Danish eighth-grade students score top marks once again compared to young people in other countries when it comes to knowledge of society and democracy. The latest international ICCS study on young people’s civic education and citizenship shows that only Taiwan ranks higher. However, the Danish results have declined significantly since the previous study in 2016, and Danish students are also the least likely to expect to become politically active. This calls for reflection, according to researchers from DPU, Aarhus University, who are behind the Danish part of the study.
More than 82,000 eighth-grade students across 23 countries, mainly in Europe, participated in the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) conducted in 2022. The first main results have now been published and show that Danish students are once again among the most knowledgeable when it comes to society and democracy. Taiwan ranks highest in the ICCS survey’s knowledge and skills tests, while Swedish and Danish students achieve the second-best results – and thus the best in Europe.
However, the Danish results have declined significantly since the previous ICCS study in 2016, explains Jonas Lieberkind, associate professor at DPU, Aarhus University.
“The coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown of schools have been a contributing factor, but this does not explain the overall development. The fact that Danish young people’s knowledge of democracy and society is declining and that they find it more difficult than others to envision themselves as politically active citizens calls for reflection,” he says.
The ICCS study analyses students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards themselves as citizens, their political engagement and their views on democracy in light of the many crises in recent years, such as the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. An important dimension of this is the work of primary and lower secondary schools in promoting civic education and preparing students for life in a society with freedom and democracy.
The study concludes that Danish students have a particular attitude towards democracy that differs in a number of ways from students in most other countries. This attitude gradually becomes more pronounced over time and is striking, according to Jonas Lieberkind.
The results show that Danish students have confidence in themselves as political actors, understood as a belief in their own ability to contribute to and participate in political contexts – and also have great trust in the political and democratic system.
“Their political self-confidence has largely remained unchanged since the last study, and by European standards, this provides a strong foundation for becoming democratic citizens. Students are interested in political and social issues, which is most evident in their strong and growing interest in having political conversations with friends and family,” says Jonas Lieberkind.
However, the ICCS study also asks young people to what extent they identify with two different types of citizens: the engaged citizen and the global citizen. Both types of citizens are defined as politically active, but they engage in local and global issues, respectively. The study shows that Danish students find it very difficult to identify with the two types of citizens who actively engage in democracy.
“Although Danish students support formal democracy and, for example, strongly wish to vote in elections, they expect to a significantly lesser extent than students from all the other countries in the study to participate in political activities that address issues in civil society or the global world. Regarding their expectations for participating in environmental and climate activities, Danish young people also rank well below the European average,” says Jonas Lieberkind.
Danish students’ particular attitude towards democracy is also reflected in how they view school. On the one hand, they have a fundamentally positive view of school as a place for civic education.
“Students experience school as an open and debate-stimulating environment, both in the classroom and in the interactions between students and teachers as well as among the students themselves. School also creates an important foundation for students’ civic education. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that students within a school context experience only to a very limited extent that they have the opportunity to influence their school,” says Jonas Lieberkind.
