Chapter 11C: Contrasting Landscapes: A Reply to Parker

I feel honored to offer a response to Professor Parker’s paper from a nonU.S. perspective. One could say a “European” perspective, but Europe is a highly diversified continent; the differences across the 50 European states are enormous. This applies, of course, to their social conditions, political stability, and democratic experience. It is also true with regard to their education systems. I can say that the goal of greater depth in civic education is shared by civic educators in Europe; the actualization of that goal will require an appreciation for Europe’s underlying complexities. As a response to Mr. Parker’s, then, I shall reflect on some issues that affect the conceptualization of civic education based on European circumstances. They inform the foundation on which the purposes and curriculum are based. I shall briefly touch on the old European problem with the terminology of the subject, and then focus on research priorities for citizenship education as carried out by the European Union’s Education Agency on the status of citizenship education in Europe.