In a global context characterized by rapid social, economic, political, and environmental changes, education for democracy and social justice emphasizes equipping students with democratic competencies. These competencies are essential for fostering active participation in society, enabling individuals to engage collaboratively, uphold democratic values, and contribute constructively to the continuous improvement of democratic systems (Frech et al., 2020).

International organizations underscore the crucial importance of education in shaping active and responsible citizens, offering guidelines for decision-makers in the field. The Council of Europe (2010) calls on member states to prioritize education for democratic citizenship, while UNESCO (2017; 2021) stresses the necessity of fostering critically informed individuals capable of addressing global and local challenges. Similarly, the United Nations (1990) emphasizes the participatory rights of children in decisions affecting their lives. As a result, democratic education has become an integral component of primary school curricula, often introduced from the first grade (Abendschön, 2015).

To ensure that educators are adequately equipped, knowledgeable, and responsive to the principles of democratic citizenship education, effective teacher training is pivotal. Nevertheless, research reveals several persistent obstacles. Many teachers report a lack of confidence in incorporating democracy and citizenship topics into their teaching due to inadequate training (Peterson et al., 2015), while others demonstrate limited awareness of relevant subjects (Gollob et al., 2007). Furthermore, the absence of a universally shared definition of democracy among educators creates barriers to developing a unified approach (Biseth & Lyden, 2018; Weinberg & Flinders, 2018). Addressing these challenges necessitates the implementation of focused teacher training programs in democracy and citizenship education. In fact, studies show that when practicing teachers develop democratic competencies, they are better equipped and more motivated to engage democratically with the world, inspiring their students to do the same (Scott et al., 2022). As a result, the creation of a unified framework for citizenship education that promotes a critically engaged and active society continues to be a topic of ongoing discussion (Andreotti, 2021).

The contribution presents the findings of a study conducted among students at a Swiss University of Teacher Education aimed at: a) examining students' attitudes and conceptions toward democracy and democracy education; b) analyzing their awareness of training activities related to citizenship education; and c) identifying strategies to promote democracy education among pre-service teachers.

The study is scheduled to take place in early 2025 and will involve all students enrolled in Bachelor’s and Master’s programs (approximately 500 individuals) through an online questionnaire.

A first phase of the research on academic staff’s conceptions was conducted in 2023/24. The present student survey is designed as an extension of that research. Students' perceptions and opinions will be analyzed alongside the findings from this initial phase, which explored teaching and training practices, as well as teachers’ conceptions related to democracy education, with a particular focus on teacher educators’ efforts to foster democratic skills among pre-service teachers. The findings of the first phase revealed a substantial overlap between democratic and transversal skills, highlighting the presence of a "hidden curriculum" through which democratic competencies are implicitly conveyed. These results emphasize the need to explicitly integrate democratic competencies into teacher education curricula to better align with international educational objectives.

By bridging the perspectives of students and academic staff, this research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current practices and challenges in democracy education. The findings are expected to offer valuable insights for developing innovative strategies and frameworks that can strengthen democratic education in teacher training programs, fostering more equitable and inclusive educational systems.

Einleitung

Zahlreiche Studien haben den Einfluss der COVID-19-Pandemie auf die Schülerleistungen untersucht (z. B. Betthäuser et al., 2023). Allerdings ist wenig über die Lehr- und Lernbedingungen während unregelmässiger Schulzeiten und deren Rolle bei der Aufrechterhaltung des Lernens bekannt. Die wenigen vorhandenen Studien sind meist deskriptiv, auf ein oder wenige Länder beschränkt oder konzentrieren sich ausschliesslich auf das Distanzlernen und nutzen subjektive Angaben zur Leistungsbewertung.

Basierend auf dem Dynamischen Modell der Bildungseffektivität (Creemers & Kyriakides, 2008), das Faktoren auf Ebene der Lernenden, Lehrpersonen/Klassen, Schulen sowie des Systems/Kontexts berücksichtigt, wurden zwei Fragestellungen abgeleitet:

• Fragestellung 1 (F1): Gibt es Untergruppen von Ländern mit ähnlichen Lehr- und Lernbedingungen während der COVID-19-Pandemie, gemessen mit PISA 2022?
• Fragestellung 2 (F2): Erklären Unterschiede in den Lehr- und Lernbedingungen länderübergreifende Unterschiede in der Entwicklung der Schülerleistungen in Mathematik, Lesen und Naturwissenschaften zwischen PISA 2022 und früheren Erhebungszyklen?

Methoden

Wir haben Schülerleistungs- und Fragebogendaten aus vier PISA-Erhebungen (2012, 2015, 2018 und 2022) analysiert, basierend auf 47 Ländern mit vollständigen Daten zu Variablen wie Schülerleistungen, sozioökonomischem Status (ESCS-Index von PISA) und dem Global Crises Module (GCM, Bertling, 2020). Da unterschiedliche Kohorten an den PISA-Zyklen teilnahmen, wurden die Daten auf Länderebene aggregiert und längschnittlich analysiert.

Für F1 wurden die GCM-Daten, bestehend aus 62 Items in 11 Fragegruppen (Bertling, 2020), mittels k-Means-Cluster-Analyse untersucht. Die optimale Clusteranzahl wurde mit dem Silhouetten-Ansatz bestimmt.

Für F2 dienten die Schülerleistungen in PISA 2022 sowie deren Veränderung vor und nach der Pandemie als abhängige Variablen in Regressionsmodellen. Die Veränderung wurde auf Basis eines hypothetischen PISA-2022-Werts berechnet, der sich auf frühere Leistungen stützte. Die Differenz zum tatsächlichen Wert wurde als pandemiebedingte Veränderung interpretiert.

