The Case of Cyprus and Germany. Results of the IEA Civic Education Study

Abstract

This paper explores how democratic values are stimulated by predictors related to family and school. We began by posing a simple question: How can we best explain students' democratic values in relation to their home backgrounds, school-class climate, political environment, political interest and participation of students in social activities? To answer this, we chose to elaborate on a model comparing various background factors. Both models (cf. figures 2 and 3) seem to indicate that school climate has a huge effect on political environment and political interest. Here, political environment has a stronger effect on social participation than political interest. Although Germany and Cyprus have many differences, the actual models for both countries are almost identical.