Youth Understanding of Participation: a Case from a European Project

Actual or alleged lack of interest in politics and participation of young people is an issue of concern both for research and policy making. Evidence shows that Civic and Citizenship Education (CCE) promote and can account for future participation (Reichert and Print, 2018; Higgins and D’Alessandro, 2010). Within CCE, a group‐specific educational approach considering the social background of learners is the most promising to reach the normative goal of CCE: self‐determined citizens (Onken and Lange, 2014). In literature, evolutions in the conceptualisation of participation suggest a rethinking of spheres and targets of participation as well as individual’s intentions (van Deth, 2014). Therefore, asking how young people perceive and understand participation is key. This paper is focused of this issue in the non-formal education sector and the question it aims to answer is “How do youth workers explore the topic of participation with young people?” Evidence to answer to this question are gathered within the context of the Erasmus+ European project “Learning to Participate” (LEAP) involving youth workers from Austria, Croatia and Italy. In the project, young people’s understanding of participation and youth-led projects are linked to Project-based Learning (PBL). The PBL approach, based on the pioneer ideas of Kilpatrick’s project-method (1918), is seen as a possibility for individuals to foster democracy and build democratic participatory citizenship. This is furthermore possible when young people are given the chance to undertake activities they are interested in and to pursue them from their own initiative (Ravitch, 2000). The paper relies on a qualitative approach involving problem-centred interviews with participants of the LEAP project to gain insights into youth workers practices. This work’s contribution informs both Citizenship Education and participation literature and draws connections between the two fields.