Citizenship education is inherently linked to ideals of citizenry and community. It is therefore bound to be controversial (Biesta 2011; Davies 2006; Gutmann 1999; Simons & Masschelein 2008). Yet, in the last few decades, European citizenship education research and policy has largely shifted attention from goals to governance (Gunter 2015; Plank & Boyd 1994). Citizenship education has generally come to be portrayed as an authoritative instrument conveying universal and seemingly uncontroversial values such as “freedom, equality, tolerance and non-discrimination” (European Commission 2017, 17). Researchers, including historians of education, have largely focused on official state-related conceptions of citizenship education and their declination and presentations in textbooks and classrooms.

However, the ideal shape of political institutions, collective identities, public economies has always been contested. Moreover, views on citizenship show varying links to statehood. They range from ideas about locally-rooted citizens embraced by the far right, to transnational communities embraced by denominational actors and peace movements. To understand what ends up inscribed in official curricula and state policy, therefore, we have to understand alternative visions. 

This workshop wants to bring such heterodox ideals of the community, and corresponding educational views and practices, back into our theorisation of citizenship education. We will start by comparing and conceptualising different political and educational actors’ understanding of citizenship, how these relate to statehood and how they translate into political and pedagogical practice, in order to draw methodological and theoretical implications for how we can engage with citizenship education in the History of Education.

More specifically, the workshop will address the following questions:

- Which actors (e.g., teachers organisations, pupils/students, parties, organised interests, churches, social movements) should we consider to broaden our understanding of how citizenship education ideals are formed, introduced in the public debate, and put into practice?

- How do these actors position themselves, locally, nationally, inter- and transnationally, and how does their position affect their understanding of citizenship, as well as their strategies to push this understanding pedagogically and politically? 

- What theoretical and methodological implications (e.g., in terms of sources) should be drawn for a research agenda on 20th century citizenship education from a history of education perspective?

We intend to structure the discussion as follows: (1) The workshop will start with a short introduction to the topic and conceptual framework. Anja Giudici and Thomas Ruoss will explain the format and aims of the workshop, and present the overarching questions to be addressed. They will then invite participants to join one of three tables based on their interests. (2) In the following phase, we plan to work following a modified “world café” framework. Participants will be asked to join the discussion at one table, but they also be allowed to circulate if they wish to do so and contribute to several tables. To structure the discussion, each table will be chaired by at least two researchers specialising on actors operating in different countries, contexts, and time-periods. To start the discussion, chairs will briefly present insights from their research (3’ mins), before introducing the questions mentioned earlier. Handouts will be provided to allow people to circulate and join ongoing discussions. The tables are organised so as to reflect different relationships between understandings of citizenship education and the state as political entity. This will allow us to structure the final discussion, which will address implications of different ideals and forms of pedagogical and political activism. Table 1 - Pedagogical engagements with citizenship within state institutions, chaired by Tibor Darvai (socialist educational policy, Ministry of Education, scientists and teachers in the early Kadar-Era, 1956-65 Hungary) and Sarah van Ruyskensvelde (Teacher Training in 20th century Belgium). Table 2 - Alternative views of citizenship meant to replace/amend current statehood, chaired by Anja Giudici (European post-war far-right movement), Tamar Groves (Catholic teacher parent and teacher association in post-1970 Spain), Lajos Somogyvári (researchers, teachers and principals during the crisis of socialism, in mid-1980s Hungary). Table 3 - International and transnational citizenship views, chaired by Thomas Ruoss (post-war European retail banking organisations) and Susannah Wright (inter-war pressure groups within the British peace movement). (3) After 30 minutes of work in groups, outcomes will be presented in a round table discussion (30’). The discussion, chaired by Anja Giudici und Thomas Ruoss, will focus on distilling theoretical (how can different actors and their views be structured?) and methodological suggestions (which sources should be examined to capture varying understandings of citizenship education and understand their impact?) for a renewed and broader engagement with citizenship education within the History of Education.

On the level of output, the authors and additional participants aim to publish a common volume (edited volume or a special issue in a peer-review journal) that uses the workshop as a concrete exchange and input for the development of a common theoretical framework as well as a look at (transnational) connections between the single case studies. On the level of creating new disciplinary structures and exchanges, the workshop aims to contribute to the consolidation of an emerging network that can relate a historical-critical view of the heterogeneity of citizenship education concepts to current policy discussions across Europe and beyond. The meeting in Yerevan is an excellent occasion to involve colleagues from geographical regions that have so far been less in the focus of research in the history of education, the politics of education, or the sociology of education.

Biesta, G. (2011). The Ignorant Citizen: Mouffe, Rancière, and the Subject of Democratic Education. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 30(2), 141–153. Davies, L. (2006) Global citizenship: abstraction of framework for action? Educational Review, 58(1), 5–25. European Commission (2017). Citizenship education at school in Europe – 2017. Eurydice Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Gunter, H. M. (2015). The politics of education policy in England. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(11), 1206–1212. Gutmann, A. (1999). Democratic Education. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Plank, D. N., & Boyd, W. L. (1994). Antipolitics, education, and institutional choice: the flight from democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 31(2), 263–281. Simons, M., & Masschelein, J. (2008). The Governmentalization of Learning and the Assemblage of a Learning Apparatus. Educational Theory, 58(4), 391–415.