Reflections on the development of the IEA civic and citizenship education studies

Abstract

This chapter discusses the content, design, and methods of the three IEA studies of civic and citizenship education. It focuses on the changes made between each of these studies and the contexts for this learning area. The IEA Civic Education Study (CIVED) in 1999 was developed soon after the transition to democracy in many participating countries; threats to civil society in the early 2000s such as terrorism influenced the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) in 2009. The design of ICCS in 2016 responded to the increasing importance of social media in civic engagement, the growth in awareness of global and environmental issues, as well as the recognition of school as a context for social interaction. Starting in 2009 ICCS studies have implemented regional modules including questions covering topics of specific interest in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Changes were made in the design, which make it difficult to compare results across time. Examples are the introduction of rotated booklets for the civic knowledge test or the change in the sampling strategy for the teachers. The selection of item material in each study followed an exhaustive process of reviews and discussions among IEA country representatives (as well as experts and international committee members).