Keser Akar Yildirim 2011

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/262005017
Role of extracurricular activities in active citizenship education.
Article in Curriculum Studies · December 2011

DOI: 10.1080/00220272.2011.591433
CITATIONS READS
48 6,634
3 authors, including:
Hanife Akar
Middle East Technical University
46 PUBLICATIONS 565 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Landscaping Prospective English Language Teachers’ Development of Teacher Identity in an Era of Social Complexity View project
Learning and Innovation Spaces for Continuing Education View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Hanife Akar on 16 May 2014.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

J. CURRICULUM STUDIES, 2011, VOL. 43, NO. 6, 809–837
The role of extracurricular activities in active

citizenship education
FILIZ KESER, HANIFE AKAR and ALI YILDIRIM
There have been multiple trends of building democratic citizens through formal educa-
tion, and in the European context the trials have been dramatically increased with the
Europeanization process since the 1980s. In line with this trend, an in-depth qualitative
case study was carried out in a private primary school in Turkey to shed light on the role
of school-based extra-curricular activities as a contemporary trend in building active citi-
zenship values and competencies in students. Qualitative data were collected through mul-
tiple data collection tools as observation field notes, interviews, and document analysis to
achieve triangulation and trustworthiness. Much of the findings were compatible with
EURYDICE Report (2005) on citizenship education, and yielded six themes, called the
six blossoms of extra-curricular activities in citizenship education: namely, active citizen-
ship perception; social accountability; intercultural awareness; awareness of democracy
and human rights; thinking and research skills; and interaction and interpersonal skills.
Keywords: extra-curricular activities; citizenship education; active citizenship

education; Turkey
Introduction
Citizenship education has increasingly become a hot issue in educational,

social, and political discourse, not only across countries, but also within
countries including different dimensions of the societies (Holford and
Edirisingha 2000, Saha 2001, Crick 2002, EURYDICE 2005, Biesta and
Lawy 2006, Cleaver and Nelson 2006, Nelson and Kerr 2006, GHK
Report on Active Citizenship Education Study 2007, Keating et al. 2009,
Filiz Keser (Corresponding author) is a PhD candidate in the Educational Sciences

Department, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, 06531, Ankara,
Turkey; e-mail: keser@metu.edu.tr. She has taken part in national and international pro-
jects. Her research interest is focused on citizenship education, active citizenship, and
policy making in education at national and international levels.
Dr. Hanife Akar is an Assistant Professor of curriculum and instruction, at Middle
East Technical University, Department of Educational Sciences, Ankara, Turkey. Her
research interests are on civic education, education and social policy, equity, curriculum
evaluation, teacher education, moral education, intercultural education.
Dr. Ali Yildirim is currently Professor at the Department of Educational Sciences,
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. His research interests include tea-
cher education, curriculum development and evaluation, thinking skills, social studies
and civic learning. He served as consultant to several large scale World-Bank financed
education projects in Turkey.
Journal of Curriculum Studies ISSN 0022-0272 print/ISSN 1366-5839 online Ó 2011 Taylor & Francis
http://www.tandfonline.com
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2011.591433
810 F. KESER ET AL.
Lopes et al. 2009). This increase may be attributed to rapid global

changes in countries, especially, in those where democratic structures are
developing and evolving, like the republics of the former Soviet Union in
Eastern Europe (Kymlicka 2001, Saha 2001, Abowitz and Harnish 2006,
Piattoeva 2009), and the European context in which a new political and
governing structure has been built under the umbrella of the European
Union (EU). ‘The drive for both globalization and unification’ (Holford
and Edirisingha 2000: 4), increasing movement of people within the
nations and across the nations, advanced communication technologies,
social movements, increasing numbers of Non-Governmental Organiza-
tions (NGOs), and transformation of social structures, and nationalism
(Holford and Edirisingha 2000, Cleaver and Nelson 2006, Banks 2008,
Schulz et al. 2008) have had a significant impact on the perceptions of
democracy, human rights and citizenship, along with education.
The EU integration process, in particular, created the most prominent
impact on both educational policy-making and curriculum development
among EU member states and candidate states in terms of citizenship
education, with the ambitious goal of creating the concept of ‘European
Citizenship’ (Keating et al. 2009, Philippou et al. 2009). Parallel to these
developments, the questions of how to teach citizenship, how people
become active citizens, what active citizenship education means, and how
to create ‘European citizenship’ have been concerns of many international
and national research studies (IEA 1999, Holford and Edirisingha 2000,
ETGACE 2003, Birzéa 2004, EURYDICE 2005, GHK Report 2007),
particularly in Europe and the UK, as ‘a fuller, richer and yet more subtle
understanding of practise of citizenship’ is necessary (Kymlicka 2001:
295).
Turkey, being a candidate state for EU, has also been touched heavily
by the integration process which was commenced in 1999. Since then,
as Vardar (2005: 93) points out, ‘EU has become one of the most pow-
erful determinants of Turkish politics’ including educational policy.
While citizenship education programmes have recently been introduced
into curricula in many European countries (Brooks 2007, Crick 2007,
Cß ayır 2009), citizenship education has been offered as a separate course
under different names in Turkey since the foundation of the Turkish
Republic. Citizenship education in schools, as one of the areas of impact
has gone through various changes in the 1990s and the 2000s, yet most
of these changes were structural (embedded vs separate courses) rather
than conceptual and reorienting citizenship education along with the
political and social changes in the society and the world (Caymaz 2008,
Cß elik 2008, Cß ayır 2009). As a result, the mainstream citizenship educa-
tion in schools has suffered from strict obedience to traditional concepts
like good citizen, voting, observing rules, etc. This limitation has directed
some schools to use extra-curricular activities to develop active citizen-
ship skills like participation and critical thinking. Hence, the purpose of
this study is to investigate the contribution of citizenship education
through extra-curricular activities in the Turkish context in comparison
to mainstream practises in formal courses in schools. More specifically,
this study investigates the role of extra-curricular activities in building
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES IN ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP 811
students’ active citizenship values and competencies in a private primary

school in Ankara, Turkey.
Formal schooling and citizenship education
Learning about citizenship and becoming an active citizen is indeed a

complex and unending process which begins at a very early age and goes
on throughout one’s life. Veldhuis (1997: 9) argues that ‘active citizens
are not born, but are created in a socialization process’. In other words, it
is embedded in life itself, it takes place in many contexts and can take any
form (ETGACE 2003), which is why it is difficult to talk about a certain
way of learning about citizenship or active citizenship. Arthur and Davies
(2008) discuss the appropriate locations for citizenship education, and
argue that schools are not the right places as they are unlikely to provide
the necessary environment and experience for citizenship and democracy
education.
Despite the cynicism of some toward the role of schools and schooling
in citizenship education, education has traditionally been the key factor in
the production of citizenship, especially for the governments (Holford and
Edirisingha 2000, Saha 2001, Keating et al. 2009). Nevertheless, the
literature over this issue is highly controversial (Brooks 2007). Some
(Veldhuis 1997, Saha 2001, (ETGACE Report 2003), (GHK Report
2007) argue that there is no direct relation between formal education and
active citizenship, whereas others (Dee 2004, Milligan et al. 2004, Camp-
bell 2006, Hoskins et al. 2008) have shown the positive impact of formal
education on active citizenship, civic engagement, and participation. All
of these studies focused on the effect or return of formal education on dif-
ferent forms of citizenship measured by indicators such as voting, civic
competence, political knowledge and engagement, community involve-
ment, and volunteering. Even though the results are mixed and change-
able in terms of country context (see Milligan et al. 2004), research
‘demonstrates that higher levels of individual schooling are strongly asso-
ciated with civic behaviours and knowledge’ (Dee 2004: 1700), political
knowledge, civic engagement, and a healthy democracy (Llewellyn et al.
2010). The empirical data indicates a significant impact of formal educa-
tion on civic engagement; nevertheless researchers agree that it is not easy
to isolate the effect of formal education to get a clearer view of the impact
it has on citizenship building.
Students spend most of their time in school from age 6 until 15 or
more; however, citizenship education is regarded as a process that goes
beyond formal learning environment in schools in which students acquire
necessary knowledge, skills, and values to become active citizens. More-
over, some researchers argue that formal education does not guarantee
that every student who goes through active citizenship education will be
an active participant in the society (Veldhuis 1997, Lopes et al. 2009),
and that it is necessary to be realistic about the direct influence of school
factors (ETGACE Report 2003: 8). Biesta and Lawy (2006) also warn
about the place of formal schooling in the realization of active citizenship.
812 F. KESER ET AL.
They argue that education for active citizenship should be more than for-
mal instruction as ‘young people learn at least as much about citizenship
from their participation in the range of different practises that make up
their lives’ (Biesta and Lawy 2006: 72). They consider current citizenship
education as problematic for two reasons. First, schools consider the
‘problem’ of citizenship as an individual problem. Secondly, they focus on
individuals’ knowledge, skills, and values. Biesta and Lawy suggest a shift
from teaching citizenship to learning citizenship and democracy.
Other studies focus on the importance of the family. For instance,
Hoskins et al. (2008: 388) note that ‘the motivation for studying and for
becoming an active citizen could, to a large degree, be the impact of
informal learning within the family’ and other social and political con-
texts, such as peer groups and media (Biesta and Lawy 2006), thus active
citizenship competencies are developed in a ‘“spontaneous”, informal
learning process’ (Jansen et al. 2006: 201). It is important to look for
other methods and contexts both within and outside formal education
which make it a natural part of the daily life of schools.
The point, then, is to connect formal education and school with non-
formal, informal learning experiences. Utilizing ‘extra-curricular activities’
within the schooling process may be one possible path to create informal
learning opportunities within and outside the school setting (Brooks
2007). Extracurricular activities are identified by Bı̂rzéa et al. (2004: 26)
to be part of non-formal curriculum and they range from visits to differ-
ent settings and institutions, school exchanges, voluntary work, and stu-
dent organizations to student clubs and projects outside the school. They
may take place after and during school programmes and both in and out
of school buildings. Although research focusing on extra-curricular activi-
ties or non-formal learning is scarce, there still exists some research that
has shown that extra-curricular activities, classroom climate, school cul-
ture, and environment have more impact on building active citizenship
than mandated curriculum. For instance, research conducted by Torney-
Puerta et al. (2001), which took place in 28 countries, concludes that
schools that model democratic practises by providing an open and partici-
patory climate are most effective in promoting civic knowledge and
engagement. Campbell (2005) reports a positive correlation between the
participation in extra-curricular activities during the high school years and
civic and political engagement later in life. ETGACE (2003) and its suc-
cessor study Re-Etgace (2004) yield similar results indicating the impor-
tance of informal learning and extra-curricular activities and suggest that
governments and schools should encourage extra-curricular opportunities
for citizenship learning, including international exchanges. Sherrod et al.
(2002) emphasize the positive role of extra-curricular activities and being
involved in community-based organizations in increasing voting and
engagement in civic affairs. Saha (2001) also emphasizes the importance
of extra-curricular activities in developing active citizens.
Studies of Smith (1999), Youniss et al. (1999) and Zaff et al. (2003)
yielded similar results linking participation in extra-curricular activities to
greater civic involvement in the future. On the other hand, Brooks (2007)
argues that the effects of being involved in extra-curricular activities were
complex, multidirectional and in some cases contradictory. In terms of the

