Citizenship and democracy: students' knowledge and beliefs: Australian fourteen year olds and the IEA Civic Education Study

During 1999, a Civic Education Study was undertaken by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. In Phase 1 of the study, national researchers conducted qualitative case studies that examined the contexts and meaning of civic education in 24 countries. The observations from the case studies were then used to develop both a test of students’ civic knowledge and a survey of their civic engagement. The University of Canberra in conjunction with the Australian Council for Educational Research undertook the Australian element of the international study. Fourteen-year-olds were surveyed on topics that included knowledge of fundamental democratic principles, skills in interpreting political information, attitudes towards government, and willingness to participate in civic activity. Students were tested between September and November 1999, about one year after the introduction of Discovering Democracy, the Government’s civics and citizenship education programme.

Findings from the survey:

1. Only half of the Australian students have a grasp of the essential pre-conditions for a properly working democracy. They are not strong in their understandings of what constitutes their civil rights.
2. Australian students do not have a strong grasp of the impact of economic issues in the functioning of a democratic system.
3. The television news is the preferred source of information for 80% of Australian students, though about two-thirds of them also read about what is happening in this country and in other countries in the newspapers, and 62% of them also listen to the news on the radio.
4. Australian students do not endorse action by citizens.
5. Students believe a good citizen votes and shows respect for government representatives, but they regard knowing the country’s history and following political issues in the press and engaging in political discussion as relatively unimportant.
6. 80% of students believe in the importance of a good citizen participating in activities to benefit people in the community.
7. Only 9.8% of students expected to participate in political activities beyond voting.
8. 80% of students are very sure they do not want to live anywhere else, and believe Australia should be proud of what it has achieved.
9. Between two-thirds and three-quarters of students trusted the police and the courts.

This report was funded under the Discovering Democracy program.