Movement Profile
The Project Citizen(ship) in the New Age: Citizenship Education for the Multicultural and Globalized World takes place at the Centre for Critical Approach to Political Science at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Established in 1961, the Faculty of Social Sciences is one of the largest faculties in the University of Ljubljana, the largest interdisciplinary social sciences faculty in Slovenia and one of the largest in Europe. The Centre for Critical Approach to Political Science, founded in 2006, deals with issues such of democracy, citizenship, citizenship education, globalization, migration, political systems, political culture, political theories and more. In four years we have successfully accomplished two projects on the field of citizenship education. The common goal of past projects was the development of political science proposals, didactic practices and specific competences for teaching citizenship education in schools, in order to motivate pupils to politically participate in democratic processes.
The purpose of the project Citizen(ship) in the New Age (which lasts until 31 August 2011) is to offer proposals for solutions and good practices in order to bring the contemporary global and multicultural environment closer to citizens. The project aims to provide a scientific foundation for the development of new approaches to citizenship and citizenship education that are useful at all levels of the educational process in order to create competent and empowered citizens who understand their position in modern society at the local, national and global levels. In today’s complex, fast-changing world, interdisciplinary groups can offer the best solutions on the field of citizenship and civic education. That is why our project group consists of political scientists, historians, sociologists, pedagogues, philosophers, communication scientists and more.
The project consists of three phases. First the theoretical phase will examine and reflect on contemporary theories of citizenship, civic education and globalization, resulting in a collection of scientific papers. In the second, analytical phase, contents, concepts, models, approaches, strategies and institutional solutions within the field of our research will be analysed and evaluated. The result of this work will be our first international conference, which will take place in late February or early March in Ljubljana. Finally, the practical part will focus on developing concrete solutions, models and strategies for the development of citizenship education in the 21st century. These models will be used as teaching material in Slovenian schools. A second international conference in June will reflect on proposed models.
During all three phases, we will consult with experts and stakeholders in the following targets groups: citizenship education experts, teachers and educators, students and parents and civil society interested in citizenship education. We will strive to establish networks of people who deal with citizenship and a citizenship education in different ways. Participants of these networks will meet regularly to discuss the substantive, didactic and institutional challenges of contemporary citizenship education. In order to report the results of our research as it progresses, we will share our findings on our website (www.drzavljanska-vzgoja.org), which aims to provide information to teachers, professors, researchers and developers of contemporary citizenship education at Slovenian schools and faculties. Our website is becoming the central information hub for citizenship education in Slovenia. We are also on online social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Our Vision of EU Citizenship
Our way of life has gone through immense changes in the last two decades. As the world has become more complex and interconnected, we must confront new sociopolitical phenomena that have emerged in this new globalized and multicultural world. It is thus necessary to reflect on the concept of citizenship, because citizens’ political identity in the 21st century is no longer exclusively bound to nation-states. If societies want to empower their citizens for life in the new age it is necessary to adjust the educational process in order to promote active participation, democracy, solidarity and tolerance. Citizenship should be understood as a complex political relationship between the local, national and global levels of society. In the past, citizenship was usually based on ethnic background. Today, citizenship as a political relationship between citizen and government should exceed existing national frameworks and be adjusted for life in the global, multicultural age.
Traditional solutions and models are no longer sufficient. We must understand the concept of citizenship in new terms that replace national citizenship with a transnational identity. Today supranational citizenship is an addition, rather than a substitute, to national citizenship. It is not surprising then that an EU with a hybrid, not wholly functional citizenship tends to deal more with national than European issues. Supranational political institutions and processes of globalization require not only responsible citizens who cooperate in democratic, public and political affairs in the context of nation-states, but also in a broader context. How do we achieve this aim? How do we encourage citizens to respond more globally to future challenges?
Citizenship education is not the only solution, though it plays an important role. We need to educate citizens throughout their lives: from teaching citizenship in schools to educating adults and vulnerable groups through informal education. It is critical that educational institutions offer a meaningful curriculum in order to bring up generations of politically active citizens who will understand their role in a democracy in a time of globalization and will be sufficiently prepared to respond to the multicultural, transnational future. In order to achieve this goal, Citizen(ship) in the New Age strives to develop proper conditions for the long-term development of citizenship education in Slovenia and abroad.
Tags: Movement Profile