frame drawn above, it is clear that more empirical research is essential to
shed light on connections between active citizenship and extra-curricular
activities and to enlighten the complex and dynamic process of learning
active citizenship both nationally and internationally.
The Turkish case
History of citizenship education in Turkey dates back to the foundation

of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Since 1923, citizenship education has
been a tool of the ‘state-centric modernization project’ (C ß ayır and
Gürkaynak 2008: 50), which aimed to reshape the society and to create
an organic Turkish society out of the Ottoman Empire which was based
on multi-ethnicity (Keyman and İçduygu 2005: 4). Transforming ‘the
subjects of Ottoman Empire to Turkish citizens’ (Vardar 2005: 94) was
the modernization project of Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish
Republic, who considered citizenship as ‘the very core of the legitimacy of
the Republic’ (Içduygu et al. 1999). This project ambitiously aimed to
create a distinctive Turkish culture and identity and at the same time,
make Turkey a modern member of the Western Civilization (Gök 2002,
Kadıoğlu 2005). Salmoni (2003: 103) described these multiple aims as
the ‘convergence of modernization and Turkish nationalism’, while C ß ayır
and Gürkaynak (2008: 51) characterized this process as a ‘paradox of
modernization and nation formation’. The use of education in this pro-
cess aligns with a form of citizenship education that has been described as
‘nation building’ (Gellner 1983, in Lawson 2001). Similarly, Ahmad
(1993: ix) stated ‘Turkey did not rise out of the ashes of the Ottoman
Empire. It was “made” in the image of Kemalist Elite which won strug-
gles against foreign invaders and the old regime’. Thus, citizenship educa-
tion, along with the formal education, gained a vital role in raising the
citizens of the modern Turkish Republic which was defined as ‘the repub-
lican model of citizenship’ based on ‘duties’ and obligations to the com-
munity in order to promote ‘common good’ and republican virtues such
as ‘courage, devotion, military discipline and statecraft’ (Lawson 2001:
164, Kadıoğlu 2005, Keyman and Içduygu 2005).
The historical and social background of citizenship education can best
be understood in terms of four eras which are parallel to the political his-
tory of the state: the single party period (1923–1950); the multi party per-
iod (1950–1980); the 1980 military coup and its aftermath, and after the
1999 Helsinki summit when Turkey was accepted as a candidate country
to EU (Içduygu et al. 1999).
During the first years of the Republic and the Single Party era, the
fundamental purpose of citizenship education can be summarized as to
‘carve out citizens’ of the modern Turkish Republic (Caymaz 2008: 198).
Thus, citizenship education focused on duties such as taxation and mili-
tary service, and rights as liberty, equality, freedom of movement, and
sacrificing one’s self for the country and patriotism. During the 1950s,
with impact of the democratization movement and multi-party regime
814 F. KESER ET AL.
democracy and democratic concepts emerged for the first time in citizen-
ship education. After the 1980 military coup, between the years 1980–
1983, the definition of ‘nation’ gained new meaning, with the inclusion of
language, religion, and race along with cultural and historical unity
(Caymaz 2008). According to Caymaz (2008: 221), the 1980s could be
characterized as ‘an almost-return to the single party era in terms of citi-
zenship education due to issues of national sovereignty, political organiza-
tion and discourse on elections’.
1990s were the years when Turkey initiated acts to be part of the glo-
bal world and Europe in particular, adopting an open market economy
and neoliberal policies. These years were symbolized by change and
increased integration into the global economy. Relations with the EU
became one of the main catalysts for the reforms in education, health sec-
tors, and in legal structures. Developments in citizenship education were
fostered, especially, by the Copenhagen Criteria which underlined that
each candidate country had to achieve the stability in institutions guaran-
teeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and the respect for pro-
tection of minorities, as an attempt to meet the EU’s accession criteria
reported at the Copenhagen European Council in 1993. In 1995, the
United Nations declared that 1995–2004 would be the ‘Decade for
Human Rights Education’. Turkey embraced this declaration and the
Ministry of National Education (MoNE) changed the name of citizenship
education course to ‘Human Rights and Citizenship Education’. Along
with this, the content of the course was also altered. ‘Human rights’ and
‘democracy education’ topics were added to meet the requirements as
suggested in the declaration. In 1997, ‘Human Rights and Citizenship
Education’ course became compulsory in lower secondary education, and
in the 1998–1999 academic year, it was started to be taught 1 hour per
week in the 7th and 8th grades. In the same year, an elective course called
‘Democracy and Human Rights’ was added into the 10th grade curricu-
lum (C ß ayır and Gürkaynak 2008). It is important to note that the emer-
gence of ‘human rights’ in citizenship education is an important
development in the history of citizenship education.
Since the 1999 Helsinki summit when Turkey was accepted as a can-
didate for full accession, the reform process has accelerated. In 2002,
Turkey started the implementation of an ‘Emergency Action Plan’ in vari-
ous levels of education from primary to university, again to meet the crite-
ria of EU integration. Results of the Education for Democratic
Citizenship (EDC) study (Birzéa 2004: 118) conducted by European
Council indicated that EDC policies in Turkey ‘follow a top-down
approach and are directly promoted by the central education authorities’,
and EDC is perceived as a specific goal of education policies which
appears in educational laws.
In 2005, a new primary school curriculum, so called ‘constructivist’,
was introduced with the aim of increasing the quality of teaching and
learning. Along with this curriculum change, ‘Citizenship and Human
Rights Education’ course was dropped from the curriculum and an
immersion approach was adopted to integrate citizenship education into
other subject areas. The aim was to provide citizenship education in a
more holistic perspective according to a new ‘constructivist’ curriculum.

Since then, the content, aims, values, attitudes, and skills of the citizen-
ship education course have been distributed and diffused into different
subjects. While Social Sciences (at secondary level) and Life Sciences (at
the primary level) have inherited much of the content of Citizenship and
Human Rights education, Turkish, Mathematics, Science, and Technol-
ogy contain elements of the citizenship education curricula.
The latest update on the citizenship education in 2009 includes
another change in the curriculum. The MoNE launched a project on
democratic citizenship and human rights education with the support of
EU and the European Commission. Starting from the 2010–2011 aca-
demic year, a course on democracy and human rights will be offered as
elective in the lower secondary education (MoNE 2010).
All these changes in the structure of courses to improve citizenship
education show that there is an effort to better address the civic knowl-
edge and skills needed for today’s contemporary societies. However, the
changes appear to be mostly structural with the assumption that a change
in the curriculum will be sufficient to address the civic skills and under-
standing that students need.
Research on citizenship education in Turkey
Research on citizenship education in schools in Turkey reflects crucial

