Conference Agenda

A healthy and thriving democratic society needs active, informed, and responsible citizens (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2017), in which Citizenship Education (CE) plays an important role. CE prepares students for active engagement in social and political life, while fostering respect for the participation of others (Geijsel et al., 2012). Schools, functioning as miniature societies, provide opportunities for students to reflect on and engage with issues related to citizenship and democracy (Joris, 2022) and facilitate the development of students’ participatory and decision-making skills (Godfrey & Grayman, 2014). In this setting, schools cultivate real-world citizenship practices that enable students to apply theoretical knowledge in practical situations. Lawy and Biesta (2006) make a clear distinction within CE, highlighting the difference between ‘citizenship-as-achievement' and ‘citizenship-as-practice'. Citizenship-as-achievement represents a narrow interpretation of citizenship, suggesting that young people should act and behave in a certain way to achieve their citizenship status. This study approaches CE as an ongoing developmental practice, where citizenship-as-practice encompasses various aspects, including daily activities, behaviours, and engagements that collectively contribute to one’s sense of being a citizen. Citizenship-as-practice provides a more robust and inclusive framework for understanding and supporting young people’s citizenship learning, removing the distinction between citizens and not-yet-citizens (Lawy & Biesta, 2006).

In this perspective, all citizens should have the opportunity to develop citizenship competences, such as civic knowledge, political behaviour, societal involvement, and democratic attitudes. However, research has shown that these competences are unequally distributed among student groups based on cognitive level, gender, family socio-economic status, and ethnic background (Geijsel et al., 2012; Nieuwelink et al., 2019; Thijs et al., 2019). In other words, opportunities to practice and develop citizenship are not equally accessible to all students, and thus the way CE is enacted in schools often reproduces social inequalities (Rinnooy Kan et al., 2021). For example, research indicates that objectives and practices within CE can differ between different educational tracks, with pre-vocational students having fewer opportunities to engage in discussions or debates about everyday activities and socio-political issues compared to those in the pre-academic track (Nieuwelink et al., 2019). In addition, Campbell's (2008) study shows that school exacerbates existing differences in political knowledge, which is detrimental to the development of democratic and political attitudes. Furthermore, a global trend of increasing diversity in student populations, both academically and socio-culturally, challenges educational institutions to create inclusive and equitable environments within CE (Rinnooy Kan et al., 2021).

These developments call for a close examination of how a citizenship-as-practice approach can address social inequalities in citizenship learning practices and thus contribute to the citizenship competences of all students. Previous review studies (Campbell, 2019; Donbavand & Hoskins, 2021; Geboers et al., 2013) have enhanced our understanding of the effects of CE on different competences. However, as CE is not available to all students in the same way or to the same extent, there is a need for a systematic review that addresses inequalities in students’ CE and how schools can address them. The aim of this systematic review is to address this knowledge gap and to deepen our understanding of the following two questions: (1) What are the inequalities in students’ CE?, and (2) How can schools contribute to enhancing equality in students’ CE? The findings of this study have the potential to inform educational policy and practice and promote more equitable opportunities for all students to develop citizenship competences. In summary, this review contributes to the ongoing educational discourse on creating inclusive and participatory democratic societies through citizenship learning practices.