Abstract: In this article I will reconstruct the Dutch debate on citizenship against the developing thinking about social citizenship in the context of globalization. I will show that the confusion around citizenship in the Netherlands can be seen as a result from a split between an unanimous negative valuation of Dutch citizen participation and the practice in which the participation of Dutch population is high. Recent theory on citizenship and participation localizes citizen participation, through membership, in the heart of citizenship practices (B.S. Turner). This can be understood as that all kinds of practices and activities can be viewed as citizenship practices and citizenship activities. From this perspective it becomes clear that in the Netherlands, due to the nation-state conceptualisation of citizenship social participation is not acknowledged as part of citizenship. In reverse, the case study learns about the theory of citizenship in practices that that theory functions as a framework that visualises different - sometimes conflicting - notions and practices of citizenship and thereby recognises all these as part of citizenship.
Using a mixed method approach, this case study investigates effects on the participating students () of an undergraduate honors course in the Netherlands, aimed at global justice citizenship. Knowledge about effects of global citizenship courses is still limited. The Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire and the Global Citizenship Scale were used in a pre- and posttest design to measure possible development in the moral and civic domain among the participants of the course. In the qualitative part, deductive content analyses of students’ work and students’ written reflection on the course, utilizing the theory-based curriculum guidelines Global Justice Citizenship Education, were performed. In addition, a follow-up blog and interview were analyzed to learn students’ perception on the effects of the course after half a year. Quantitative results show increased ethical sensitivity as well as global civic engagement and global competence among the participants. Qualitative results point in the same direction and provide deeper insights in the content of students’ learning and the perceived impact of the course on their attitudes and behavior. Results are discussed in relation to theory on justice-oriented global citizenship and honors pedagogies.
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Keywords: citizenship education, democratic education, teacher training,national curricula, social sciences- Citizenship education is in teacher training in the Netherlands linked to boththe pedagogical and didactic tasks of teachers.- The task of teachers to stimulate the development of values in students isaddressed a lot less often.- The idea of democracy and rule of law as a framework for citizenship is notmentioned in most knowledge bases.- As a result, some knowledge bases seem to lack direction, as if all opinionsand all ways of ‘dealing with diversity’ are desirable.Purpose: With this article we aim to provide insight into how citizenshipeducation receives attention in the formulated national curricula for teachereducation in the Netherlands and to what extent the different domains ofcitizenship and the different tasks of teachers with regard to citizenshipeducation are addressed.Method: For this study the knowledge base for all teacher training curricula atBachelor and Master level in the Netherlands were analysed. We looked at theextent to which citizenship (education) is addressed in teacher training and theways in which this takes place.Findings: The results of the study show that several domains of citizenship arementioned, albeit not often together in one knowledge base. Citizenshipeducation is linked to both the pedagogical and didactic tasks of teachers. Thetask of teachers to stimulate the development of values in students is addresseda lot less often. The fact that citizenship also involves moral development is onlymentioned in some knowledge base. Also, the idea of democracy and rule of lawas a framework for citizenship is not mentioned in most knowledge bases. As aresult, some knowledge bases seems to lack direction, as if all opinions and allways of ‘dealing with diversity’ are desirable.