issues. Textbooks used in the citizenship education is one of these issues.
A study of textbooks used in citizenship education by Üstel (2005)
showed that ‘textbooks aimed to form a “new civilized citizen” capable of
taking on board modernity and a certain idea of citizenship’ (Vardar
2005: 95) formed by duties and obligations to community and republican
virtues such as courage, devotion, patriotism, and military discipline.
Another analysis of Citizenship and Human Rights textbooks prepared for
the 7th and 8th grades by Gök (2003) indicated that books were heavily
loaded with citizenship duties, while rights were emphasized less. Still in
another study (Bora 2003), textbooks were found to emphasize demo-
ß ayır and Gürkay-
cratic ideals alongside nationalist principles. Similarly, C
nak (2008) underlined this orientation in the textbooks emphasizing
human rights and universal themes alongside nationalist and authoritarian
themes. Teachers also found the content of citizenship and human rights
textbooks loaded with knowledge thereby insufficient to meet student
needs (Kepenekçi 2005). Therefore, textbooks prepared for the new cur-
riculum were found insufficient to prepare Turkey for the EU and the
new information age (C ß ayır 2009).
Research at the classroom level also pointed to some problems. A
study (Yiğittir 2007) on 7th grade students’ cognitive and affective attain-
ments at the end of a Citizenship and Human Rights Education course
indicated that students gained 74% of the knowledge presented in class
throughout the year. However, certain topics such as concepts of ethics
and morality, human rights, and recognizing the responsibilities of the
governments in practicing human rights were not fully achieved. Studies
816 F. KESER ET AL.
by Bozkır (2001), Doğanay and Sarı (2009) and Yılmaz, et al. (2009)
yielded parallel results showing that Turkish students perceived the most
important citizenship duties to be fulfilling responsibilities, complying
with the laws, paying taxes, and doing military service, they also thought
the most important civic ideals were patriotism, Kemalism, being proud
of one’s country and nation, and being hardworking.
From the perspectives of the teachers or teacher candidates, results of
various studies are not different. Önür and Engin (1996) argued that the
approaches used by teachers may guarantee education ‘about democracy’,
nevertheless, may not particularly focus on ‘education for democracy’ or
civic education. Similarly, in a recent study, Doğanay (2009) analysed tea-
cher candidates’ perception and practises of citizenship in the context of
political socialization. He concluded that Turkish prospective teachers’
perception of citizenship is based on conventional citizenship, i.e. ‘that they
perceive “a good citizen” more in connection with the conventional activities
such as obeying the law, paying taxes and knowing the country’s history’
(p. 28). Moreover, their participation in civic activities such as volunteering,
charity work, or legal protests is very low and mostly limited to voting.
These studies illustrate that the practice of citizenship education in
Turkey emphasizing ‘a model republican citizen concept’ has not changed
much since the foundation of the Republic even though much has chan-
ged in the political, economical, and social structure in the last 30 years.
The paradox between nation building and globalization continues and is
accelerated by the EU integration process. Now, Turkey also faces the
dilemma of how to keep its national identity while getting ready to wear a
supra-national identity—European citizenship. Turkey aims to become a
member of the EU, yet at the same time tries to protect cultural values
and national identity. The details of this dilemma are beyond the scope of
this paper, yet it is important to note that this dilemma has a critical
influence on formal education policy including citizenship education, text-
books, and teaching methods used.
Currently, we are dealing with identifying a new citizenship concept at
the national level but not contextualized in a supra-national way
(Philippou et al. 2009). Whether we should deal with Europeanization
and European Citizenship or not is another question which is hard to
answer here. Yet, citizenship education in Turkey should evolve towards
developing a more global and ‘active’ citizen who shares the global values
about human rights and democracy, acts out, and participates in social
and political life, as it is obvious that there exists a big discrepancy
between the aims stated in policy documents and what is done in schools
and classrooms. Although it is not possible to provide a universal defini-
tion of ‘active citizenship’, as it is too country- and context-dependent
(Benn 2000, Kennedy 2007), providing a definition of an active citizen
and developing active citizenship should be in the focus of the citizenship
education in Turkey. Ichilov (1998: 12) pointed out ‘citizenship educa-
tion limited to inculcation of traditional patriotism, or conventional
nationalistic ideology is obviously insufficient in a highly dynamic,
complex and interdependent world’. Thus, a transformation is required in
the formal education system in relation to citizenship education. This
transformation includes finding out alternative ways to build active citi-

zenship in students within the formal schooling.
Method
This is a qualitative case study evaluating the role of extra-curricular

activities on active citizenship learning in a private primary school in
Ankara. A case study design was employed as it provides opportunities
to collect detailed examination of a critical incident, a single subject, or
a single depository of documents (Bogdan and Biklen 1998, Patton
2002). We mark this study as a ‘case study’ because we aim to carry
out ‘an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon
in depth and within its real-life context’ (Yin 2009: 18) through a quali-
tative approach in which we explore ‘a bounded system (a case) over
time, through detailed, in depth-data collection involving multiple
sources of information’ (Creswell 2007: 73). In our case, the school has
possibilities to offer different types of extra-curricular activities due to its
physical and financial resources. Thus, students have a great deal of
opportunities to participate in various extra-curricular activities such as
student clubs, projects, and field trips. This school can be used as an
example in terms of using extra-curricular activities in citizenship educa-
tion, not only in Turkey, but also in the international arena.
The case
Our case is a private primary school providing education from Level 0 to

Level 2 in terms of ISCED levels (from age 5 to age 14). It was established
within the campus of a state university in Ankara, Turkey on an area of
17 000 m2 and is funded by the university foundation. The socio-eco-
nomic level of parents is above average and their education level is quite
high. For instance, 52% of the mothers and 49% of the fathers are univer-
sity graduates, 24% of the mothers and 26% of the fathers hold a masters
degree, and 11% of the mothers and 19% of the fathers hold a PhD
degree. This is not a common distribution in terms of education level of
parents nation-wide, but it is due to the fact that academic staff working in
the university comprise the majority of the parents.
In terms of curriculum, since Turkey has a centralized education
system, the school follows the mandated state curriculum. However,
within the common curriculum the school has a good degree of flexibil-
ity especially with regard to teaching materials and activities. Along
with the implementation of the common curriculum, the school pro-
vides students with a rich variety of extra-curricular activities. There
exist 30 student clubs, including sports clubs such as basketball, tennis,
and chess; arts such as ceramics and photography; literature; and sci-
ence. Student clubs function after the daily class sessions and at the
weekends. Field trips, local and national, are quite common. The
school is the partner of various international projects such as ECO
Schools and Museum Education.
818 F. KESER ET AL.
Extra-curricular activities
Extracurricular activities, as defined by this research, are part of the non-

formal school curriculum even though they are sometimes part of the
school schedule. All materials and activities distant from the mandated
curriculum are considered as extra-curricular activities in this study. They
can take place after and during the school programme and both in and
out of school buildings or campus. Considering the aims of this study,
researchers concluded that the main focus of the case should include the
following extra-curricular activities in the school programme of 6th, 7th,
and 8th grades: pre-class sharing hours; counselling hours; school clubs; and
on-going national projects such as ‘Social Sciences Fair’, ‘The Bridge of
Civilizations: Anatolia’ and international projects such as ‘ECO Schools’
and ‘ACT! Active Citizenship Training (Socrates programme: Action
6.1.2-6.2, 2005-2420/001-001)’. All these extra-curricular activities were
developed by the school management and teachers’ board, and they
reflect the philosophy of the school culture. These activities are not drawn
from the centralized formal primary curriculum; rather, they are con-
structed due to a need to enrich the formal curriculum with social, cul-
tural, and psychomotor competencies extending the formal curriculum
that is mainly geared toward academic-oriented goals. Each type of extra-
curricular activity included in the study is briefly described to give a better
understanding of the case.
Although sharing hours and counselling hours are part of the official time-
table of the school, they are used as free time to get prepared for the rest
of the school day, or just to talk about anything students want to bring up,
to discuss current or daily issues with their teachers and their friends or
just to relax and play games. These free time slots were used as opportuni-
ties for students to gain active citizenship understanding through activities
such as discussions based on pictures from newspapers and magazines
(mostly addressing an issue about human rights, democracy, or citizen-
ship), role playing on critical incidents, acting, concept mapping, story
building, brainstorming, reframing hurtful assumptions, teamwork and
conflict resolution, imaginative writing, problem-solving, and case analysis.
These activities were developed by the researchers using authentic
resources (newspaper, magazines) to foster an understanding and to build
sensitivity towards local and global issues through problem-solving.
Other extra-curricular activities conducted in the school clubs were
the ‘Social Studies Fair’, and international and national projects called
‘ECO Schools project’ and ‘The Bridge of Civilizations: Anatolia’, as an
extension of museum education.
The ECO Schools project aimed to build environmental awareness,
environmental management, and to seek ways to ensure the sustainable
development of the students’ ecological environment. The project included
student activities such as protecting an endemic flower [Centazurea
Tchihatcheffii] which grows solely in Ankara [Turkey]; organizing the
Eco-School festival and offering brief seminars to contribute to the
environmental awareness within and around the school area for social
accountability purposes. Students were observed during their Eco-School
festival while they were presenting their research and seminars about the
protection of the environment and the endemic flower.
Lastly, two school-wide exhibitions were observed. The Bridge of Civili-
zations was a project in which teachers and students received training in
archaeology under the auspices of museum education. Consequently, muse-
ums in Ankara and abroad were visited as a part of an EU project. In the
‘The Bridge of Civilizations: Anatolia’ exhibition, students presented their
previous works in line with their interest in the Anatolian civilizations via
art, music, or sculpture. The Social Sciences Fair aimed to raise awareness to
the fact that science did not comprise of only math and hard sciences,
rather social sciences had also an equally important role in human life. Stu-
dents were supposed to work collaboratively in pairs or in small groups to
prepare and present their work in front of an audience. The work done by
students ranged from tsunami disasters to dreams, Hittite civilizations, bas-
ketball, sports education, and important figures in Turkish history. All
observations of these projects were conducted by two researchers and pro-
vided opportunities for validating in-depth data. It is important to underline
that none of those activities explained above were based on an official grad-
ing system and would not affect the students’ official grade report.
Participants
Participants of this study were teachers, counsellors, and students who

were involved in the implementation and evaluation of the extra-curricular
active citizenship activities. The target group were 489 students (217 girls
and 272 boys) from 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, and 22 teachers with differ-
ent social sciences credentials, including counsellors. The student partici-
pants of the study were between the ages of 13 and 16 and were mostly
from middle and upper socio-economic background.
Data sources
Data were collected through qualitative data collection methods and trian-
gulated to obtain an in-depth and multi-perspective study. Table 1. dis-
plays the data sources.
Observations
On-going projects, counselling hours, and sharing hours were observed

during the Spring Semester of 2007. A systematic observation schedule
for guidance hours and sharing hours was organized to enable two
researchers to observe the same activity in two different groups when
implemented by different teachers throughout one term. An observation
form was utilized for each observation to gain objectivity and focus. This
form was composed of six dimensions to guide the in-depth field notes of
the researchers and to document a thorough and standardized record of
the researchers’ perception of the learning environment. The six guiding
820 F. KESER ET AL.
dimensions were: the description of the activity (including aims, sum-

