Fostering Political Interest Among Youth During the 2012 Presidential Election (original) (raw)
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Political interest is one of the most consistent predictors of political participation, but little research has examined how it develops. This study explores adolescents’ political interest development during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. The research team collected and analyzed longitudinal data (surveys, interviews, observations) in high schools located in conservative, liberal, and centrist communities within one swing state. Findings indicate that students’ political interest increased during the election. These increases were related to greater public attention to politics and having opportunities to explore multiple sides of political issues and express political opinions. When guiding such experiences, some teachers struggled with various challenges, including one-sided political environments and students’ political cynicism. This study has numerous implications for education in democratic societies.
Using data from an original two-wave panel survey of California high school students and a two-wave panel survey of high school students in Chicago, we find that different pedagogical approaches influence different forms of civic and political engagement. Specifically, controlling for prior levels of engagement and demographic factors, we find that open discussion of societal issues promotes engagement with political issues and elections. In contrast, service learning opportunities increase community-based and expressive actions. Both kinds of opportunities promoted commitments to participatory citizenship. These patterns can teach us about the kinds of opportunities (both in school and out) that can shape adolescents' civic and political development.
Journal of Adolescence, 2012
Drawing on data from a longitudinal cohort-sequential project the present study examined developmental trajectories of adolescents" attitudes toward political engagement and their willingness to participate in politics from grade 7 to 11 while accounting for the influence of school track and gender. Moreover, stabilities on the dependent variables were assessed. The results revealed differential trajectories regarding adolescents" educational level. Increases were mainly shown for students attending the college-bound school track. Generally, both orientations toward political behaviors were shown to become more stable throughout the adolescent years.
Teachers College Record, 2019
In the United States, elected leaders and the general public have become more politically polarized during the past several decades, making bipartisan compromise difficult. Political scientists and educational scholars have argued that generating productive political cooperation requires preparing members of democratic societies to productively negotiate their political disagreements. Numerous prior studies on civic learning have focused on fostering youth political engagement, but little research has examined how educators can support both political engagement and political open-mindedness. The study described in this paper explores how students’ experiences in a unique high school government course may help to foster their open-minded political engagement (OMPE), which we define as an individual’s propensity to explore and participate in political affairs while maintaining a willingness to adjust one’s political views. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we examined the development of adolescents’ OMPE during their participation in high school government courses at three schools. Whereas participants at Standard High (N = 87) completed a traditional government course, students at Green High (N = 224) and Gomez High (N = 94) were enrolled in the Legislative Semester course, an extended political simulation that required students to research, discuss, debate, and mock-vote on controversial public issues. At each research site, we gathered data during the fall 2014–15 semester through student surveys, teacher and student interviews, and classroom observations. We analyzed survey data using principal component analysis, t tests, and OLS regression, and we conducted constant comparative analysis with our qualitative data. Students in the LS program became more politically engaged and open-minded than students in the traditional government course. Whereas studying and exploring various political issues was especially helpful for the development of political engagement, considering diverse political perspectives in an open classroom environment was helpful for the development of political open-mindedness. However, if students in the LS were encouraged to be partisan, they were less likely to develop greater political open-mindedness. Repeated opportunities to examine diverse political ideas with peers can foster the development of open-minded political engagement. Educators can support such exchanges not only by structuring substantive sharing of diverse political perspectives, but also by creating emotionally “safe” classroom environments, encouraging the expression of minority viewpoints, and de-emphasizing partisan uniformity. Encouraging careful listening—rather than polite hearing—may be central for the development of political open-mindedness.
The US Presidential Election of 2016 and the Political Socialization of 8th-Graders
Journal of Education & Social Sciences, 2017
This mixed-methods study examined the political typologies, perspectives, and presidential preferences of 115 8th-grade students both six weeks before and on Election Day 2016. Data from the Pew Research Center's Political Typology quiz, surveys, coursework, and classroom observations revealed the students political candidate preferences were stable, though their political ideologies were quite malleable, with more than half (55%) of the students' political typologies changing over the six weeks. After the election, most students expressed disdain and fear, yet few were able to express actions they could take to engage in the political process.
