Teaching with an attitude: How effective has citizen education been in Chile?

Abstract

Although citizen training has been used as a component of the official school curriculum to overcome low levels of political participation in Chile, everything indicates that its curricular implementation into the school experience has not been successful. Although its application in Chile has a long history, its effect on the willingness of students to participate politically has not been properly studied. We maintain that, although it can promote participatory attitudes, the way it is implemented shapes its effects. Regression analyses of the 2016 ICCS survey with variables at the school and individual level demonstrate that the integration of the subject transversally has a positive effect, but only in dispositions related to electoral participation, while other forms of implementation have null or even negative effects on dispositions towards other forms of participation.

Keywords

• educación cívica
• formación ciudadana
• socialización política
• actitudes políticas
• comportamiento político
• chile