mary, frame, time allocation, etc); techniques and methods utilized to
attract students’ attention (questions, pictures, idioms, problems, etc);
flow of the activity (teacher’s and students’ role, pace, instructions, etc);
student reactions (attitude, interest, participation, sharing, closure, etc);
level of reaching the aims (observed behaviours, comments, or empathy,
etc); and observer’s comments.
Projects and other extra-curricular activities ‘ECO schools’, ‘Social
Sciences Fair’, ‘The Bridge of Civilizations: Anatolia’ were also observed,
recorded, and photographed, and informal interviews were conducted
with teachers, students, and the director so as to understand the process
of initiating, progressing, and exhibiting at the fairs. Field notes were also
taken from these activities. The field notes collected were rich, thick
descriptions in order to increase the transferability of information col-
lected in one classroom setting to other contexts and situations within this
private primary school.
Focus group interviews with students
Focus group interviews were conducted with 15 6th and 15 7th grade stu-
dents through a semi-structured interview schedule including seven main
questions to investigate the role of extra-curricular activities they partici-
pated in developing active citizenship understanding and skills. The ques-
tions inquired about students’ perceptions of what extra-curricular
activities focus on; what skills and competencies they learnt from these
activities; their importance in daily life and for their further adult life; their
perception of active citizenship; the problems or challenges people who do
not have the necessary citizenship competencies may face; and their
comments and suggestions about active citizenship education. Focus
Table 1. Data sources used in the data collection process.
Non-participant observation
Sharing and counselling hours
Grades 6 (n = 4)
Grades 7 (n = 4)
Grades 8 (n = 5)
Projects ECO Schools
Social Sciences Fair
The Bridge of Civilizations: Anatolia
Focus group interviews
Students 3 groups of grades 6 (15 students; 9 girls, 6
boys)
3 groups of grades 7 (15 students; 8 girls, 7
boys)
Teachers 2 groups (5 teachers)
Document analysis
Students’ products Concept Maps (n = 75)
Report written by counsellors and
teachers
group interviews lasted for an average of 30 minutes and were

audio-recorded.
Interviews with practitioners
Interviews were also carried out with five social sciences teachers includ-
ing two Social Sciences teachers, two History teachers, and one Religion
Culture and Moral Education teacher. The semi-structured interview
schedule included questions on the concept of active citizenship, knowl-
edge, skills, and values required for active citizenship, extra-curricular
activities and their impact on students, students’ gains as the result extra-
curricular activities, and transfer of knowledge and skills acquired by stu-
dents as a result of in-school activities to their daily life. Each interview
lasted around 30–40 minutes. All interviews were audio-recorded, and
were transcribed verbatim by the researchers.
Documents
In addition to interviews, Social Sciences teachers and counsellors were

asked to write a report on the use of extra-curricular activities on devel-
oping active citizens based on a guided list of open-ended questions pro-
vided by the researchers. The last piece of data came from student work
that was collected at the end of the activities conducted during sharing
and counselling hours. This work includes concept maps, worksheets,
and commentary pages. Among those, 75 concept maps drawn by 7th
and 8th graders were analysed along with their answers to questions
‘What is active citizenship?’ and ‘Who can be named as an active citi-
zen?’
Data analysis
The data were analysed through content analysis (Miles and Huberman
1994, Patton 2002, Yıldırım and Şimsßek 2008) to identify ‘core consis-
tencies and meanings’ (Patton 2002: 453). An inductive category develop-
ment approach was followed without the development of any preliminary
codes, and analysis was done after the data collection in order to see the
whole picture. Through frequent discussions among the authors on the
raw data based on the purpose of research, initial codes were identified to
conceptualize the data which then led to establishing the main categories
of the conceptual framework used to represent the findings. Next, the
data were organized under these codes and categories to explore the
meanings and patterns in participants’ perceptions and activities in
relation to the research purpose. Finally, the data yielded the following six
themes: active citizenship perception; social accountability; intercultural
awareness; awareness of democracy and human rights; thinking and
research skills; and interaction and interpersonal skills.
822 F. KESER ET AL.
Trustworthiness
In this qualitative study, triangulation, thick descriptions, persistent obser-

vation, and prolonged engagement and extended fieldwork techniques
were utilized to gather evidence for the validity and trustworthiness of the
study. Triangulation helped the researchers reach a convergence among
multiple and different sources of information to form themes or categories
(Creswell and Miller 2000) providing and strengthening the validity of
the study, as it relies on multiple forms of evidence.
The research team stayed at the research site for a prolonged period
of time to understand the school culture and develop trust with the stake-
holders. As for the credibility of the findings, thick descriptions were used
to describe the setting through persistent observations, prolonged engage-
ment, and interviews with the participants (Creswell and Miller 2000).
Results
The findings of the qualitative data yielded six themes, which we called
the six blossoms of extra-curricular activities in citizenship education
Figure 1. Six blossoms of extra-curricular activities in active citizenship

education.
(see figure 1, namely, active citizenship perception; social accountability;

intercultural awareness; awareness of democracy and human rights;
thinking and research skills; and interaction and intrapersonal skills are
reported, respectively.
Active citizenship perception
Students’ perception of ‘active citizenship’ was mainly based on five pil-

lars: citizenship rights, responsibilities and tasks, commitment to country, taking
active part in the society, and personal characteristics and values of the citizens.
Within these five pillars, the citizenship rights and freedoms and responsi-
bilities and tasks were emphasized most. Students formulated rights and
freedoms along three dimensions: being aware of the rights, using the
rights, and standing up for the rights and freedoms. In terms of using the
rights, ‘voting’ was emphasized heavily by the students as a right. Other
rights were, in the order of frequency, living a healthy life, receiving qual-
ity education, having vacations, and participating in governance. Only a
few students touched upon issues related to human rights in terms of
respect for human rights and being aware of human rights. Some of the
8th year students’ perceptions of rights are reflected in the quotations
taken from the questionnaires below:
Active citizen is the person who can vote, has certain rights and can use
these rights. Active citizen is aware of the rights s/he has and can help other
people learn and use these rights.
People who vote can be called as active citizens.
Active citizens are aware of their rights and freedoms and use these in the
best way.
Active citizenship is all about citizens’ fulfilling tasks fully and using citizen-
ship rights actively, using rights such as participation to government, work
and vacation.
As can be seen from the quotes, students’ responses revealed mainly a
conventional type of citizenship definition based on rights.
The third pillar of active citizenship concept, responsibilities and tasks,
was perceived from two main perspectives as being aware of the respon-
sibilities and tasks, and fulfilling the responsibilities and carrying out the
tasks especially given by the government. Highlighted responsibilities
included paying taxes, going to school, doing military service, working,
and compliance with the laws and social rules. Students agreed that
active citizens should fulfil these tasks. They simply put it as: ‘Carrying
out responsibilities and tasks for the country is called active citizenship’
(8th grader). The comment of one student ‘Paying the tax on time in
the right amount without cheating the government can be an active
824 F. KESER ET AL.
citizen behaviour’ clearly indicates a task-based conceptualization of

citizenship.
In terms of responsibility, 6th grade students also referred to responsi-
bility for the environment and nature during the focus groups, while this
dimension did not emerge in the conceptualization of the 7th and 8th
graders.
Students’ perception of ‘active citizenship’ also included commitment,
which was more frequently described as commitment to one’s nation.
Under this dimension, working for the goodness of the nation became
prominent along with devotion to one’s country and awareness of the
facts of the nation. Students mentioned concepts like democracy, consti-
tution, solidarity, and republic in relation to country and nation, and Ata-
türk [the founder of the Turkish Republic] was referred to several times
throughout the interviews. For instance, one student directly associated
following Atatürk’s principles and love of Atatürk with becoming an active
citizen. Sentences uttered or reported by students highlighted concepts
such as ‘welfare’ of the country. Some even used patriotic definitions such
as individuals who ‘protect the homeland’, and ‘work hard for the coun-
try’ are called active citizens. An 8th grader stated that: ‘People who pro-
tect their homeland are called active citizens’.
Taking an active role in the society was another dimension that emerged
as a result of the data analysis. Students were aware that active citizenship
meant taking an active role in social issues and they conceptualized this as
being an active member of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), e.
g., ‘People who start up a NGO or a member of an NGO are called
active citizens’. Another student stated ‘Taking part in nature protection
associations and NGOs, being self-aware and conscious about the country
and people, and being an inquirer and researcher are called active citizen-
ship’ (8th grader).
Participating in marches and protests, being an advocate for the
rights of the self and others, and taking legal actions when it is neces-
sary were defined as active citizenship. One student stated that ‘active
citizenship is about not buying bootleg books, CDs or DVDs’ (8th
grader).
The last dimension of the perception of ‘active citizenship’ was
related to characteristics and values of active citizens. The analysis yielded
that students attributed certain personal characteristics to being an
active citizen. The highly emphasized concepts included being respect-
ful, responsible, helpful, and tolerant. Students acknowledged that an
active citizen was respectful to people, to their ideas and deeds and to
environment and nature. Consciousness and sensitivity to social issues,
and following the agenda of the country and media emerged as other
highlighted characteristics throughout the study. For instance, a student
from the 8th grade indicated that an ‘active citizen is the person who is
aware of the things going on in his/her environment and in the wider
society’. Citizenship attributes listed by students included honesty, fair-
ness, politeness, wisdom, considerateness, self-confidence, being demo-
cratic, well-equipped, hardworking, inquirer, educated, creative, and a
role model.
Social accountability and civic awareness
Findings from data sources indicated that extra-curricular activities

