09/04/2025, 14:15 - 16:00, Essen
How do individual dispositions, educational institutions, and social environments shape civic learning, participation, and attitudes? Two keynote lectures present findings on civic education from psychological and sociological research.
Democracies around the world are facing increasing challenges, from rising political polarisation and declining trust in institutions to the spread of misinformation and the impact of digital media on the political discourse. Civic education inside and outside schools is crucial for fostering democratic engagement, yet its effectiveness depends on multiple factors, including formal schooling, informal learning environments, and broader societal influences. The Civic Education Forum will bring together different perspectives in civic education research and feature keynote presentations by Prof. Laura Wray-Lake (University of California Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs, USA) and Prof. Jan Germen Janmaat (University College London, UK), who will offer insights from psychological and sociological research fields. Their talks will examine how individual dispositions, educational institutions, and social environments shape civic learning, participation, and attitudes. Following each presentation, there will be time for discussion.
The event is organised by the working group ‘Civic Education Research Lab’ (CERL), which is funded by the College’s PostdocLab programme and consists of researchers from the Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS) at TU Dortmund University and the Department of Educational Research and Schooling at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
The Civic Education Forum is open to researchers, educators, policymakers, and students interested in contributing to the future of civic education.
Please register by 8 April 2025: https://eveeno.com/241050096.