Early Childhood as a Foundation for Civic Engagement

Astuto, Jennifer; Ruck, Martin D.

doi:10.1002/9780470767603.ch10

Cited by 51 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Executive functioning skills are theorized to be childhood precursors of social responsibility. Drawing from writing on civic engagement, three primary components of executive function may be useful for understanding social responsibility-inhibition, working memory, and cognitive fl exibility (Astuto & Ruck, 2010). Executive function has been shown to enhance social behaviors and learning environments in childhood, which may promote prosocial behaviors and civic engagement.…”

Section: Development In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, increasing information processing and abstract-thinking abilities deepen adolescents' capacities to adopt a socially responsible orientation. Cognitive fl exibility is the ability to alter one' s perspective and adapt to changing environmental demands (Astuto & Ruck, 2010). The related concept of perspective taking, which develops across childhood and adolescence, requires advanced cognitive processing, and can evoke empathetic arousal and enhance prosocial behaviors (Hoffman, 2000).…”

Section: Development In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This cognitive skill relates to emotion regulation, as inhibition of one' s own emotions allows individuals to consider the needs of others (Eisenberg, 2000). Working memory entails the ability to actively retain relevant information for reasoning, learning, and manipulation of complex concepts (Astuto & Ruck, 2010). The capacity for abstract thinking, necessary for conceptualizing values, typically develops during adolescence and relies on working memory.…”

Section: Development In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

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The developmental roots of social responsibility in childhood and adolescence

Wray‐Lake

Syvertsen

2011

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

141

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Social responsibility is a value orientation, rooted in democratic relationships with others and moral principles of care and justice, that motivates certain civic actions. Given its relevance for building stronger relationships and communities, the development of social responsibility within individuals should be a more concerted focus for developmental scholars and youth practitioners. During childhood and adolescence, the developmental roots of individuals' social responsibility lie in the growth of executive function, empathy and emotion regulation, and identity. Efforts to cultivate children and adolescents' social responsibility in the proximal settings of their everyday lives should emphasize modeling prosocial behaviors, communicating concerns for others, and creating opportunities to practice civic skills.

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Section: Development In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The developmental roots of social responsibility in childhood and adolescence

Wray‐Lake

Syvertsen

2011

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

141

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“…Authors, such as Astuto and Ruck (2010), argue that skills which function in democratic ways, solve problems, and express opinions are critical for the development of youth citizenship and engagement in democratic societies. According to TorneyPurta et al (2008), democratic decision-making is considered a key social learning experience.…”

Section: Essential Characteristics Of Belonging To Recreational Groupmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As stated by Astuto and Ruck (2010), there is little current empirical research that sheds light on childhood and adolescent antecedents to youth civic engagement. The reasons may be varied and understandable, but the result is that authors interested in children and adolescents do not extend their studies sufficiently to verify whether these young people become adults committed to social issues and community development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Memory of the Quality of Group Experiences During Childhood and Adolescence in Predicting Volunteerism in Young Adults

et al. 2014

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The link between extracurricular activities during childhood and adolescence and civic engagement in the subsequent stage of life is theoretically strong but empirically weak. This is due to the lack of longitudinal studies that account for this relationship and the absence of retrospective studies to confirm it. In this article, we investigate, through the participants' memory, the essential aspects of the quality of group experiences by which children and adolescents learn to become responsible citizens committed to social issues. More specifically, we investigate whether young adults currently committed to volunteer social work also remember as children and adolescents successful experiences participating in diverse recreational groups. We analyzed the psychometric properties of an index designed to retrospectively assess the quality of these experiences. The results indicate that the unifactorial structure of the index remains stable in the two Italian samples used and in the cross-national comparison with a third Spanish sample.Résumé Le lien entre les activités parascolaires durant l'enfance et l'adolescence et l'engagement civique dans les étapes ultérieures de la vie est théoriquement fort, mais faible sur le plan empirique. Cela est dû à l'absence d'études longitudinales qui expliquent cette relation et à l'absence d'études rétrospectives pour le confirmer. Dans cet article, nous examinons, à travers les souvenirs des participants, les aspects essentiels de la qualité des expériences de groupes par lesquelles les enfants et les adolescents apprennent à devenir des citoyens responsables et engagés dans les questions sociales. Plus précisément, nous déterminons si les jeunes adultes actuellement engagés dans le bénévolat social se rappellent, aussi, durant leur enfance et adolescence d'expériences réussies en ayant participé à divers groupes de loisirs. Nous avons analysé les propriétés psychométriques d'un indice visant à évaluer a posteriori la qualité de ces expériences. Les résultats indiquent que la structure unifactorielle de l'indice reste stable dans les deux échantillons italiens utilisés et dans la comparaison internationale avec un troisième échantillon espagnol.Zusammenfassung Die Verbindung zwischen extracurricularen Aktivitäten in der Kindheit und Jugend und dem bürgerlichen Engagement im folgenden Lebensabschnitt ist theoretisch stark, doch empirisch schwach. Grund dafür sind der Mangel an Längsschnittstudien, die diese Verknüpfung belegen, und das Fehlen retrospektiver Studien, die sie bestätigen. In diesem Beitrag werden mit Hilfe der Erinnerung der Studienteilnehmer die wesentlichen Aspekte der Qualität von Gruppenerfahrungen untersucht, im Rahmen derer Kinder und Jugendliche lernen, sich zu verantwortlichen Bürgern zu entwickeln, die sich für soziale Angelegenheiten engagieren. Insbesondere wird untersucht, ob junge Erwachsene, die derzeit ehrenamtliche Sozialarbeit leisten, sich daran erinnern, als Kinder und Jugendliche auch gute Erfahrungen bei der Teilnahme an diversen Freizeitgruppe...

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Mapping active civic learning in primary schools across England—A call to action

Body,

Lau,

Cunliffe

et al. 2024

British Educational Res J

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Encouraging children to become ‘good citizens’ who positively contribute towards society through charitable and philanthropic action as part of their civic participation has become a core focus of policy and practice. Yet the opportunities afforded to children for active civic learning within primary education remain under‐researched. This article presents findings from a multi‐survey study that seeks to unpick ‘what’ and ‘how’ active civic learning is happening in primary schools across England. By mapping active civic learning across the country, we find that these opportunities are unequally dispersed. Specifically, from an early age, children from more affluent backgrounds are more likely to be prepared for active civic engagement, orientated around ideas of social justice, than those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This raises significant challenges for education policy and practice and calls for greater attention to be paid to civic learning for all children in early and middle childhood.

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Early Childhood as a Foundation for Civic Engagement

Cited by 51 publications

References 88 publications

The developmental roots of social responsibility in childhood and adolescence

The developmental roots of social responsibility in childhood and adolescence

Memory of the Quality of Group Experiences During Childhood and Adolescence in Predicting Volunteerism in Young Adults

Mapping active civic learning in primary schools across England—A call to action

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