helped students to improve their social accountability and civic aware-
ness mainly in the following dimensions: awareness toward social, political
and economic events and environment, consciousness toward accountability,
social responsibility, awareness of NGOs, helping others, and conflict
resolution.
Students indicated awareness towards critical issues such as events
taking place in their social environment, and political and economic
events at the local and national level. What was prominent here was the
social and environmental awareness. Students unveiled their concerns
about social events during in-classroom activities and focus groups. The
concept of environmental awareness emerged as a sensitive issue under-
taken by students. For instance, during the ECO Schools project activi-
ties, it was observed that students internalized the importance of
environment and started to show incidents of active protection of the
environment in their daily life such as being careful about recycling, not
littering, switching off the lights when they were not in use (7th grade
focus group interview). A student from the 6th grade stated her concern
about environmental education as ‘Respect for the nature should be
taught in schools to create awareness. I believe education is the only way
to protect environment’. Students developed knowledge about some
international and national NGOs such as UNICEF, ILKYAR (Associa-
tion for helping Boarding Schools in Anatolia), TEMA (Turkish Envi-
ronment Association), and Turkish Red Crescent. Other areas, such as
social responsibility, helping others, awareness of NGOs, and conflict
resolution, appeared in their verbal reports, and this can also be taken as
an indicator that students developed social accountability and civic
awareness.
‘I have seen that many people are trying to change and make Turkey
a better country with a great effort and a lot is going on in Turkey now
(6th grader)’. ‘As Turkish citizens, we should be conscious about how we
can be helpful and productive for Turkey’ (6th grader). These extracts
taken from the field notes and focus group interviews show that social
accountability and civic awareness bear some patriotic feelings.
Yet, the results of the focus group interviews with five teachers and
teacher evaluation report revealed that, although students were conscious
about the political, environmental, and social responsibilities of citizens,
and events in their close environment and in the nation, they found it dif-
ficult to transfer this ‘felt responsibility’ into action in daily life as they
were still premature adolescents. One of the teachers stated that ‘Students
explain the importance of being a respectful person in the classroom but
when they are in a school excursion we observe that they might violate
others’ right, for instance while waiting in a queue’. Teachers’ observa-
tions and evaluations support the fact that more time and effort is
required to transfer the knowledge and perspective students acquire at
school into behavioural patterns outside the classroom context.
826 F. KESER ET AL.
Awareness of democracy and human rights
Results of the analysis of classroom observations during sharing hours and

counselling hours, and four focus group interviews with students revealed
awareness of democracy and human rights as the third theme. Under this
theme, democratic awareness and human rights emerged as two main con-
cepts connected to each other. In terms of democracy, students men-
tioned voting, equality, justice, freedom, and decision-making as concepts
related to democracy. It was seen that students related democracy to vot-
ing and participating equally in decision-making. They stressed the impor-
tance of equality, justice and freedom for democracy. A 7th grader indicated
that ‘during all these activities, I learned that all humans are equal, live
free, have individual rights and these rights are indefeasible. I didn’t know
that before’. In relation to the democratic awareness, another dimension
was the awareness of human rights. Findings from both student and teacher
data indicated that students were aware of certain human rights such as
right to live, confidentiality, privacy of property, privacy of personal life,
and rights of consumers (in the order of frequency). They also developed
a concern about the violation of human rights, and a 7th grade female stu-
dent expressed her concern as follows ‘We learned about the violations of
rights in relation to universal human rights such as the right to live and
other rights and we became more aware of these violations in Turkey and
abroad’. Another student added that ‘We kept doing research on the vio-
lations of human rights as we were really interested, not just for the
course requirements’. Data showed that students saw human rights as a
universal issue:
We should prevent people in the world who violate human rights uncon-
sciously. If we educate people in Turkey about human rights, they can be
equal and free (7th grader).
As we are very young, we didn’t know about the violations of human rights
in the world. But through these activities we learned so much about this
issue. Now we are aware of the violations of human rights (7th grader).
It is obvious in the quotes that students gained awareness about human
rights both at a national and international level which is also related to
being aware of other cultures.
Intercultural awareness
Analysis of different sources of data revealed that extra-curricular activi-

ties enhanced intercultural awareness, especially in the areas of respecting
others, being tolerant, empathetic and sensitive to others, respecting and accept-
ing diversities, and negotiation. Students’ comments, statements, and work
made it clear that they believe in the significance of respecting others and
respecting diversity, which were the most emphasized categories under this
theme. During the interviews students expressed that they respect others’
lives and accept the differences and diversities among people in terms of
race, religion, or ideas. Being sensitive to diversities and differences were
stated by students both in focus group interviews and during the class-
room activities. In a guidance hour in 8th grade, a student stated that ‘We
first should try to understand the other cultures to communicate with
them’. In the same class, another student expressed that ‘I realized some-
thing, when it is another culture; there are so many funny things, because
we are not familiar. I tried to understand these funny things’. Another
student mentioned the language barrier between cultures and he said
‘when we know the language, we can communicate easier and better’.
According to data from observations, students knew that negotiation
was necessary to solve conflicts, especially, in group work. Field notes
indicated that students, rather than imposing an idea or opinion, tried to
convince their peers and consider their alternatives in solving problems.
Similarly, teacher interview data and counselling teachers’ reports showed
evidence that in in-class activities and in school contexts the students
knew how to respond to different ideas and opinions respectfully and
patiently. Knowledge about basic skills was acquired to enlist them or
apply them in their academic environment. Students were able to imagine
others’ feelings and attitudes. They were aware of the fact that other peo-
ple could have different feelings and it was important to understand their
feelings. Two 7th grade students pointed to the importance of difference
by saying that ‘It is important to think sensitively and try to understand
other people without judging them easily’ and ‘It is an important asset to
accept the fact that everyone is different and everyone’s thought is differ-
ent’. Another 7th grade student commented on discrimination by saying
‘We should respect the ideas of the people and should not do discrimina-
tion. If you are discriminatory, it makes you selfish’. Another 7th grader
commented on religious discrimination as ‘We should treat all the people
in the same way even if they are from different religions’. Beside the inter-
views, the researchers observed during one of the sharing hours that stu-
dents were empathetic to other people’s sorrows and problems. During
one incidence on a newspapers article about the death of a tiny boy due
to an accident caused by negligence, a student shared her sorrow and her
anger about the people who were responsible and added that ‘these peo-
ple have no right to take the life of this boy, because they are irresponsi-
ble. I am very very sorry for him’.
Thinking and research skills
Besides developing an understanding of citizenship issues; interview data

with students and teachers and field notes showed that students improved
their thinking and research skills. Under this theme, data were grouped
under three main categories, and those were described as teamwork, high
level thinking skills, and research skills.
Under the umbrella concept, teamwork, the most frequently coded skill
was cooperation. Results revealed that students learned and practiced cooper-
ation and working together. For instance, a 6th grade student stated that
828 F. KESER ET AL.
‘during extra-curricular activities we learned working together, thinking

together and planning together. We also learned to make decisions together
with our group members’. From an affective perspective, it was also
observed that students were able to work in harmony and successfully as
teams throughout the whole data collection process. In addition to coopera-
tive skills, solidarity and task distribution also emerged in relation to teamwork.
It was observed during the sharing and guidance hours that students
were very good at team work. They could negotiate, make a division of
work, and share the task and express or present their ideas or thoughts.
High level thinking skills embody cognitive skills such as critical thinking,
problem-solving, inquiry, and comprehension. Problem-solving and critical
thinking were highly accepted by the students who thought that they had
developed a certain level of problem-solving. Students were even aware of
the fact that the aim of undertaking extra-curricular activities was ‘to
develop problem solving skills’ [6th grade student]. It was also observed
that students improved logical thinking skills as they were provided with
opportunities to think from different perspectives through empathy building
activities. Such findings yielded from the data obtained through a focus
group interview with one history and one social science teacher, four focus
group interviews with two female and three male 6th grade students and
eight female and seven male 7th grade students.
The third category, research skills, included skills such as accessing,
organizing, using, interpreting, presenting, and sharing information.
A student from the 6th grade stated that ‘We worked together as a group
on Bridge of Civilizations project and there we learnt to work together and
make decisions together. We made research on the computer and the
Internet’. Another student from the 6th grade emphasized the improve-
ment in his/her presentation skills, stating ‘Now we can easily prepare pre-
sentations on the computer, because we learnt how to do it and how to
talk while presenting’. During one focus group a 7th grade student talked
excitedly about his experience in preparing a term project with his peers
about using the Internet to reach a huge amount of sources based on their
topic of interest. During school-wide projects and exhibitions of project
artefacts such as ‘ECO Schools’ or ‘Bridge of Civilizations,’ it was also
observed that students reached a high level in all these skills in terms of
processing information. Students indicated that they were able to use the
Internet very effectively for reaching information and computers for pre-
senting and sharing their projects and papers. A 7th grader stated ‘In one
of our projects, I collected information about the history and culture and
social life of Cyprus, and I reached all the information through the Inter-
net which is the biggest aid in today’s world’. Another 7th grader described
thinking and making interpretations in the right way as a gain: ‘We learned
how to think in the right way and make interpretations in the right way’.
Interaction and intrapersonal skills
The last theme that emerged throughout the analysis was interaction and
intrapersonal skills. Findings revealed that implementing extra-curricular
activities during the formal education process was effective in improving