Political Psychology, 2019
Prior research has identified political efficacy and political interest as strong predictors of political participation, but few studies have examined these two attitudes in tandem or compared their relative importance vis-à-vis political participation. Drawing on the expectancy-value model of motivation, we begin to address this research gap while also considering several related issues. Our sample includes a diverse group of high school students in grades 10, 11, and 12 (N = 422) from the midwestern United States. Through quantitative analyses of participants’ survey data, we found that political interest (a central aspect of value) and political efficacy (closely related to expectancy) predicted participants’ expected future political participation, controlling for background characteristics—and that political interest was a particularly strong predictor. In addition, we identified political-engagement differences on various demographic measures, such as grade level. We also found a significant interaction between political interest and internal political efficacy, suggesting that high levels of both attitudes can have an especially positive effect on adolescents’ political participation. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and educators interested in fostering political engagement among youth.
Political and civic engagement development in adolescence
Journal of adolescence, 2012
This study explored whether discussions about the media, when positively linked to interest in the news media, were related to adolescents' current and future civic engagement. A sample of 2638 adolescents (age M ¼ 17, SD ¼ 1.2), who participated in a school-based study on positive socialization, completed self-report measures on interest in the news media and discussions about the media with parents and friends. Current civic engagement was measured by involvement in volunteering and civic commitments. Future civic engagement was measured by intentions to participate in civic activities in the future. The results showed that more interpersonal discussions about the media and higher interest in the news media both predicted higher civic engagement. Positive links between discussions about the media and current civic engagement were partly mediated by interest in the news media. In addition, interest in the news media together with current civic engagement fully mediated a positive link between discussions about the media and future civic engagement. Moderating effects of gender were observed, with discussions about the media a better predictor of boys' interest in the news media, and current civic engagement a better predictor of girls' future civic engagement. Ó
Experiments in political socialization: Kids Voting USA as a model for civic education reform
This report describes how an innovative curriculum promoted the civic development of high school students along with parents by stimulating news media attention and discussion in families. Evidence is based on a three-year evaluation of Kids Voting USA, an interactive, election-based curriculum. Political communication in the home increased the probability of voting for students when they reached voting age during the 2004 election. Thus, the interplay of influences from school and family magnified curriculum effects in the short term and sustained them in the long term. This bridging of the classroom with the living room suggests how Kids Voting offers a model for reforming civic education in the United States. Data are derived from a series of natural field experiments, beginning with interviews of 491 student-parent pairs in 2002. We evaluate the curriculum as it was taught in the fall of that year in El Paso County, CO, with Colorado Springs as the largest city; Maricopa, County, AZ, which includes the Phoenix region; and Broward/Palm Beach counties, FL, the epicenter for the ballot-recount saga of 2000. Students who were juniors or seniors in 2002 were interviewed in the fall/winter of 2002, 2003, and 2004. They were all of voting age by the fall of 2004, allowing us to determine whether participation in the curriculum in 2002 affected turnout in the presidential election two years later. We also interviewed one parent from each family each year. We examined the voting records in the four counties to provide a definitive assessment of whether the curriculum increased the likelihood of voting. Finally, we supplemented the panel survey data with qualitative insights obtained from focus group interviews. Findings address the following research questions. WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF IMPACT IN CIVIC DEVELOPMENT? Even as a brief school intervention, taught only during the final weeks of the 2002 campaign, Kids Voting stimulated news attention, cognition, discussion with parents and friends, deliberative dispositions, and civic identity. These results held up despite a rigorous block of demographic controls. The strongest impacts involved discussion inside and outside the family. As neophyte citizens, KVUSA students were much more responsive to the civic