and representative dataset among adolescents in the Netherlands (13-14 years old) was used. The data included a civic knowledge test, a questionnaire on civic attitudes, engagement and skills, and a questionnaire about European issues. By including additional questions about parents and peers, a unique dataset was created that provided deeper insight into adolescents’ citizenship competences in relation to various important social contexts. Three main conclusions are drawn: 1) Adolescents’ citizenship competences are associated with their (interrelated) experiences with their parents, peers, and teachers; 2) Even in times of societal and educational changes, adolescents’ experiences within schools remain important for their citizenship competences; and 3) Civic engagement in adolescence manifests in various ways and is intertwined with individual perspectives on macrosocial issues. Taken together, this dissertation underscores the importance of acknowledging adolescents’ social contexts and their own macrosocial concerns to understand and support their citizenship competences.