Abstract
Political tolerance, defined as the willingness to extend civil rights to other groups in society, is considered a requirement for peaceful coexistence in modern societies. Deliberative democratic theory argues that deliberation can positively influence political tolerance. Within a school environment, discussions on controversial issues are believed to stimulate tolerance amongst adolescents. As previous research offers contradictory findings on the effect of classroom discussions on students’ tolerance towards immigrants, this paper takes into account the context in which such discussions take place. We argue that a context of both mutual respect and responsiveness towards student demands is crucial to boosting levels of tolerance amongst adolescents. Using the Belgian (Flemish) sample of ICCS 2009 and 2016 in multilevel path models, we find that the discussion climate itself is not significantly related to tolerance towards immigrants when the school context of respect and responsiveness is taken into account. Based on the results of this article, schools should focus more on making students feel respected and equally treated, and on giving young people the chance to participate in the schools’ policy and organization to positively influence political tolerance among students.
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Notes
The items questioning students about their support for equal rights for immigrant are included in the international student questionnaire in 2009, but in the regional European questionnaire in 2016. The average score of Belgium (Flanders) is therefore compared to the European average of the countries participating in both cycles, not the international average.
Of the twelve countries participating in both ICCS cycles (2009 and 2016), a significant change in national average scores was found in seven countries. Three countries had a positive significant change—i.e. Belgium (Flanders), Norway and Sweden—and four countries a significant negative change—i.e. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The average score of 50 is for the entire international dataset, comprising data of 38 countries in 2009 and 24 countries in 2016. For scales included in both cycles, the average of 50 refers to the 2009 cycle. Therefore, the average scores in 2016 might deviate from 50, indicating an increase or decrease of the international average compared to the scores in 2009. The psychometric characteristics of the scales are tested and validated internationally (Schulz et al. 2009).
Since we use the ICCS 2009 sample as the basis of our analyses, we refer to the Cronbach’s alphas of the measurements based on the 2009 data. The results of the 2016 cycle are very comparable. In the remainder of the paper, the descriptive information of the data (e.g. variances) also refer to the 2009 sample. In “Appendix”, all details of the variables for both cycles are listed.
Next to affecting sentiments towards immigrants, classroom diversity could also moderate the frequency of classroom discussions. Evidence from the US shows that racial diversity corresponds to less classroom discussion, which in turn negatively affected students’ civic engagement (Campbell 2007). Therefore, we also controlled for possible interaction effects of the share of immigrants with classroom discussions, student–teacher relations, and value of student participation. However, none of these interactions were significant. The results of this supplementary analyses are available upon request.
The results of these supplementary analyses (i.e. the moderations and the causally reversed mediation) are available upon request.
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Appendix
Appendix
Descriptive statistics—ICCS 2009
n | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | SD | Missing (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Equal rights for immigrants | 2575 | 18.48 | 68.89 | 45.12 | 8.47 | 0.4 |
Open classroom climate | 2581 | 14.83 | 78.98 | 49.03 | 8.70 | 0.2 |
Student–teacher relations | 2582 | 17.62 | 73.53 | 48.75 | 8.66 | 0.1 |
Value of student participation | 2582 | 15.18 | 69.83 | 49.67 | 9.14 | 0.1 |
Student gender (girl = 1) | 2573 | 0 | 1 | 0.49 | 0.50 | 0.5 |
Expected years of education | 2538 | 0 | 9 | 6.52 | 2.09 | 1.8 |
Open classroom climate school mean | 151 | 35.89 | 59.58 | 49.27 | 3.57 | 0 |
Student–teacher relations school mean | 151 | 39.43 | 57.20 | 48.87 | 3.48 | 0 |
Value of student part. school mean | 151 | 41.99 | 57.57 | 49.55 | 2.89 | 0 |
Percentage immigrants school | 151 | 0.00 | 88.89 | 12.40 | 17.49 | 0 |
Descriptive statistics—ICCS 2016
n | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | SD | Missing (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Equal rights for immigrants | 2423 | 20.35 | 66.71 | 46.47 | 7.91 | 0.6 |
Open classroom climate | 2429 | 16.67 | 78.16 | 49.03 | 8.53 | 0.3 |
Student–teacher relations | 2432 | 18.78 | 71.68 | 51.49 | 8.39 | 0.2 |
Value of student participation | 2430 | 17.22 | 68.37 | 49.45 | 8.36 | 0.3 |
Student gender (girl = 1) | 2437 | 0 | 1 | 0.47 | 0.50 | 0.5 |
Expected years of education | 2410 | 0 | 9 | 7.41 | 2.44 | 1.1 |
Open classroom climate school mean | 162 | 40.01 | 58.67 | 49.70 | 3.15 | 0 |
Student–teacher relations school mean | 162 | 41.75 | 60.82 | 51.37 | 3.11 | 0 |
Value of student part. school mean | 162 | 42.16 | 57.42 | 49.49 | 2.36 | 0 |
Percentage immigrants school | 162 | 0.00 | 91.67 | 12.33 | 14.39 | 0 |
Correlations—ICCS 2009
Variables | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Equal right for immigrants | 1 | 0.101 | 0.031 | 0.081 | – | – |
2. Open classroom climate | 0.120 | 1 | 0.420 | 0.301 | – | – |
3. Student–teacher relations | 0.200 | 0.235 | 1 | 0.181 | – | – |
4. Value of stud participation | 0.194 | 0.129 | 0.143 | 1 | – | – |
5. Gender (girl) | 0.154 | 0.166 | 0.048 | 0.023 | 1 | – |
6. Expected years of education | 0.023 | 0.035 | 0.001 | 0.097 | 0.020 | 1 |
Correlations—ICCS 2016
Variables | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Equal right for immigrants | 1 | 0.314 | 0.218 | 0.180 | – | – |
2. Open classroom climate | 0.071 | 1 | 0.079 | 0.472 | – | – |
3. Student–teacher relations | 0.178 | 0.172 | 1 | 0.066 | – | – |
4. Value of stud. participation | 0.175 | 0.188 | 0.200 | 1 | – | – |
5. Gender (girl) | 0.084 | 0.096 | 0.066 | − 0.008 | 1 | – |
6. Expected years of education | 0.019 | 0.066 | 0.024 | 0.093 | 0.052 | 1 |
Direct and indirect effects via open classroom climate on equal rights for immigrants—ICCS 2009
Student–teacher relations | Value of student participation | Student–teacher relations school | Value of student participation school | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Total effect | 0.161*** | 0.149*** | 0.169* | 0.206** |
Direct effect | 0.155*** | 0.147*** | 0.141 | 0.186* |
Indirect effect | 0.006 | 0.003 | 0.028 | 0.020 |
Direct and indirect effects via open classroom climate on equal rights for immigrants—ICCS 2016
Student–teacher relations | Value of student participation | Student–teacher relations school | Value of student participation school | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Total effect | 0.144*** | 0.147*** | 0.206 | 0.166 |
Direct effect | 0.142*** | 0.145*** | 0.193 | 0.034 |
Indirect effect | 0.002 | 0.002 | 0.013 | 0.132 |
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Maurissen, L., Barber, C. & Claes, E. Classroom discussions and political tolerance towards immigrants: the importance of mutual respect and responsiveness. Acta Polit 55, 242–266 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-018-0114-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-018-0114-0