Social capital and civics and citizenship: Developing a framework for activist education

• Published in: Issues in educational research Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 276 - 290
• Main Author: Keith Heggart
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: Perth, WA Institutes for Educational Research in NSW, SA and WA 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Citizenship; Civics; Human rights; Social capital (Sociology); Study and teaching
• ISSN: 1837-6290; 1837-6290

Previous scholarship has outlined possible models of civics education but have neglected to provide frameworks for evaluation of the way such educative programs contribute to ongoing active citizenship amongst the participants. This paper explicates a framework that can be used to analyse how effectively programs are developing active citizenship and activism amongst the participants, especially with a view towards their ongoing participation in civil society. Such a framework will be of use to practitioners seeking to analyse their programs, as well as policy makers interested in developing new programs of civics and citizenship education, or evaluating existing ones. Foregrounding the research in the context of civics and citizenship education in Australia, I illustrate the development of the framework through an activist education program, Justice Citizens, which took place in a Western Sydney high school. Justice Citizens is a useful example to examine the efficacy of the framework; it was a student-centred film voice project that required students to engage with issues in their local community.