TITLE:
Civic Education in Europe: Pedagogic Challenge versus Social Reality
AUTHORS:
Elena Arbués
KEYWORDS:
Civic Education, Social Skills and Citizenship, Social Participation, Mediated Citizenship, European Area for Higher Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Sociology Mind,
Vol.4 No.3,
July
11,
2014
ABSTRACT: Since the final decade of the 20th century western democracies have
witnessed the ongoing development and consolidation of education for democratic
citizenship. It has been seen as a solution to specific problems faced by our
societies (Cortina, 1997; Altarejos & Naval, 2005; Bolivar, 2007). Governments have attempted to implement the various
recommendations of the Council of Europe (2002, 2010). The introduction of educational reforms and
the ongoing development of curricula have provided an opportunity to include
civic education in the national curriculum of most European countries (Naval, Print, & Veldhuis, 2002). The aim of this article is to suggest the
likely future tendencies for this situation within Europe, bearing in mind,
among other things, the challenges posed by an increasingly globalised and
technological society as well as the objectives of the European Higher
Education Area.