In the democracies of today, school often have a dual role to play. Not only should they give students the knowledge they need to enter the labour market, they should also teach young people about democracy, and develop students' capacity to exercise their citizenship. A third task for schools is to enhance political equality in society by supporting the least privileged students. In this study, we explore how school can contribute to increased equality by strengthening students' political efficacy. Upper secondary students' political efficacy levels are compared over time by creating four groups on the basis of their educational choices and experiences of the school and teaching environment. The results indicate that school matters for the development of political efficacy, but not in the same ways for all students. Signs of there being compensatory effects of having a positive school/teaching environment are found for students on vocational programmes, but not for those on academic programmes. Moreover, the results suggest that classroom/teaching factors play a more important role than the social environment offered by schools.

This chapter provides an analysis of the complex role of Nordic schools in both enhancing and reducing socioeconomic inequalities in civic competences. A multilevel analysis method was used to examine the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2009 and 2016 data of all four Nordic countries. The results show that unequal access to civic learning (in-school civic participation and open classroom climate) exist in all Nordic countries. We found differences in access within schools in which students with more advantages experienced greater opportunities to participate. Additionally, we found differences between schools. Those schools that had an intake with a higher proportion of socioeconomically advantaged students tended to provide more civic learning opportunities and open classroom climates. Inequalities in access to civic learning activities manifested itself in different ways in schools across the Nordic countries. There is some evidence that this happens more regularly in Sweden than Finland, though Norway recorded the highest levels of unequal access inside schools, and no Nordic country provides equal access to all the forms of civic learning we studied. At the same time, however, there were forms of civic learning in Nordic schools that were found to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in civic competences. The results showed that when disadvantaged students gained access to civic learning, they mostly appeared to benefit either the same or more from the experience than their more advantaged peers. A unique contribution of this chapter to the field of citizenship education is that we found that in-school civic participation can compensate for a disadvantaged background for developing future electoral participation and civic knowledge in students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The study examined the individual characteristics and consequences of psychological group processes that may lead some students to gain a reputation for being politically knowledgeable and verbal in class (a political reputation). Two normal samples of Swedish students were used, 13-year-olds (N = 835) and 16-year-olds (N = 795). Longitudinal data over one year were analyzed and showed that youths' political reputation in class is established very early. Cross-sectional predictions showed that political interest predicted political reputation in class positively, and social fear predicted political reputation negatively in both cohorts. In addition, having a political reputation predicted increased political interest and political efficacy over one year. Further, mediation analyses showed that youths' political predispositions, their political interest and political efficacy at T1, significantly operated on interest and efficacy at T2 via the political reputation. This suggests that political reputation partly functions as a booster of youths' initial political predispositions over time. Future research is needed into the long-term consequences of having a political reputation.

The background for this study is a model for civics knowledge and teaching that distinguishes conceptual knowledge, ability to identify social and political issues, and civic literacy. The study itself investigates challenges in civics teaching by focusing on students’ difficulties understanding the subject matter. In a think aloud interview, some of the most difficult questions from the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study were presented to 29 eighth-grade students in a municipality fairly representative of average Swedish conditions. There were shortcomings in their conceptual knowledge and also in their understanding of social and democratic principles, highlighting the importance of reading skills for civic ability. The article suggests strategic work with conceptual learning and for civic teaching to include an explicit focus on reading comprehension. It suggests that the ability to reflect on complex civic issues is benefited by asking questions and discussing social and political principles from different perspectives.

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