Development of civic identity in young people through education: Cross-cultural analysis

Abstract

Development of civic identity in youth is one of the crucial tasks of the education system. Modern education in general faces serious challenges related to the formation of social and civic identities in the younger generation. The purpose of this article is to conduct a theoretical and methodological analysis of the phenomenon of civic identity, to determine the main characteristics of its formation and to formulate the main directions of development. We present a theoretical analysis of the concepts ‘civic education’ and ‘civic identity’ as polyscientific and interdisciplinary categories, which are used as the basis to identify several directions of research on civic identity. The content of the article substantiates the need for further scientific development of the studied phenomenon on the basis of psychological and pedagogical methodology. We consider the issues of the civic identity formation in cross-cultural studies, including in Serbian scientific literature. Based on the theoretical analysis of the research, we identified the main criteria for the formation of civil identity, which make it possible to develop new educational technologies for the formation and development of civil identity in modern youth and to introduce them into the educational process. In conclusion, the article notes that the process of civil self-determination of young people is a strategically important goal in shaping the security of the Russian and Serbian states. A special role and mission to implement the methods of civic identity development is assigned to the teacher. Of course, to implement educational methods, it is necessary, first of all, to work with the teaching staff, with the civic consciousness of the teacher as a specialist shaping the social health of the country’s future generations.