Young people’s citizenship examined in the light of their parents’ pedagogical vision

Abstract

Young people’s citizenship is essential for a democratic society, both in terms of their awareness of civic values as well as their intentions to be active in civic participation. Values play a vital role in shaping people’s ideas of what is important in life. Young people’s value judgements develop in the context of multiple factors related to the individual but also of different elements in their environment. Parents are among the key players in transferring values and attitudes to the child. In this case study we examined to what extent young people’s citizenship mirrors parents’ pedagogical vision. The participants were two families: a 15 year old girl (Elva) and a 15 year old boy (Þórhallur) and their parents (mothers and fathers). In-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview framework. The findings revealed that both parents used authoritative parental styles and according to Steinberg’s (2001) systematic review of research on adolescent development in the family context, such parental styles increase the likelihood of the child looking to their parents as role models. Both Elva and Þórhallur maintained a close, caring and understanding relationship with their parents where the focus was on values such as respect, helpfulness, empathy and community responsibility. The main findings of the study demonstrated that there is a congruence between parents’ pedagogical vision – relationship styles, values and civic attitudes – and young people’s citizenship. Studies examining close parent-child relationships have concluded that being brought up in such an environment increases the likelihood of children’s civic engagement in the future (Duke et al., 2009).

Both the young people and their parents were aware of citizens’ responsibility. Children take it on step by step during their childhood. They participate in housework, do homework and take care of siblings, just like Elva and Þórhallur explained. Gradually they are expected to take on more extensive tasks and transfer their ideas about responsibility and duty to their role as citizens (Lenzi et al., 2014), especially if they grow up in families that emphasize civic responsibility as do Elva’s and Þórhallur’s families.

All participants highlighted the importance of good relationships with other people and within society. They had a positive view towards civic engagement as well, particularly social participation such as volunteering, but also towards informal participation as, for example, helping a neighbour. Policy making and advocacy were mentioned as well. Elva discussed the matters of elderly people and Þórhallur different forms of volunteering. However, Þórhallur made it very clear that in his opinion, civic participation should always be voluntary. These signs of self-expression values, emphasizing freedom and the right to be in full charge of their own life is believed to be more common in younger generations (Inglehart, 2008).

Conversely, the young people’s view towards political participation, especially democratic voting, was more negative than towards volunteering – a trend seen in other studies as well (Ragný Þóra Guðjohnsen & Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir, 2017).

In summary: The young people’s focus was on participation and policy making aiming at citizens’ welfare, as well as on informal civic norms such as following the rules of society, being hard-working and treating other people well. These findings resemble other research conclusions (Oosterhoff et al., 2015) indicating that parent-child discussions about civic duties are more frequently about informal civic participation forms (such as showing respect to other people, being kind to others, being helpful, hard-working, following rules) but less with regard to formal aspects such as political participation. Both Elva’s and Þórhallur’s parents discussed informal civic norms. The findings of this study contribute to research on young people’s citizenship and emphasize the importance of the parental role for young people’s civic awareness and engagement. As a step in taking on that role, parents must in their upbringing prioritize communication skills, foster sound values and add more weight to discussions where different points of view are debated and resolutions found.