Educating democratic citizens through school curriculum

Many democracies have some form of civics / citizenship education within their school curricula. Yet most of these same countries are experiencing democratic backsliding. When we examine the school experiences of youth in these countries they invariably state that learning about their democracy through civics is boring, irrelevant, uninspiring and rarely encourages them to register and vote in elections. Across most democracies youth voting is frequently the lowest age cohort. In a difficult federal education environment Australia has developed a formal 'national ' curriculum in civics and citizenship based upon three relevant components - knowledge, skills and values. The formal curriculum has been reinforced by multiple informal and extra curricula experiences for students including situated learning experiences. The fundamental elements of the formal and informal curricula may be replicated in other democracies.