students’ interaction skills. Findings showed that students’ presentation skills
were especially improved along with speaking in front of an audience, stu-
dents’ listening skills, and opportunities to initiate discussions were also
improving. In terms of intrapersonal skills, the data analysis showed that
self-confidence, self-esteem, self-awareness, and creativity were among the pro-
social skills developed throughout the semester according to data obtained
from teachers and focus group interviews. The most important finding was
that students improved their self-esteem and learned to express themselves.
Self-expression was the most frequently coded intrapersonal skill based on
observation field notes from the projects and focus group interviews with
students and the document analysis of teacher evaluation report.
Similarly, a student in the focus group interview with five female 7th
grade students stated that ‘during the presentations that we made, our
communication skills improved. We learned to speak in front of other
people. We learned to draw our peers’ attention because otherwise they
could get easily bored’. Another 7th grade student explained how self-con-
fident they had become by saying that ‘Now, we can join protests to raise
our voice and to tell our ideas, if we face a problem, we can be more self-
confident as we know our rights and freedoms, we see the life in a better
way and think more logically’. A 6th grader talked about how their ability
to speak in public had improved: ‘Now, we know how to speak in public
in an effective way’.
The observations conducted in sharing hours activity and project pre-
sentations of Bridge of Civilizations, Social Sciences Fair and ECO
Schools also confirmed that students were good at expressing themselves
and formulating their thoughts and feelings. They were able to present
their ideas and proposals very effectively. They could defend their point
of view and support it with evidence. During the Bridge of Civilizations
project presentation, all of the teams observed effectively presented their
research topics and results.
Discussion and conclusions
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of extra-curricular activ-
ities in building active citizenship values and competencies in a private pri-
mary school in Ankara, Turkey. We found that students develop certain
active citizenship competencies, with certain limitations, when the school
offers extra-curricular activities that aim at building social, cultural, politi-
cal, and scientific awareness of issues going on in the country and the
world. These competencies explored throughout the case study emerged
in six categories, namely, active citizenship perceptions; social accountabil-
ity; and inter-cultural awareness; awareness of democracy and human
rights; thinking and research skills; interaction and intrapersonal skills. In-
depth examination of those competencies reported above are compatible
with three key themes of citizenship education cited in the EURYDICE
Report (2005): political literacy, critical thinking and development of
830 F. KESER ET AL.
certain attitudes and values, and active participation. We take into consid-
eration these themes in the discussion on the results of the study below.
The literature on Turkish educational policy on citizenship education,
which appeared under different names and content, shows that its main
focus has always been on building democratic citizens through a republi-
can model of citizenship to promote the common good (Keyman and
Içduygu 2005). In our findings, the political literacy component of
EURYDICE (2005) is compatible with the Turkish education policy in
this respect. For instance, we found that, in our case, the primary school
students attending 6th, 7th, and 8th grades have built knowledge about
social, political, and civic institutions in their country as well as in interna-
tional institutions i.e. NGOs (such as UNICEF or ILKYAR) through
extra-curricular activities that were mainly introduced in social sciences
fair, sharing hours, and counselling hours. Yet, we cannot attribute this
improvement solely to extra-curricular activities since learning about active
citizenship is an ongoing, dynamic, and complex process, and students
may also have increased their knowledge and skills in the family setting,
through the media or other social contexts outside their school (see Hos-
kins et al. 2008).
Although extra-curricular activities aimed at building democratic citi-
zens that could reflect the citizenship values of EU citizens, our findings
yielded similar results with earlier studies (Doğanay 2009) that partici-
pants described democratic citizenship through a conventional conception
and highlighted issues such as fulfilling responsibilities like voting, paying
taxes, and doing military service. In other words, the acquisition of social
and moral responsibility was mainly restricted to the understanding of cit-
izenship duties for the nation. Moral issues in citizenship were compara-
ble with social values that were outlined in the Turkish Constitution,
which suggests that the ultimate aim of education is the development of
generations of Turkish citizens who respect secular, democratic, and
national values. It is not only the mandated curriculum that can influence
the development of citizens, but extra-curricular activities as well can be
argued to promote ideal citizens in Turkish educational policy, which
exerts Plato’s ‘virtuous citizen’ (Keyman and İçduygu 1998) that mainly
aims to continue strong democratic values. For instance, respecting other
cultures and differences in the society and in the world are regarded as
essential foundations for a democracy that is mainly based on equality
and addresses commitment to collective solidarity (Salmoni 2004). As a
result, we may conclude that it is hard to change the dispositions of even
young citizens attending grades 6–8 despite exposure to extra-curricular
activities that seem to reinforce EU citizenship values, because building
active citizenship is an ongoing process, and one needs to internalize cer-
tain values or morals through real life experiences and what goes on in
the family or the social milieu they are surrounded with. Research
provides evidence that parental involvement in extra-curricular activities
fluctuates depending on their culture or ethnicity (Thomas et al. 2009).
Nevertheless, exposure to such processes or perspectives may contribute
to change in students’ understanding and skills of active citizenship and
touch their future as, perhaps EU citizens.
Also, we are confident through our findings that The Bridge of Civili-
zations: Anatolia Project (an EU sponsored museum project) as an extra-
curricular activity has contributed to building a strong awareness towards
the cultural and historical heritage in the sense that students felt more
responsible for the protection and maintenance of those artefacts and
more connected to their past. Through the museum project students built
awareness that culture and history are not only dependent on one’s
nation, but there is an international responsibility in understanding who
they really are and seeing their connection to other civilizations.
The next theme that was compatible with the key themes of citizen-
ship education cited in the (EURYDICE Report 2005) was thinking and
research skills that included critical thinking and development of certain atti-
tudes and values such as developing respect for oneself and others, acquir-
ing social and moral responsibility, self-confidence, gaining a sense of
solidarity, conflict resolution, environmental awareness, being aware of
differences, and respect of differences.
Lifelong learning or higher thinking skills such as critical thinking and
problem-solving were also evidenced in the case study, as these skills are
regarded as prominent in building active citizens. The participants in our
study seemed to have gained those skills based on the topics they dis-
cussed or shared within all types of team work required during the imple-
mentation of extra-curricular activities. Nevertheless, when it comes to
transfer these skills outside the school context the students feel restrictions
in practicing the knowledge they gained to the micro settings such as the
family due to their social position and their developmental age level.
The themes and sub-themes under civic awareness; awareness about
democracy and human rights, social responsibility, helping others, team-
work, respecting diversity, cooperation, problem-solving, communication
and interaction skills, and self-confidence all overlap with the first two
themes; political literacy and critical thinking and development of certain atti-
tudes and values. In this study we found that the extra-curricular activities
utilized were a means to gain an awareness of certain attitudes and values.
For instance, students admitted that they were more likely to find a differ-
ent cultural habit odd as it is not what they were used to in their domestic
lives, but they learnt that diversity was a part of the real world and that
differences were normal and that one should respect those as others
should respect theirs. For instance, in terms of being aware of differences
and respecting them, language difference was raised as a crucial compo-
nent in communicating or understanding other cultures.
Teachers, who are the key actors in all these activities, believe in the
virtue and necessity of a citizenship education. What worries them is not
being able to practice the theoretical knowledge, and they emphasize the
importance of school, family, and outer context in transforming knowl-
edge into action. Thus, culture is an important concept in enhancing the
expected active citizenship motions. Culture is not restrained to the
school environment, and family, the social milieu, and the political con-
text the children are raised in may have an influence on their visions and
practises as active citizens. According to Dewey (1944: 121) the main aim
of civic efficiency or good citizenship is about the socialization of the
832 F. KESER ET AL.
mind that is actively engaged in making experiences more communicable.

Therefore, he related culture to social efficiency, and defined it as the
‘cultivation with respect to appreciation of ideas and art and broad human
interests’. Thus, when undertaking civic education in the school context,
the culture of the school needs to reflect the civic values that educational
practitioners or policy makers want to instil on students for a uniform
European civic education culture. To do this, it is important to consider
the national culture and ‘the drive for both globalization and unification’
(Holford and Edirisingha 2000: 4).
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that students gained the
knowledge and skills about being active citizens; nevertheless, they had
difficulty in transferring those skills outside the school context. It appears
important to integrate civic education into other social sciences pro-
grammes so that students can internalize the essential skills and values
about active citizenship. Thus, schools themselves could decide about
how to reform their citizenship curricula based on a traditional notion or
a more contemporary notion (Keating et al. 2009) based on the needs of
the students, and the cultural contexts through merging extra-curricular
activities into the formal curriculum in the hope that the acquisition of
civic values will translate into active citizens.
As a conclusion, when the themes emerged are considered in terms of
three dimensions mentioned in the Learning for Active Citizenship Report
(DGXXII publication) (1998); namely, affective, cognitive and pragmatic
domains, results are similar to key themes described in the EURYDICE
report (2005). Students showed a good deal of development in cognitive
and affective domains; such as knowledge of human rights, citizenship
rights, and responsibilities. Nevertheless, sole knowledge about these may
result in a weak participation in civic activities. The 1999 IEA Civic Edu-
cation Study similarly indicated that students develop an understanding
of fundamental democratic values and institutions, but the depth of
understanding is problematic (Torney-Puerta et al. 2001). Yet Torney-
Puerta et al. (2001) do not see this tendency as a negative experience on
building active citizens; rather, they suggest that there may be a positive
correlation between civic knowledge and participation in a democratic life.
That means students with a good deal of knowledge are more likely to be
open to participate in civic activities.
The above argument is also partially supported with other research,
for instance, Hoskins et al. (2008) found that there was a positive rela-
tionship between the level of formal learning and active citizenship. In
that study, it was concluded that the more the participants were educated
up to tertiary education the more they were actively involved in civic
issues such as voting, protesting and social change, or being a member of
a political party. This finding also showed the impact of the level of
parental education as the children of the more educated parents are more
actively involved in civic activities. As such we may conclude that the level
of civic awareness through formal education may contribute to the civic
development of primary school children in the long-run, especially after
they attend tertiary education. Yet, to conclude with this argument more
longitudinal research is needed to shed light on this matter.
As discussed in the preceding sections, the purpose of education

