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Education for active citizenship continues to be a critical response for social cohesion and reconstruction in conflict-affected areas. Oftentimes, approaches to learning and teaching in such contexts can do as much harm as good. This study qualitatively examines 435 students' reflections of their civics classroom learning experiences and their existing conceptualisations of good citizenship. The majority of students revealed notions of citizenship representing high levels of engagement in community-building activities. Furthermore, students either described or illustrated how the prescriptive nature of the textbook and memorisation of material contradicted their notions of active citizenship. While details of how students conceptualised active citizenship illustrated formal and informal learning opportunities, the findings suggest that civics as currently instructed in classrooms may, by and large, be undermining the aims of education in Lebanon for active citizenship.

Many educational programmes in societies affected by armed conflict aim to promote dialogic engagement as a fundamental aim and pedagogy for social reconstruction. Despite supporting government policies, classrooms show very little or no evidence of dialogic practices where learners (co-)construct knowledge with peers and engage in critical and appreciative inquiry. In the case of Lebanon, I examine the approaches of promoting dialogic pedagogies through formal and non-formal educational programmes. The conceptual framework draws on literature from Bakhtin, Habermas, Islamic and Arab scholars and researchers in effective learning. Evidence is gathered from (1) classroom observations and conversations with teachers from seven schools and (2) students' written reflections from a 10-day residential programme. Evidence suggests that dialogic engagement is largely dependent on facilitators' approaches to knowledge construction. Even with intervention to support teachers in facilitating dialogic activities in formal schooling, teachers continue to seek student confirmation of preset content knowledge.

This article addresses issues of methodology and ethical reflexivity when attempting to investigate the opinions of young people. Drawing specifically on three studies of young people's understandings of citizenship and their views on topical issues, two from England and one from Lebanon, the authors present ways in which the ethical and practical challenges of such research can be met. While acknowledging the power relationship between researchers and informants, they suggest that what they call 'pedagogical research approaches' built on a participative methodology can open up a space where both parties benefit. They argue that, when working in schools, teacher educators can take advantage of this status to present themselves simultaneously as insiders and outsiders. The authors have devised what are intended to be non-exploitative research instruments that permit the gathering of useful qualitative data during a short encounter. They illustrate their approach with examples of classroom activities they have developed to provide simultaneously a valid learning experience and usable data. Power, Pedagogy and Participation

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