environment, much more attuned to political messages flowing from media and schools, and more willing to share their knowledge and opinions with parents and friends. The sheer size of their discussion networks had grown significantly. We consequently judge the breadth of Kids Voting's immediate effects as impressive in light of prior studies showing modest influence from standard civic instruction. CAN KIDS VOTING ACT AS A CATALYST FOR CIVIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE LONG RUN? Perhaps the most striking results in this study involve outcomes in 2003, after the passage of one year. Not only did Kid Voting effects persist, they increased for some measures of cognition and deliberative habits, along with partisanship and ideology. The nature of Kids Voting influence involves the induction of habits that are self-perpetuating. From this perspective, we can evaluate KVUSA as a successful catalyst for deliberative democracy. Students remained receptive to independent learning opportunities that came along later, such as new controversies or the eruption of political debate at home or with friends. Many of these effects waned when measured in 2004, but Kids Voting influence retained statistical significance for attention to Internet news, frequency of discussion with friends, testing opinions in conversations, support for unconventional activism, volunteering, and campus activism. While the curriculum did not affect voting in 2004 directly, it did animate the family as a setting for political discussion and media use, habits that eventually lead to voting. Parents got caught up in their children's enthusiasm for politics. Student-parent conversations stimulated by Kids Voting in 2002 predicted the following measures of parent civic involvement in 2004: news attention, cognition, discussion inside and outside the home, deliberative habits, support for www.civicyouth.org 3 CIRCLE Working Paper 49: August 2006 Experiments in Political Socialization: Kids Voting USA as a Model for Civic Education Reform unconventional participation, volunteering, and activism. DOES KIDS VOTING NARROW OR WIDEN GAPS IN CIVIC INVOLVEMENT? Kids Voting appears to provide an added boost for minority and low-income students. We found this to be the case with Hispanic students in Colorado in 2002 and low-SES students across the three sites in 2004. While the evidence of closing gaps is confined to just a few areas of civic development, the results replicate findings from our prior evaluation of Kids Voting as taught in San Jose, CA. WHAT COMPONENTS OF KIDS VOTING ARE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL? Of the 10 activities measured, three stood out as predictors of long-term civic development: frequent classroom discussions about election issues, teacher encouragement of opinion expression, and student participation in get-out-the-vote drives. These activities allow adolescents to practice communication skills and to build social confidence, dispositions that are easily transferred to other domains of civic engagement. RECOMMENDATIONS The single most important lesson from Kids Voting is the benefit of integrating influences from schools, families, media, elections, and peer groups. Working independently from each other, these entities are often ineffective as agents of political socialization, as many prior studies conclude. However, once they are integrated in an election-based curriculum, they create a kind of political immersion for students. Adolescents draw knowledge and opinions from multiple sources, allowing them to compare opinions and to contemplate their options for civic identity. The findings suggest the following recommendations. 1. Incorporate parents. Families represent proximal zone of learning in which students can practice the communication skills promoted in school. The inculcation of student-parent discussion about politics makes the home a powerful incubator for civic growth. 2. Deploy media in civic learning. Some Kids Voting activities directly involve media, as when students deconstruct political ads, but curriculum effects show how media use is promoted indirectly. When students realize they will be called upon to discuss or to debate a political issue in class, they turn to news media to arm themselves with knowledge. This utilitarian motivation to pay attention evolves into a genuine interest in the news, resulting in regular news consumption habits. 3. Teach to coincide with big political events. A great deal of research on civic education is based on the assumption of gradual, incremental learning. By contrast, the results here portray civic growth as occurring in spurts, in the context of the final weeks of election campaigns. Schools should take advantage of big political events such as elections, school board debates, and city council controversies. 4. Translate classroom instruction into community activism. Lesson plans should include activities such as student campaigns that mobilize adults to vote. Practicing political skills beyond walls of the classroom empowers adolescents and heightens political efficacy.