Als Kovariaten wurden einbezogen: durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen und Änderungen vor COVID-19, ESCS (PISA 2022), BIP und dessen Veränderung vor COVID-19, Dauer der Schulschliessungen (PISA-2022-Fragebogen) sowie der School Closure Data Index (Mathieu et al., 2020). Aufgrund der kleinen Stichprobengrösse, der hohen Anzahl an Kovariaten und der starken Prädiktor-Korrelationen wurde der Double-Selection-Lasso-Ansatz (Belloni et al., 2014) angewandt.

Ergebnisse

Länder konnten anhand ihrer Lehr- und Lernbedingungen in drei Cluster eingeteilt werden:

1. Cluster 1: Familiengestützter asynchroner Unterricht (vorwiegend Länder in Südamerika und Asien),
2. Cluster 2: Lehrpersonenbegleiteter synchroner Unterricht (hauptsächlich hochentwickelte Länder in Nordamerika, Grossbritannien, Europa und Ozeanien),
3. Cluster 3: Digital-disruptiver Unterricht (vor allem hochentwickelte Länder in Zentraleuropa und Ostasien).

Hinsichtlich der Leistungsentwicklung vor und nach der Pandemie erzielten Länder in Cluster 2 mit ausgeprägtem lehrerbegleitetem synchronem Unterricht bessere Ergebnisse nach Kontrolle der Kovariaten. Obwohl Länder in Cluster 1 (familiengestützter asynchroner Unterricht) überwiegend Entwicklungsländer sind, zeigten deren Lernende keinen geringeren Fortschritt als Lernende in hochentwickelten Ländern des Clusters 3 (digital-disruptiver Unterricht).

Diskussion

Unsere Analysen zeigen, dass sozioökonomische Vorteile hochentwickelten Ländern den Einsatz moderner, digitaler Methoden erleichtern. Diese garantieren jedoch nicht automatisch bessere Schülerleistungen. Clustervergleiche zeigen, dass disruptiv eingeführte Veränderungen in Lehr- und Lernbedingungen ohne ausreichende Vorbereitung die potenziellen Vorteile von Ressourcen und Möglichkeiten – wie Infrastruktur und moderne Lernstrategien – nicht voll ausschöpfen können. Einschränkungen und zukünftige Forschungsansätze werden diskutiert.

Introduction

Internationally, the completion of secondary education (Sekundarstufe II) has a significant impact on the further educational and career paths of young people (OECD, 2020). Quantitative and qualitative studies identify both structural and individual explanatory variables regarding the educational success of at-risk groups such as students with migration background in combination to disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions (Makarova & Kassis, 2022). However, it remains unclear which factors in combination lead to some adolescents having more or fewer difficulties in obtaining secondary education qualifications.

We used the framework (Ungar, 2005) of navigation (getting resources) and negotiation (child-centered interactions with their environment) to explain successful resilience and school success. Applying Ungar's work to the topic of school success (Kassis et al., 2024) offers additional insights and promoting contemporary educational processes, particularly the concept of proactive individual and social pathways that illustrate how navigation (individual adaptation) and negotiation (social adaptation) contribute to school success.

Research Design, Methods, and Research Question

Utilizing this framework, we conducted a secondary analysis of resilience turning points in three cases involving two female and one male adolescents with migrant backgrounds and disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions at the upper-secondary level. Because there is very few research that combines qualitative and quantitative data, we conducted a mixed method case study design to develop new ideas (Schoonenboom 2022) for schools to adapt and promote educational and participation opportunities for all people with their individual abilities and needs.

The qualitative (interviews and observation) and quantitative data (grades and psychometric data) was collected within the same sample and program and were analyzed independently from two researchers. Then, three cases (students) were chosen presenting divergent navigation and negotiation processes. To merge the data, joint displays are developed, claims are constructed, and meta-inference are made (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017; Fetters & Guetterman, 2021) to answer the research questions: What are strategies that students employ to navigate and negotiate their way through the ChaBale program and what processes and factors contribute to their success at the program's conclusion?

Chabale Program

The intervention took place in an upper secondary school in German-speaking Switzerland and started in 2023. This type of school leads learners to a vocational qualification and gives them the opportunity to complete the Swiss Federal Vocational Baccalaureate. Overall, the intervention addressed three target areas: performance (grades), organization of oneself as a navigation process regarding learning content and learning processes, and the design of social learning relationships.

Preliminary Results along joint displays (cases)

The results will be reported along three joint displays, which merge both data sets (examples of the joint display could not be uploaded)

The qualitative and the quantitative data show that students navigated the grading process effectively, reporting increased self-efficacy. Both qualitative and quantitative data indicate that the students achieved academic success content wise, had better grades, and received the targeted diplomas.

Preliminary meta-inferences and discussion

So far, it can be concluded that all three students centered their navigation and negotiation process around the grades. Success in this context is being able to enter tertiary education or vocational opportunities as well as developing broader life skills through learning (Govaris et al., 2021). Experiencing self-efficacy within the program context is important to internalize success beyond the grades (Schwarzer et al., 2012). Moreover, while grades are important, they do not necessarily align with students’ self-concepts, which need to be further investigated.

As for negotiation, students in the program experienced feelings of stability and acceptance from peers and teachers, which is important for stabilizing resilience. Furthermore, the ability to choose what and with whom to learn, allows them to better balance and manage other aspects of their lives.