Civic Literacy: Searching for the Foundations of Didactics of Social Studies and Civic Education

Abstract

The study is devoted to the reflection of possible didactic bases for the formation of didactics of social sciences and civic education. First, it offers a comparison with a more developed model of history didactics and then brings into the debate some selected aspects from current international debates - the role of the competence model, active citizenship and the position of sciences in shaping school curricula. The study sets itself two general objectives: 1) On the basis of the current state of the didactics of history, to define the general features of a successful developed didactic theory and to outline the directions and challenges of possible paths for the didactics of civic education. 2) To delineate the space for the joint development of the didactics of civic education and history on the one hand, but also to highlight the specificities and singularities of civic education in schools on the other.