Citizenship education for the 21st century: Research and findings from the citizenship education policy study (CEPS)

This first panel of a three-part symposium on Citizenship Education for the 21st Century will focus upon the conduct and findings of the nine-nation Citizenship Education Policy Study (CEPS) conducted between 1993-1997. This study involved 26 researchers working with 182 policy experts from the nine participating nations to examine emerging global trends over the next 25 years which would impact the daily lives of citizens. These policy shapers in Japan, Thailand, England, Germany, Greece, Hungary, The Netherlands, Canada and the United States of America identified the key global trends, the citizen characteristics required to cope with and/or respond to these trends and the requisite educational strategies, innovations or approaches to develop the necessary characteristics. This was done through a modified Cultural Futures Delphi method. The conduct of the study, the key findings and the newly formed concept of Multidimensional Citizenship which emerged from the study findings and recommendations will be reported on in this first Symposia by members of three of the four research teams.