ABSTRACT

Analysing the findings presented in the previous chapter, the researchers in this study sought to identify themes, concepts or constructs that would translate the data into policy recommendations, the intended outcome of this research. What struck the research team was that there was no single approach, theme, concept or idea that could successfully capture the breadth of these findings. Citizenship and an educational programme which aims to develop it are a wide-ranging concept and this is reflected in the CEPS data. The insight that finally emerged from an extended dialogue among the researchers was that the key was to be found in the complexity of the findings themselves. On the one hand, there is perhaps no single finding that is unique to the study. Although its scope across nine nations provides this study with remarkable strength, many, if not most, of the findings can be found elsewhere in the literature. On the other hand, almost without exception, in other studies such findings are isolated, or treated in isolation, as the key to citizenship. Our data suggest the need for a much more complex conception of citizenship and citizenship education. What was unique to this study was the variegated picture of citizenship that emerged from the data. The researchers concluded that citizenship education for the 21st century called for a more holistic approach marked by comprehensiveness and consistency in both depth and breadth.