Students' conceptions of citizenship in Germany

There is widespread agreement that students’ conceptions influence learning outcomes and the overall educational processes (Vosniadou et al. 2008). Understood as an umbrella term that encompasses beliefs and prior knowledge, students’ conceptions are an important part of education and educational research, including citizenship education (Lange, 2008; Reusser & Pauli, 2014). In general, students’ conceptions act as naïve theories which help them to make sense of their physical and social reality, regardless of their scientific correctness (Lange, 2008; Vosniadou et al. 2008). Especially for their (future) role as citizens in a democratic society, students conceptions of central political and societal processes as well as their understanding of their own role as citizens are of particular interest for research in citizenship education (Lange, 2008). Thus, various aspects of- and influences on citizenship conceptions of students in different educational and cultural contexts have been analyzed. However, the role of citizenship has expanded, be it with the advent of digital technologies, the acts of citizenship of disenfranchised groups, or the conceptualization of citizenship as global or inclusive, challenging not only traditional concepts of citizenship, but also approaches to citizenship education (Isin, 2009; Kim & Choi, 2018; Ross & Davies, 2019; Kleinschmidt & Lange, 2021). Furthermore, the COVID-19-Pandemic has disrupted practices of citizens and states alike, leading to the question to what extend the perspective of citizenship will change in a post-pandemic world. This paper builds on current discourses and existing research about citizenship and citizenship conceptions while also exploring the structure of conceptual and belief systems centered around citizenship of German high school students. The presentation will feature the findings of a qualitative study conducted in Germany in 2021, which includes students’ perspective on citizenship as well as their own role as (future) citizens. The results show heterogeneous conceptual associations, although a focus on personal responsibility and economic performance can be identified. Literature Isin, E. F. (2009). Citizenship in flux: The figure of the activist citizen. Subjectivity, 29(1), 367–388. Kim, M., & Choi, D. (2018). Development of Youth Digital Citizenship Scale and Implication for Educational Setting. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(1), 155–171. Kleinschmidt, M., & Lange, D. (2021). Inclusive Citizenship als Bildungspraxis – provisorische Leitlinien. Polis, 25(1), 22–24. Lange, D. (2008). Bürgerbewusstsein. Sinnbilder und Sinnbildungen in der Politischen Bildung. Gesellschaft – Wirtschaft – Politik (GWP)(3), 431–439. Reusser, K., & Pauli, C. (2014). Berufsbezogene Überzeugungen von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern. In E. Terhart, H. Bennewitz, & M. Rothland (Eds.), Handbuch der Forschung zum Lehrerberuf (2nd ed., pp. 642–661). Waxmann. Ross, A., & Davies, I. (2018). Europe and Global Citizenship. In I. Davies, L.-C. Ho, D. Kiwan, C. L. Peck, A. Peterson, E. Sant, & Y. Waghid (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Global Citizenship and Education (pp. 21–36). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Vosniadou, S., Vamvakoussi, X., & Skopeliti, I. (2008). The Framework Theory Approach to the Problem of Conceptual Change. In S. Vosniadou (Ed.), International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change (pp. 3–24). Routledge.