In K. Tobin and A. Shady [Eds.] Transforming Urban Education. (pp. 377-387). The Netherlands: Sense Publishers., 2014
Spring 2012: Images of the "Occupy" encampments being cleared away trickled down media screens. More than a year has passed since that spring and the Occupy movement camps are long gone, but the consciousness of wealth inequity that they brought into popular focus has left its mark. Social class is no longer a taboo topic for today"s youth who believe that class trumps race as an explanation for inequity . The dialogues about "the 1%" who brutally exploit workers, the planet and political systems were full of passion and vitriol, they ignited a fire for justice in youth. Dylan Siry was one of those youth. For him the words and images of the movement were shared and reshared on social networking sites. Although just sixteen when the movement hit its fevered pitch he was keeping track. He recalls being an active participant in disseminating and analyzing the media that had finally decided that "Occupy" was worth noting. He was not alone. Media images reveal that children were making signs and bringing food to protestors. Beyond this, they were participating in blogs, marches and uprisings, while educating themselves on the issues that have led to brutal economic hardship and this moment of public uprising. Dylan Siry is the third author of this chapter. He is a young man who believed then, and believes now, that that the Occupy Movements are all about fighting for our collective future. Political engagement is not new to him. He recalls the night of November 4 th 2008, when he was thirteen-years-old and glued to the presidential election results that poured in from across America. He was too wired to be sleepy, that moment meant too much. He believed that the election would change the prospects of his life. He was not alone, texting back and forth with other barely teenage (and younger) friends, he joined thousands of young people who felt, and continue to feel, the need to be politically engaged. Too young to vote, but not too young to care, these children are not the self obsessed dupes of a shallow society (as the popular media claims about youth often asserts), instead they shared and continue to share an enthusiasm about the election as well as the issues that were highlighted during the election campaign. In recalling his zeal over the election, Dylan explains, the decisions made will effect me the most, however,
Education for deliberative democracy: The long-term influence of kids voting USA
This progress report provides evidence for persistent influence of Kids Voting USA, an interactive civic curriculum taught during election campaigns. The entire research project consists of multiple waves of student and parent interviews, covering a three-year period. Respondents were recruited from families in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida. The students were juniors and seniors when first interviewed in the aftermath of the 2002 election. The survey results from that year, described in an earlier report, are used as a baseline indication of the immediate influence of KVUSA. Those results provided substantial evidence for the initial effects of Kids Voting on students, on parents, and on family norms for political competence. The question now is whether this optimistic impression is warranted once we take a look at the long-term effects. In other words, did the curriculum exert a lasting influence or was its impact fleeting and ultimately inconsequential in the lives of students and parents? Based on a second wave of interviews, this report describes the extent of Kids Voting effects one year after student participation. The results show a consistent and robust influence of Kids Voting after the passage of 12 months despite controlling for demographics such as family socioeconomic status and parent history of voting. In 25 tests of curriculum influence, KVUSA netted 21 effects in the areas of news media use, discussion, cognition, opinion formation, and civic participation. Deliberative Democracy. We judge KVUSA as a successful catalyst for deliberative democracy, as students continued on toward a discursive path to citizenship after the end of the curriculum. Not only did the frequency of discussion increase in the long run, students became more skilled at holding political conversations. For instance, the curriculum promoted dispositions such as the willingness to listen to opponents and feeling comfortable about challenging others in discussion. Students learned to partake in passionate-but civil and respectful-discourse. Also evident is a desire that is at the heart of deliberative democracy: motivation to validate opinions by testing them out in conversations and seeing if they are persuasive. Curriculum Components. When considering the curriculum components collectively, service learning and encouraging people to vote exerted the most consistent influence. Both activities allow older students to interact with people outside the high school, providing realistic opportunities for community involvement. Taking sides in debates and teacher encouragement of student opinion expression also stood out as particularly effective elements of Kids Voting. Thus, peer discussion that allows for uninhibited and heartfelt expression is more beneficial for civic education than safe, subdued exchanges. High School Journalism. In light of the Knight Foundation's interest in high school journalism, this report provides a supplemental analysis of the effects of newspaper experience on various dimensions of civic involvement. In a process that seems to parallel KVUSA effects, participation in journalism increased the number of discussion partners, active processing of political information, and opinion formation. Effects on Parents. Our prior studies showed that Kids Voting stimulates parents' civic involvement indirectly, by prompting student-initiated discussion at home. Here we were able to show that these results persist over time. This phenomenon illustrates that political socialization should not be viewed as a process that begins and ends in childhood. We present a model of second-chance citizenship in which parents increase their political involvement due to their children's participation in Kids Voting.