1st Edition
Young People and Active Citizenship in Post-Soviet Times A Challenge for Citizenship Education
Situated within the context of "post-soviet times", this book explores young people’s citizenship activities and values in three distinct environments: post-soviet union countries, post-soviet union satellites, and countries that were independent of the soviet-union. Its purpose is to investigate the influence of these contexts on the ways young people see their citizenship in what are now emerging democracies.
The future of nations depends to a large extent on whether citizens will continue to support existing values and will engage in activities to support those values. Using a framework designed by Kennedy (2006) and further developed by Zalewska, Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz (2011) the study examined the citizenship values of 3794 students aged 11-14-18 from 11 European countries. The main themes of this book include
- exploring similarities and differences in citizenship activities within countries and across countries;
- advancing explanations for these similarities and differences;
- highlighting the importance of contexts that influence citizenship activities and values; and
- assessing the extent to which democratic values are reflected in young people’s citizenship activities.
Introduction Editors’ Introduction: The Scope of the Research
Part I: Defining and measuring citizenship in post-soviet times
Chapter 1: Understanding Post-Soviet Transitions as Contexts for the Development of Active Citizens (Kerry J. Kennedy)
Chapter 2: Assessing Citizenship Behaviours - constructs and research tool validation (Anna M. Zalewska and Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz)
Chapter 3: Young Europeans citizenship activity – research questions, method and general results (Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz and Anna M. Zalewska)
Part II Active citizenship in post-soviet union states (Baltic) based on current social, political and economic context
Chapter 4: Young people citizenship activity in post-soviet states – comparison across countries (Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz, Anna M. Zalewska, Kristi Koiv, Vaiva Zuzeviciute and Mara Vidnere)
Chapter 5: Latvia: Youth at crossroads, faced with a choice (Mara Vidnere and Marita Kodeikina)
Chapter 6: Lithuania: Between commitments and expectations: is it an eternal tension between generations or a contemporary phenomenon? (Vaiva Zuzeviciute)
Chapter 7: Estonia: Citizenship behavior among today’s youth (Kristi Koiv)
Part III: Active citizenship in post-soviet satellites’ states (central European) based on current social, political and economic context
Chapter 8: Young people citizenship activity in post-soviet satellites’ states – comparison across countries (Anna M. Zalewska, Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz, Eva Szabo and Iveta Kovalcikova)
Chapter 9: Poland - New Opportunities, disillusioned youths (Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz and Anna M. Zalewska)
Chapter 10: Hungary: Participation crisis, disappointed youths (Eva Szabo and Katinka Dancs)
Chapter 11: Slovakia: The double-edged potential of adolescents for active civic participation (Iveta Kovalčíková and Jozef Miškolci)
Part IV Active citizenship in Post-Soviet independent European countries based on current social, political and economic context
Chapter 12: Young people citizenship activity in post-soviet independent states – comparison across countries (Anna M. Zalewska, Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz, Mojca Jurisevic, Despina Karakatsani, Jose Costa, Susana Goncalves and Mika Metsärinne)
Chapter 13: Slovenia: Optimistic about personal future, politically disillusioned (Mojca Juriševič, Janez Vogrinc and Janez Krek)
Chapter 14: Finland: Young people citizenship activity (Riitta Korhonen and Mika Metsärinne)
Chapter 15: Greece: Greek citizenship education models and profiles in times of economic and social crisis (Despina Karakatsani and Olga Ververi)
Chapter 16: Portugal: Highly qualified young people on ‘economic emigration’ (Susana Goncalves and Jose Costa)
Part V Integration and Comparison of Results
Chapter 17: Soviet Influences on Citizenship– comparisons between three types of countries (Anna M. Zalewska and Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz)
Chapter 18: Concluding Comments: Can we produce resilient citizens for volatile times? Contexts, strategies and future research (Kerry J. Kennedy, Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz and Anna M. Zalewska)
Appendix: Survey Instrument
Biography
Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz is Psychologist, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology of Development and Education in University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland.
Anna M. Zalewska is Psychologist, Professor and Dean of the Faculty in Poznan in SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw, Poland.
Kerry J Kennedy is a Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Advisor (Academic Development) at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg.
