Education for citizenship: a narrative review of civic education programs and pedagogical approaches

Over the past two decades, many civic education programs have been developed and implemented worldwide at all school levels, offering insight into what it means to be a good citizen today. The history of civics in schools corresponds to an increasing interest in the subject by major supranational institutions for the development and empowerment of children and young people’s growing participation. At the same time, scientific production has seen a new impetus regarding the theme of education and democracy, which has characterized the pedagogical debate since the beginning of the 20th century. Duty of schools is therefore not only to teach the constitutional structure of each country, but also to improve those competences needed to design their identity as citizens, such as responsibility, creativity, communication, respect for otherness, and the ability to choose, becoming the philosophical underpinning for a teaching pedagogy that engages students in active, creative, and critical ways, given the importance of pleasure, self-realization, and desire in citizenship education. The aim of the paper will be therefore that of putting in dialogue some of the main theoretical assumptions and objectives of the scientific literature, analyzed through a narrative review on the theme, with the design and implementation of various school projects as presented in international scientific events to highlight specific aspects of educational practice while maintaining a broad pedagogical gaze on citizenship.