Simulation Games as a Tool for Political Learning about the EU in Primary School? Results of an Intervention Study

Young learners are no blank slates when it comes to politics. Results of empirical studies show that when entering school, children already dispose of political knowledge and orientations (van Deth et al. 2007; Götzmann 2017), which further develop throughout primary school. However, such political knowledge is fragmentary (Richter 2011) and varies according to socio-economic background and gender (Abendschön/Tausendpfund 2017). There is a need for intentional civic education in order to promote the development of political concepts and to counteract social inequalities in political competencies (Detjen et al. 2012). Especially with regard to political self-concept and self-efficacy it seems important to offer young children political learning opportunities and positive experiences in applying their political abilities, since during primary school children tend to develop domain-specific self-concepts of their abilities (Hasselhorn/Gold 2006). However, systematic empirical research on civic education in primary school is rare (for intervention studies, see Berti 2002; Richter 2014; Weißeno et al. 2016). For this target group, civic education is requested to be exemplary, to specifically reduce complexity focusing on the core and character of the political, to subdivide tasks and to offer learning opportunities for very heterogeneous learning groups (Richter 2011). A didactic method encompassing these features are simulation games (Usherwood 2014, Bursens et al. 2018). Whether simulation games, which have proved very promising for teaching and learning about the EU in secondary schools and higher education (e.g., Oberle et al. 2020), are also an adequate approach for political learning about the EU in primary school, is an open question. The intervention study analyzes the effects of participating in EU simulation games, specifically developed in the context of the Jean Monnet project PEP, on EU-related political dispositions of fourth grade pupils in Germany. Furthermore, the learners` evaluation of the simulation game experience is being measured. Both the objective and subjective learning effects of the game are analyzed with regard to socio-demographic background variables such as gender, cultural capital and migration background as well as political pre-interest and pre-knowledge. The study contains three points of measurement, with an intervention group (n=293) and a control group (n=125) in a test-retest approach. The written questionnaire consists of batteries with mostly four-point Likert-scale items capturing pupils` political attitudes, motivations and evaluation of the game, while EU-related political knowledge is measured by 12 multiple choice items. In addition, some open and semi-open questions were included in the questionnaires. Measurement models, structural equation models, multiple regressions and class analyses were calculated in SPSS, MPlus and Conquest. The results show significant and lasting effects of the simulation game participation on pupils` (EU-related) political knowledge, attitudes and motivations, while in the control group political dispositions remain remarkably stable for the three points of measurement. The gender gap in political knowledge observed in the pre-test is reduced in the intervention group. The results underline the potential of civic education in primary school and also of teaching about the EU at this early age. (-> Panel: "Political education and the young learner")