Hearing their voice: Exploring the self-reports of adolescents’ experiences of a community-based, active citizenship program, in the context of four identified domains of global competence
Creators: name: Menzie, Karena Joy
Publisher: name: Central Queensland University
Year: 2018
Subjects: Global citizenship
Global competence
Active citizenship
Adolescents

description: Citizenship in the era of globalization requires a mindset that transcends national borders; a skill set that can critically assess and colllectively address the issues identified in the Sustainable Development Goals; and values and attitudes that motivate the individual to work with others, irrespective of their culture and background, for the common good. The introduction by the OECD of a PISA global competence assessment in 2018 recognises the need for these knowledges, skills and values and adds to the discourse as to how they are developed. This research identifies four domains of attributes of global citizenship: knowledge and understanding, skills, values and attitudes, and action. For the purposes of this research, the attainment of these attributes is termed global competence. In addition, a review of the literature and international and Australian policy and curricula shows that there is consensus that the attributes of global citizenship are not inherent at birth. These attributes require education, training and practice. There is also consensus that education designed to foster the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes of citizenship requires an action or active citizenship component. This active citizenship component of citizenship education is the focus of this research. Examination of research, policy and curriculum development in the field of citizenship education has revealed that there are very few empirical studies that present the perspective of the young people for whom the active citizenship programs are designed. For this reason, the intent of this research is to provide a conduit for the voices of adolescents participating in active citizenship programs. This focus makes a contibution to filling the gap in the literature by gaining much needed insights into what adolescents themselves report about the benefits of participation in active citizenship programs. The research questions and conceptual framework of this study put the adolescents' experiences and perceptions of capacity at the centre of the research; surrounding this approach with the elements of adolescent-focused, active citizenship programs, in an overall context of the attainment of global competence. In order to gain the type of in-depth insights sought in this research, a qualitative case study methodology was used. The study focuses on a single case of a specific cohort of adolescents participating in a two-year, self-nominated, communitybased, active citizenship program in the form of a Youth Advisory Council (YAC). Within the case study, a naturalistic inquiry approach was used in order to allow the emergence of themes as the adolescents undertook various activities in the program and made meaning of their experiences. To hear and record the adolescents' voices, a focus group was held half way through their term in office and individual interviews were conducted at the conclusion. Participant observations were also used throughout the two years to build the researcher's rapport with the adolescents and contextualise their comments and reflections. The resultant data was analyzed cyclically using open and axial coding. This approach resulted in the identification of eight emergent themes:Skills development and training; Hearing the adolescent voice; Positive emotions and self efficacy; Sense of belonging/community; Role of the facilitator; Active citizenship for young people; Respect; and Self-awareness. These themes together with the adolescents' individual experiences, comments and reflections were compared to the identified attributes of global citizenship in an effort to explore the potential of adolescent-focused, active citizenship programs to foster global competence. The study found that although such programs do not seem to give adolescents a genuine voice in the issues or governance of their community, they do appear to provide a training ground for the development of a mindset of the common good while fostering valued citizenship skills, values and attitudes. The results highlight the positive emotions and feelings of self-efficacy that adolescents reported about their active citizenship experiences and the significant sense of belonging they felt towards their peers and the YAC facilitator. These perceptions produced and renewed a sense of pride and belonging to the local community. The study identified the importance of the role of the faciliator in the lives of the adolescents and in the overall atmosphere, structure and intent of the program, highlighting the need for appropriate training for facilitators of adolescent-focused, active citizenship programs. This thesis acknowledges the limitations of the study in that the program was self-nominated and community-based rather than school-based however it does succeed in its intent, to contribute to the discourse regarding the development of global competence through active citizenship. This goal is acheieved by recording the voice of one group of adolescents as they report on their experiences and the meanings they made of those experiences. The findings contribute insights into the design and faciliation of adolescent-focused, active citizenship programs that may be considered and tested in other contexts.