through extra-curricular activities was to train students as conscious and
active citizens. It was found that students subjected to active citizenship
training through extra-curricular materials along with formal education
were more likely to develop the self-expression and sensitivity towards
social rules. In addition, development of pro-social skills such as empathy
building and communication; building awareness of differences and valu-
ing differences in their social milieu and ultimately in the wider society
and globe; developing sensitivity towards global values and the natural
and ecological environment through taking preliminary actions starting
within the family were found to be essential in the development of active
citizens through extra-curricular activities.
The implications of this study are 2-fold: First of all it provides an
insight into how to use extra-curricular activities to develop students as
active citizens and to evaluate the impact of extra-curricular activities to
enhance civic education. It is important to make teachers and curriculum
makers understand the importance of widening the scope of civic educa-
tion and going beyond the formal curriculum and making it a part of the
daily routines within the school context. In this respect, extra-curricular
activities based on practise and hands-on application, high level thinking
skills, communication, and creativity are essential in gaining lifelong learn-
ing skills and developing current and future active citizens. Second,
although the focus of this study does not emphasize the influence of inter-
national projects financed by the European Commission on students’
development and learning under a specific team, it provides an important
implication for further research on how a uniform European education
culture can be developed alongside local cultures; in other words, mixing
world education culture with a culturalist perception.
A limitation of our study is that the student profiles of the participants
reflect an extraordinary community whose parents are at least university
graduates and may conflict with the parental educational background lev-
els of the same age population in the entire country, where secondary
education level is limited to 58.5% of formal schooling in the entire coun-
try (TUİK 2010). Also, the school in which the case study took place is
rich in the variety of extra-curricular activities it implements. We believe
that it is right to conclude that extra-curricular activities that may seem
non-academic and social are equally as important as the formal curricu-
lum itself in helping students learn about democratic citizenship. Unfortu-
nately, such a rich environment in terms of extra-curricular activities is
non-existent in many of the private schools let alone public schools.
Therefore, it would be interesting to examine how students who are sub-
jected to a similar type of extra-curricular activities develop active citizen-
ship competencies and values in other private and public schools.
Another question to shed more light on could be how teachers see their
role in developing active citizens. One wonders to what extent the
teachers themselves are active citizens, and morally how they see their role
in instilling those values among their students. We also wonder about the
role of teacher education programmes in filling the gap of promotion of
teachers who will equip themselves and handle issues on active citizenship
834 F. KESER ET AL.
development alongside the courses they teach. All these questions will
need to be answered if our goal of building a new identity for active citi-
zenship is to be reached.
References
Abowitz, K. K. and Harnish, J. (2006) Contemporary discourses of citizenship. Review of

Educational Research, 76(4), 655–690.
Ahmad, F. (1993) The making of modern Turkey (London: Routledge).
Arthur, J. and Davies, I. (2008) Citizenship education (London: SAGE).
Banks, J. A. (2008) Diversity, group identity, and citizenship education in a global age.
Educational Researcher, 37, 129–139.
Benn, R. (2000) The genesis of active citizenship in the learning society. Studies in the
Education of Adults, 32(2), 241–257.
Biesta, G. and Lawy, R. (2006) From teaching citizenship to learning democracy: Over-
coming individualism in research, policy and practice. Cambridge Journal of Educa-
tion, 36(1), 63–79.
Birzéa, C., David Kerr, D., Mikkelsen, R., Froumin, I., Losito, B., Pol, M. and Sardoc,
M. (2004) Education for democratic citizenship activities 2001–2004: All-European study
on EDC policies (Strasbourg: Council of Europe).
Bogdan, R. C. and Biklen, S. K. (1998) Qualitative research for education: An introduction to
theory and methods (Boston: Allyn and Bacon).
Bora, T. (2003) Ders kitaplarinda milliyetcilik [Nationalism in text books]. In B. C ß otuksö-
ken, A. Erzan and O. Silier (eds), Ders kitaplarında insan hakları: Tarama sonucları
(Istanbul: Turkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı), 65–89.
Bozkır, Z. H. (2001) Formation du concept de la citoyenneté chez les élèves dans l’ens-
eignement primaire en Turquie [Formation of the concept of citizenship among
pupils in primary education in Turkey]. Istanbul: Galatasaray University. Unpub-
lished MA dissertation.
Brooks, R. (2007) Young people’s extra-curricular activities: Critical social engagement –
or ‘something for the CV’? Journal of Social Policy, 36(3), 417–434.
Campbell, D. E. (2005) Voice in the classroom: How an open classroom environment
facilitates adolescents’ civic development. CIRCLE Working paper 28. Available
online at: http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/WorkingPapers/WP28campbell.pdf,
accessed 5 August 2009.
Campbell, D. (2006) What is education’s impact on civic and social Engagement? In R.
Desjardins and T. Schuller (eds), Measuring the effects of education on health and civic
engagement. Proceedings of the Copenhagen Symposium (Paris: Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development), 25–118.
ß ayır, K. (2009) Preparing Turkey for the European Union: Nationalism, national iden-
C
tity and ‘otherness’ in Turkey’s new textbooks. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 30(1),
39–55.
ß ayır, K. and Gürkaynak, I. (2008) The state of citizenship education in Turkey: Past
C
and present. Journal of Social Science Education, 6(2), 50–58.
Caymaz, B. (2008) Citizenship education in Turkey. In A. M. Nohl, A. Akkoyunlu-Wig-
ley and S. Wigley (eds), Education in Turkey (Münster: Waxmann), 195–226.
ß elik, H. (2008) Cumhuriyet dönemi vatandasßlık eğitiminde önemli adımlar [Important
C
steps in republican period citizenship education]. SAU Fen Edebiyat Dergisi, 10(1),
359–369.
Cleaver, E. and Nelson, J. (2006) Active citizenship: from policy to practice. Education
Journal, 98, 34–37.
Creswell, J. W. (2007) Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approache
(Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications).
Creswell, J. W. and Miller, D. L. (2000) Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. The-
ory into Practice, 39(3), 124–130.
Crick, B. (2002) A note on what is and what is not active citizenship [online]. Available
online at: http://www.post16citizenship.org/files/033_BernardCrick_WHAT_IS_
CITIZENSHIP.pdf, accessed 20 July 2009.
Crick, B. (2007) Citizenship: the political and the democratic. British Journal of Educa-
tional Studies, 55(3), 235–248.
Dee, T. S. (2004) Are there civic returns to education? Journal of Public Economics, 88,
1697–1720.
Dewey, J. (1944) Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education
(London: Collier-Macmillan).
Doğanay, A. (2009) Öğretmen adaylarının vatandasßlık algısı ve eylemlerinin siyasal
toplumsallasßma bağlamında değerlendirilmesi [Evaluation of prospective teachers’
perception and practises of citizenship in the context of political socialization]. Paper
presented at 1st International Symposium on European Union, Democracy, Citizenship
and Citizenship Education, Usak, Turkey.
Doğanay, A. and Sarı, M. (2009) Lise öğrencilerinin vatandasßlık algılarına etki eden fak-
törlerin analizi [The investigation of the factors affecting high school students’ per-
ceptions of citizenship]. Paper presented at 1st International Symposium on European
Union, Democracy, Citizenship and Citizenship Education, Usak, Turkey.
ETGACE (2003) Research project report: Education and training for governance and
active citizenship in Europe. Available online at: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/politics/
ETGACE/Final-Report-Print-Version.pdf, accessed 8 August 2009.
EURYDICE (2005) Citizenship education at school in Europe. Available online at: http://
eacea.ec.europa.eu/ressources/eurydice/pdf/0_integral/055EN.pdf, accessed 18 August
2009.
GHK Report on Active Citizenship Education Study (2007) Available online at: http://ec.
europa.eu/education/pdf/doc248_en.pdf, accessed 1 August 2009.
Gök, F. (2002) Privatization in education in Turkey. In R. Nata (ed.), Progress in education
(New York: Nova Science Publishers), 149–160.
Gök, F. (2003) Vatandasßlık ve İnsan Hakları Eğitimi ders kitapları [Textbooks for Citizen-
ship and Human Rights course]. In B. C ß otuksöken, A. Erzan and O. Silier (eds),
Ders kitaplarında insan hakları: Tarama sonucları (Nisantasi: Turkiye Ekonomik ve
Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı), 158–171.
Holford, J. and Edirisingha, P. (2000) Introduction. In J. Holford and P. Edirisingha
(eds), Citizenship and governance education in Europe: A critical review of litera-
ture. Unpublished Framework 5 funded Project Report submitted to the Commis-
sion of the European Communities (Guildford: University of Surrey, UK), 1–20.
Available online at: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/politics/ETGACE/litrev-finalreport.pdf,
Hoskins, B., D’Hombres, B. and Campbell, J. (2008) Does formal education have an
impact on active citizenship behaviour? European Educational Research Journal, 7(3),
386–402.
Içduygu, A., Colak, Y. and Soyarık, N. (1999) What is the matter with citizenship? A
Turkish debate. Middle Eastern Studies, 35(4), 187–208.
Ichilov, O. (1998) Patterns of citizenship in a changing world. In O. Ichilov (ed.), Citizen-
ship and Citizenship Education in a Changing World (London: The Woburn Press),
11–27.
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement-IEA (1999) Civic
education study. Available online at: http://www.terpconnect.umd.edu/~jtpurta/,
Jansen, T., Chioncel, N. and Dekkers, H. (2006) Social cohesion and integration:
Learning active citizenship. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(2), 189–205.
Kadıoğlu, A. (2005) Can we envision Turkish citizenship as non-membership?. In F.
Keyman and A. İçduygu (eds), Citizenship in a global world: European questions and
Turkish experiences (New York: Routledge), 105–123.
Keating, A., Ortloff, D. H. and Philippou, S. (2009) Introduction: Citizenship education
curricula: the changes and challenges presented by global and European integration.
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 41(2), 145–158.
836 F. KESER ET AL.
Kennedy, K. J. (2007) Student constructions of ‘active citizenship’: What does par-

