OAR@UM Collection: Special issue: “Citizenship education for political agency in European democracies: transnational appraisals and debates”

Postcolonial Directions in Education : volume 11 : issue 1

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Postcolonial Directions in Education : volume 11 : issue 1 Authors: Haapala, Taru; Brown, Maria; Raycheva, Lilia Abstract: Table of contents:; 1/ HAAPALA, T., BROWN, M., & RAYCHEVA, L. - Editorial introduction : postcolonial perspectives on citizenship education debates in Europe; 2/ RAYCHEVA, L. - Media literacy challenges to debates on civic rights; 3/ BROWN, M., & MARMARA, V. - ‘Media-ted’ electoral campaigns : Europeanisation and postcolonial dynamics of voters’ use of media platforms in Malta; 4/ PACHECO-BETHENCOURT, T. - The debate over civic education : its place in populist rhetoric; 5/ HOXHA, G. - Possibilities of higher education for a productive civil and social engagement : the experience of Albania; 6/ BJÖRK, A., & SHAW, C. - Extensions of citizenship? Exploring digital, global, and environmental citizenship education

Editorial introduction : postcolonial perspectives on citizenship education debates in Europe

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Editorial introduction : postcolonial perspectives on citizenship education debates in Europe Abstract: This special issue discusses how under-representation, misrepresentation, dislocation, equity and equality challenges have been part of the reasonings and argumentations of critical postcolonial debates on citizenship education in contemporary Europe. It grows out of new, interdisciplinary and methodologically pluralist research and collaboration, made possible by financial support from the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action 16211 Reappraising Intellectual Debates on Civic Rights and Democracy in Europe (RECAST), funded by the European Union (EU) Framework Programme Horizon 2020. Between September 2017 and September 2021, the RECAST network – comprising scholars from various disciplines as well as social and political practitioners – aimed at enhancing the relevance of intellectual debates on civic rights and democracy in Europe, arguing that this was compromised in terms of informing policy due to theorisation from largely unrelated spheres as opposed to responses produced by joint approaches in the humanities and the social sciences. The RECAST project sought to bridge the gap between the study of politics and policy action and to develop new insights about the links (theoretical, political and institutional) between civic rights and democracy in Europe. [excerpt]

Media literacy challenges to debates on civic rights

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Media literacy challenges to debates on civic rights Authors: Raycheva, Lilia Abstract: The concept of media literacy addresses the potential of contemporary societies to resist the negative effects of such phenomena as diminishing public trust and severely polarized politics. Traditional and modern internet-based media affect citizens’ daily lives, politics and society. Although social media encourage individuals to express their opinions, share content and communicate in a personalized way, these are often open to manipulation and hamper the public debates on substantial civic issues. Using PEST analysis that examines political (P), economic (E), social (S), and technological (T), practices, the text investigates these areas in the Bulgarian media ecosystem. Based on the indicators for media freedom, education and peoples’ trust, the Media Literacy Index assesses the abilities of prosumers (i.e. individuals who both produce and consume content) in 35 European countries to resist fake news. Levels of integrity, as well as distrust in scientists and journalists are related to media literacy about connecting practices with concepts and arguments in media debates on civic rights and democracy in three interrelated case studies in Bulgaria: the social protests (2013- 2020), the COVID-19 epidemic and the April 2021 Parliamentary pre-election campaign.

‘Media-ted’ electoral campaigns : Europeanisation and postcolonial dynamics of voters’ use of media platforms in Malta

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Title: ‘Media-ted’ electoral campaigns : Europeanisation and postcolonial dynamics of voters’ use of media platforms in Malta Authors: Brown, Maria; Marmarà, Vincent-Anthony Abstract: Media are an agent of citizenship education. The ways citizens consume media are impacted by socio-demographics, perceptions as well as past and ongoing social dynamics. The study discussed in this paper investigated if media consumption is related to citizen opinion formation, particularly during electoral campaigns; and to voting behaviour. The paper presents the findings of a quantitative study of media platforms followed by voters in Malta to source news in the run-up to the 2017 general elections and the 2019 elections of members of the European Parliament (MEP) and the local councils (LC). The study also investigated voters’ engagement with national politics in 2021, a few months before a yet-to-be announced general election. The main findings of this study are that use of television predominated (76.0% in 2017, 62.5% in 2019) - particularly among older, female and less educated cohorts. Use of online sources was prevalent among younger and more educated cohorts (p < 0.001). The study investigated values attributed to Maltese politics, consideration of party position when forming opinions, past and prospective voting trends. There was a preponderance of younger cohorts among those considering voting for a different political party (50.3% among those aged 16-25, 42.0% among those aged 26-35). Older cohorts predominated among the 83% who reported always voting for the same party. Postcolonial communications and media studies inform the paper’s analysis of Malta’s long-standing partisan duopoly; risks of polarisation and radicalisation; and recommendations on media literacy to resist sensationalised or fake news and radicalising agendas.