Students’ and Teachers’ Results in the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Studies in Flanders (Belgium): Implications for Cross-Curricular Approaches to Civic Education

Abstract

Belgium (Flanders) participated in IEA's International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2009 and 2016. During that period of seven years, the Flemish educational approach to civic and citizenship education evolved, and research into the impact of civic and citizenship education at school played a role in guiding reforms. In this chapter, we give a short overview of the development of civic and citizenship education in Flanders. Furthermore, we discuss research that has monitored and guided this process. In this discussion, we mainly focus on students' attitudes toward immigrants and on teachers' beliefs about needs in civic and citizenship-related teaching.

Political Trust in Early Adolescence and Its Association with Intended Political Participation: A Cross-sectional Study Situated in Flanders

“…The research is situated in Flanders (Belgium), as research from 2016 showed that Flemish adolescents harbour significantly lower political—institutionalized as well as non-institutionalized—participation intentions than peers from other European countries, despite indicating higher levels of political trust and political knowledge (Schulz et al, 2018a). Between 2016 and 2019, these findings, together with overall strong public demands for educational reforms in citizenship education, have put the latter high on the Flemish education policy agenda (Claes & Stals, 2021). The results of the present study may, therefore, generate valuable insights to inform future civic education practices in Flanders (Biseth et al, 2021).…”