Effectiveness of different instructional methods in social studies: implications for teaching students from varying political socialization backgrounds

Prior research has shown that active and participative instructional methods in civic education and social studies are associated with positive gains in students' political engagement. Yet, fewer studies have investigated whether different instructional methods succeed in promoting political engagement among students from varying political socialization backgrounds. We use nationwide survey data of 15-16-year-old students (N=5,274) from Finland to demonstrate how implementing four different instructional methods in social studies lessons is associated with students' political engagement—measured as their political interest and willingness to participate and political efficacy. After controlling the students' political socialization background, our initial analyses show that frequent discussions about political issues and their solutions during the social studies lessons are efficient for all the students. However, they are even more beneficial for students from homes where political issues are seldom discussed. On the other hand, students who frequently discuss politics with their parents benefit more from learning through independent inquiry tasks than their peers from milder political socialization backgrounds. According to the initial results, frequent working on textbook tasks does not imply promoting students’ political engagement. In general, the results suggest that social studies teachers should support discourse and doing inquiry in their classes regardless of their students’ political socialization backgrounds.