Conference Agenda

Democratic attitudes and behaviour are indispensable for the maintenance of democracies. Consequently, young citizens have a decisive influence on the success of the (re-)creation of democracies. Nevertheless, young people are excluded from many key forms of political participation that would encourage attention to young political views. Yet political attitudes develop primarily during the youth phase - shaped by the experiences of individuals in their social and political contexts (Eckstein 2019, S. 417). To ensure that democratic values are passed on to the next generation, it is important to integrate citizenship education into the daily lives of young people.

Young people participate less often in elections, have less interest in political issues (Eckstein 2019; Weiss 2020) and less trust in political institutions (Eckstein 2019, S. 405). Against this background, young people have repeatedly been accused of withdrawing from politics and lacking engagement. However, the relationship of young people to politics is much more ambivalent as a result of these developments. Studies also show that young people are interested and engaged in many political issues, but that this engagement does not take place in the traditional spaces of politics and is subject to different dynamics than the engagement of older generations. The consequences of this development can be seen in the numerous youth movements that have developed (Eckstein 2019, S. 405; Syvertsen et al. 2011).

The current young generation is particularly shaped by crises - with the Corona pandemic in 2020 and the war in Europe in spring 2022 as current climaxes. The crises not only have an impact on young people’s school education and career paths, but also have the potential to significantly shape the political attitudes of these people and thus strongly influence the future of democracy in Germany. However, it remains unclear how these consequences manifest themselves in the political attitudes of young people. At the same time, it has been scientifically confirmed that crises and conflicts can lead to serious changes in public opinion (Schoen 2006). Already for the Corona pandemic, it was found that interpersonal and institutional trust in the population decreased, economic uncertainty reduced support for welfare state services (Daniele et al. 2020) and certain narratives in social media promoted the generation of rumours and conspiracy theories (Freeman et al. 2022; Shahsavari et al. 2020).

With the war in Europe, the crisis situation increasingly intensified. Images and stories about the war were published via social media and news, the sources of which could not be verified for a long time, and the various political measures and reactions were widely and vociferously discussed among the population. This uncertainty and the lowered confidence due to the crisis-ridden period of the previous years paved the way for extreme political positions. Against this background, the article examines the following questions: Which types of young people can be found with regard to the evaluation of political reactions to the war in Ukraine? What influence do features of vertical and horizontal disparities have with regard to the formation of types?

The article uses the current example of crisis to highlight the direction in which young people's political opinion-forming is developing in Germany and which target groups can be addressed to promote or curb diplomatic or radical attitudes. With regard to political developments in many European countries, the results are not only relevant for Germany and can be translated into other national contexts.

This paper presents two educational actions developed in a Catalan prison (Spain). Specifically, it analyses the impact of the Dialogic Scientific Gatherings and Scientific Workshops in a prison. Previous research highlighted the consequences of educational inequalities leading to social exclusion in different forms, nevertheless, more anecdotal research has focused on showing actions to overcome the exclusion of the most vulnerable groups. One of the most crucial tasks of social sciences is to study the different levels and types of inequality and, especially, to define strategies that reduce them (Flecha, 2022; Soler, 2017).

The education gap between the incarcerated population and the general population is enormous. For example, studies in the United States show that less than 5% have a college degree, and only 15% of incarcerated adults obtain a postsecondary degree or certificate before or during incarceration. In comparison, almost half (45%) of the general population have completed some postsecondary education (PIAAC, 2014). At the same time, scientific literature highlights the existing gap between the most vulnerable students and their access to science (Arnold & Doctoroff, 2003). Several studies show that young people who feel more attracted to and are more proficient in scientific activities are precisely those who have participated in scientific activities besides scheduled school classes (Thiry, Laursen, & Hunter, 2011; VanMeter-Adams et al., 2014).

Even though scientific literacy is essential for individuals to participate in democratic societies fully, inequalities in accessing scientific knowledge still exist worldwide (Diez-Palomar et al., 2022). Specifically, scientific literacy refers to “the ability to engage with science-related issues, and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen” (OECD, 2013, p. 7). Despite the growing interest in the democratization of science, little research has been done to involve specific groups in scientific advances. A particular case is the prison context (as example: (LeRoy et al., 2012, Nalini et al., 2013), where more research needs to be done in relation to successful actions that fosters awareness of and interest in science in these contexts.

This paper presents an educational action carried out in the context of a project funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT). The project's main objective is to implement actions to promote scientific vocations among children, adolescents and adults in highly vulnerable situations. Specifically, in this paper, we focus on the results obtained in the training of adults in a penitentiary centre through Dialogic Scientific Gatherings (DSG) and Scientific Workshops. These are evidence-based actions, an optimal ground for developing educational theory, actual practice and policy-making (Flecha, 2015; 2022). It is a case study in Catalonia (Spain), and the action was carried out in the men's module between January and April 2022. During these four months, the DSGs were carried out, which consisted of reading a scientific article selected by the researchers and sharing the arguments with the group. This reading was complemented by a training session in a workshop format conducted by expert researchers on each topic.

This paper addresses one of the different ways of understanding diversity in educational research with a focus on a Catalan prison. Therefore, in line with the conference this paper aims to highlight the successes (impact) and challenges resulting from the commitment of educational researchers and educational research to address and include diversity in all aspects of what we do. The results show that the participants perceived the activities as a useful resource for social reintegration, as the increased motivation to participate in dialogical learning environments brought meaning to their learning and transformed their educational expectations.