CIVIC AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS ABROAD: CURRENT ISSUES

Abstract

It is stated that civic and citizenship education (СCE) is becoming increasingly important not only in the educational space, but also in world politics in general, which is reflected in the documents of UNESCO, OECD, Council of Europe, EU. The purpose of the study is to identify positive experience of implementing СCE in foreign countries in order to implement it in domestic practice. Tasks: to study international acts on the relevance of СCE; to identify approaches, models and methods of teaching СCE in foreign countries and the factors that determine them; to systematize the capabilities of СCE. An analysis of scientific works by foreign scientists showed that various models of СCE have been developed («for proactive participation in solving social issues», «based on ethical values», «digital CСE»), which are based on the principles of democracy and justice. Examples of specific models of СCE are identified, determined by the needs and characteristics of a certain stage of development of a particular state and society («transitional democracies», post-reform countries), where the development of СCE is accompanied by certain «political restrictions» and discussions between educational authorities, teachers, and other interested parties regarding the ratio of traditional/ conservative views and beliefs and current democratic values in the content of СCE. It is noted that the issues of deepening the integration of СCE into national curricula, as well as improving the training of СCE teachers, remain urgent. It is generalized that the content of curricula and textbooks in foreign countries is influenced by various factors: goals and objectives defined in guiding documents; needs of a specific stage of development of the state, society, and humanity; political expediency/ involvement; national ideology; official religion, etc. The author’s methods of teaching civic and citizenship education are characterized («autoethnographic», oral history research for civic education», «didactic game for studying environmental aspects of civic education content»). The potential of civic and citizenship education for solving global problems of humanity and eliminating threats to European democracies is systematized.