ticipation mean to students? British Journal of Educational Studies, 55(3), 304–
324.
Kepenekci, Y. K. (2005) A study of effectiveness of human rights education in Turkey.
Journal of Peace Education, 2(1), 53–68.
Keyman, F. and Içduygu, A. (1998) Turk modernlesmesi ve ulusal kimlik sorunu: Anaya-
sal vatandaslık ve demokrasi [Turkish modernization and the problem of national
identity: Constitutional citizenship and democracy]. In A. Unsal (ed.), 75 yılda
Tebaa’dan Yurttas a Dogru (Istanbul: Türkiye Is Bankasi Kultur Yayınları), 169–180.
Keyman, F. and Içduygu, A. (2005) Introduction: Citizenship, identity and the ques-
tions of democracy in Turkey. In F. Keyman and A. Içduygu (eds), Citizenship in
a global world: European questions and Turkish experiences (New York: Routledge),
1–28.
Kymlicka, W. (2001) Politics in the vernacular: Nationalism, multiculturalism, and citizenship
(NewYark: Oxford University Press).
Lawson, H. (2001) Active citizenship in schools and the community. The Curriculum Jour-
nal, 12(2), 163–178.
Learning for active citizenship (1998) Report published by European Commission. Avail-
able online at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/archive/citizen/citiz_en.html, accessed 8
August 2009.
Llewellyn, K. R., Cook, S. A. and Molina, A. (2010) Civic learning: moving from the
apolitical to the socially just. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 42(6), 791–812.
Lopes, J., Benton, T. and Cleaver, E. (2009) Young people’s intended civic and political
participation: does education matter? Journal of Youth Studies, 12(1), 1–20.
Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. (1994) An expanded source book: Qualitative data anal-
ysis, 2nd edn. (London: Sage Publications).
Milligan, K., Morettti, E. and Oreopoulos, P. (2004) Does education improve citizenship?
Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom. Journal of Public Eco-
nomics, 88, 1667–1695.
MoNE (2010) Democratic citizenship and human rights education project. Available online at:
http://projeler.meb.gov.tr/pkm1/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&lay-
out=blog&id=24&Itemid=66, accessed 15 June 2010.
Nelson, J. and Kerr, D. (2006) Active citizenship in INCA countries: definitions, policies,
practises and outcomes: Final Report. Available online at: http://inca.org.uk/pdf/
Active_citizenship_background_paper.pdf, accessed 28 June 2009.
Önür, A. and Engin, C. (1996) Is civic education in Turkish schools conducive to educa-
tion for democracy? Paper presented at the First Balkan Civitas Conference, June, Pri-
morsko, Bulgaria.
Patton, M. Q. (2002) Qualitative research and evaluation methods, 3rd edn. (Thousand
Oaks: SAGE).
Philippou, S., Keating, A. and Ortloff, D. H. (2009) Citizenship education curricula:
comparing the multiple meanings of supra-national citizenship in Europe and
beyond. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 41(2), 291–299.
Piattoeva, N. (2009) Citizenship and nationality in changing Europe: A comparative study
of the aims of citizenship education in Russian and Finnish national education pol-
icy texts. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 41(6), 723–744.
Re-Etgace (2004) The implications of the research for Central and Eastern European policy
design on active citizenship and governance—final report (Nijmegen, Radboud Univer-
sity). Available online at: http://www.socsci.kun.nl/re-etgace/RE-ETGACE_FinalRe-
port.pdf, accessed 8 August 2009.
Saha, L. J. (2001) Education and active citizenship: Prospects and issues. In J. Zajda
(ed.), Education and Society (Albert Park: James Nicholas Publishers), 13–21.
Salmoni, B. A. (2003) Turkish knowledge for a modern life: Innovative pedagogy and
nationalist substance in primary schooling, 1927–50. Turkish Studies, 4(3), 103–
144.
Salmoni, B. A. (2004) Ordered liberty and disciplined freedom: Turkish education and
republican democracy, 1923–50. Middle Eastern Studies, 40(2), 80–108.
Schulz, W., Fraillon, J., Ainley, J., Losito, B. and Kerr, D. (2008) International civic and
citizenship education study: Assessment framework. Available online at: http://iccs.acer.
edu.au/uploads/ICCS%20Assessment%20Framework/ICCS%202008%2, accessed 4
August 2009.
Sherrod, L. R., Flanagan, C. and Youniss, J. (2002) Dimensions of citizenship and oppor-
tunities for youth development: the what, why, when, where, and who of citizenship
development. Applied Developmental Science, 6(4), 264–272.
Smith, E. S. (1999) The effects of investments in the social capital of youth on political
and civic behaviour in young adulthood: A longitudinal analysis. Political Psychology,
20, 553–581.
Thomas, S., Peng, W. J. and Yee, W. C. (2009) National report on citizenship education
in English secondary school education. In J. Scheerens (ed.), Informal learning of
active citizenship at school: An international comparative study in seven European coun-
tries (Springer: Enschede), 105–151.
Torney-Puerta, J., Lehmann, R., Oswald, H. and Schulz, W. (2001) Citizenship and educa-
tion in twenty-eight countries: Civic knowledge and engagement at age fourteen.
Amsterdam: IEA. Available online at: http://inca.org.uk/pdf/Active_Citizen-
ship_Report.pdf, accessed 18 August 2009.
TUİK (2010) Turkish Statistical Institute, Educational statistics. Available online at: http://
www.tuik.gov.tr/Gosterge.do?metod=GostergeListe&tb_id=14&ust_id=5, accessed
20 August 2010.
Üstel, F. (2004) Makbul vatandasßın pesßinde [In search for the desirable citizen] (Istanbul:
Iletisßim yayınları).
Vardar, D. (2005) European Union-Turkish relations and the question of citizenship. In
F. Keyman and A. Içduygu (eds), Citizenship in a global world: European questions
and Turkish experiences (New York: Routledge), 87–102.
Veldhuis, R. (1997) Education for democratic citizenship: Dimensions of citizenship, core com-
petencies, variables and international activities, Strasbourg, Council of Europe, Doc-
DECS/CIT (97)23. Available online at: http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/
ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/17/96/4, accessed 5 August 2009.
Yiğittir, S. (2007) İlköğretim 7. Sınıf vatandasßlık ve insan hakları eğitimi dersinin gerçe-
klesßme düzeyi. Milli Eg˘itim, 173, 293–303.
Yıldırım, A. and Şimsßek, H. (2008) Sosyal bilimlerde nitel arasßtirma yo¨ntemleri (Ankara:
Seçkin Yayınevi).
Yılmaz, A., Şahin, C. T. and Bengiç, G. (2009) İlköğretim öğrencilerin devlet, vatandasß,
ve insan hakları kavramlarına ilisßkin algıları [Primary school students’ perceptions
related to concepts of state, citizen, and human rights]. Paper presented at 1st
International Symposium on European Union, Democracy, Citizenship and Citizenship
Education, Usak, Turkey.
Yin, R. K. (2009) Case study research: design and methods (Los Angeles: Sage Publications).
Youniss, J., McLellan, J. A., Su, Y. and Yates, M. (1999) The role of community service
in identity development: Normative, unconventional, and deviant orientations.
Journal of Adolescent Research, 14, 248–261.
Zaff, J. F., Moore, K. A., Papillo, A. R. and Williams, S. (2003) Implications of extracur-
ricular activity participation during adolescence on positive outcomes. Journal of
Adolescent Research, 18(6), 599–630.
Copyright of Journal of Curriculum Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or
emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.
However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
View publication stats

Keser Akar Yildirim 2011

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Keser Akar Yildirim 2011

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

Role of extracurricular activities in active citizenship education.

Article in Curriculum Studies · December 2011

Learning and Innovation Spaces for Continuing Education View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

The role of extracurricular activities in active

FILIZ KESER, HANIFE AKAR and ALI YILDIRIM

Keywords: extra-curricular activities; citizenship education; active citizenship

Citizenship education has increasingly become a hot issue in educational,

Filiz Keser (Corresponding author) is a PhD candidate in the Educational Sciences

Lopes et al. 2009). This increase may be attributed to rapid global

students’ active citizenship values and competencies in a private primary

Formal schooling and citizenship education

Learning about citizenship and becoming an active citizen is indeed a

complex, multidirectional and in some cases contradictory. In terms of the

The Turkish case

History of citizenship education in Turkey dates back to the foundation

more holistic perspective according to a new ‘constructivist’ curriculum.

Research on citizenship education in Turkey

Research on citizenship education in schools in Turkey reflects crucial

transformation includes finding out alternative ways to build active citi-

This is a qualitative case study evaluating the role of extra-curricular

Our case is a private primary school providing education from Level 0 to

Extracurricular activities, as defined by this research, are part of the non-

Participants of this study were teachers, counsellors, and students who

On-going projects, counselling hours, and sharing hours were observed

dimensions were: the description of the activity (including aims, sum-

Focus group interviews with students

Table 1. Data sources used in the data collection process.

group interviews lasted for an average of 30 minutes and were

Interviews with practitioners

In addition to interviews, Social Sciences teachers and counsellors were

In this qualitative study, triangulation, thick descriptions, persistent obser-

Figure 1. Six blossoms of extra-curricular activities in active citizenship

(see figure 1, namely, active citizenship perception; social accountability;

Active citizenship perception

Students’ perception of ‘active citizenship’ was mainly based on five pil-

People who vote can be called as active citizens.

citizen behaviour’ clearly indicates a task-based conceptualization of

Social accountability and civic awareness

Findings from data sources indicated that extra-curricular activities

Awareness of democracy and human rights

Results of the analysis of classroom observations during sharing hours and

Analysis of different sources of data revealed that extra-curricular activi-

Thinking and research skills

Besides developing an understanding of citizenship issues; interview data

‘during extra-curricular activities we learned working together, thinking

Interaction and intrapersonal skills

activities during the formal education process was effective in improving

Discussion and conclusions

mind that is actively engaged in making experiences more communicable.

As discussed in the preceding sections, the purpose of education

Abowitz, K. K. and Harnish, J. (2006) Contemporary discourses of citizenship. Review of

Kennedy, K. J. (2007) Student constructions of ‘active citizenship’: What does par-

View publication stats

You might also like