This paper aims to examine whether and how pre-service teachers’ CE cognition develops during teacher training. In the face of unprecedented challenges in western democratic societies (Lourenço, 2021), civic education (CE) emerges as a key tool to foster active citizenship and create just societies (Joris et al., 2022). This implies that teachers need training to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to teach civic topics and to encourage students to become politically and socially engaged (Lourenço, 2021). Considering this context, three lacunae in existing research literature can be identified. Firstly, no real data exists regarding the extent to which teacher training programs equip student-teachers with the necessary competences for preparing responsible and active citizens (Peterson et al., 2014). Secondly, data that exists on teachers' CE professional development process is cross-sectional in nature, and lastly, while over the past decades, there has been a growing interest in the concept of teacher cognition, the exploration of pre-service teacher cognition, especially in the context of CE, has received comparatively limited attention so far. Teacher cognition is defined as an unobservable cognitive dimension of teaching that plays a critical role in shaping instructional strategies and that influences students’ outcomes to a great extent (Chenn, 2022; Tavassoli et al., 2023). To address the research aim, a longitudinal approach was employed, surveying first-year pre-service primary and secondary education teachers twice during their training in Flanders. The survey focused on five CE cognition variables measured at the beginning (T1) and end (T2) of training. Variables included perceived preparedness to teach CE (4 items); willingness to address political topics (3 items); perceived importance to address social topics (8 items); willingness to create an open classroom climate (4 items); willingness to implement 14 CE resources (8 items). All items were measured on a six-point Likert scale. The scales demonstrated high internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha coefficient exceeding .7. The measurements were paired, ensuring identification of each student at both time points. To examine changes in student-teachers' CE cognition, paired sample t-tests were conducted. Preliminary descriptive analyses indicate a noteworthy trend: for instance, pre-service teachers' willingness to address both political and social topics slightly decreases from the beginning (M = 4.41/6) to the end (M = 4.35/6) of teacher training. Despite the need for further analysis, these findings offer valuable insights into pre-service teachers' CE cognition development. Understanding this development is crucial as it directly influences teaching practices, shedding light on choices teachers make during CE instruction.
