The relative importance of the school in influencing conception of citizenship: A comparative study (1997-2000) of the perception of student teachers experiencing different modes of citizenship education

Citizenship education has become a much emphasized area in the curriculum in many countries at the turn of the century. There was the experimentation of different modes of citizenship education. This study compared the perception of two groups of student teachers who had experienced different modes of citizenship education since childhood. There were interviews from 1997 to 2000 of two groups of student teachers each numbered about 45. One was from a teacher education institute in Hong Kong and the other was from a teacher education institute in South China. In the Hong Kong case, the qualitative data was triangulated with quantitative survey data collected annually from 1997 to 1999 of samples numbered about 270. Findings revealed that in spite of the different modes of citizenship education , student teachers agreed that the school was an important agent in influencing their conception of citizenship. However, the relative impact of the school depended on a number of random factors like the type of ethos of the school and the type of teachers students happened to be exposed to. Moreover, there existed other socializing agents that either played more important or equal important roles in shaping conception of citizenship. Implication on curriculum development and modes of citizenship education were discussed.