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Education for Youth Civic and Political Action in Australia

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Abstract

Surveying and synthesizing existing theoretical and empirical literature, this chapter examines education for youth civic and political action in Australia. Recognizing the concern of developing greater levels of active citizenship is a core goal of education and youth policy in Australia, the chapter examines various central issues that impact on and shape the civic and political activism of young Australians. While not ignoring policy discourses and provisions, the chapter takes as its main focus a range of empirical studies – predominantly published over the last 10 years – which explore how young people’s civic and political activism is interpreted, enacted, and experienced in practice. As such, the chapter analyzes several key considerations regarding educating for youth civic and political action in Australia: the changing patterns of youth participation, barriers to participation for disadvantaged and marginalized youth, why youth participate, the role and use of new technologies, and key tenets of effective practice. In the conclusion, the main arguments are summarized, and some areas for further research are identified.

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Acknowledgments

Andrew Peterson wishes to acknowledge the support offered through a funded Leverhulme International Network project (IN2016-002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

    Andrew Peterson

  2. Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Rosalyn Black

  3. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Lucas Walsh

Authors
  1. Andrew Peterson
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  2. Rosalyn Black
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  3. Lucas Walsh
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew Peterson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Canterbury Christ Church University , Canterbury, United Kingdom

    Andrew Peterson

  2. School of Education, University of South Australia , Mawson Lakes, South Australia, Australia

    Garth Stahl

  3. School of Education, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, Australia

    Hannah Soong

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Peterson, A., Black, R., Walsh, L. (2018). Education for Youth Civic and Political Action in Australia. In: Peterson, A., Stahl, G., Soong, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Citizenship and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67905-1_7-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67905-1_7-1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-67905-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-67905-1

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