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Does E urope Matter? A Comparative Study of Young People's Identifications with E urope at a State School and a E uropean School in E ngland
Author(s) -
Savvides Nicola,
Faas Daniel
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european journal of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1465-3435
pISSN - 0141-8211
DOI - 10.1111/ejed.12127
Subject(s) - ethos , curriculum , citizenship , political science , sociology , comparative education , ethnic group , pedagogy , gender studies , social science , higher education , law , politics
This article explores the extent to which young people in predominantly middle‐class environments identify with E urope and considers the influence of E uropean education policy, school ethos and curricula. We compare data drawn from individual and focus group interviews with students aged 15–17 at a state school and a E uropean School in E ngland. The empirical analysis was informed by post‐structuralism and found that young people at both schools developed multidimensional, multifaceted identities. Students at the E uropean School, which has an ethos of developing both national and E uropean identities, identified themselves more as E uropean than their peers at the state school, which integrated students on the basis of a common B ritish citizenship. The findings suggest that the policy on the E uropean dimension in education contributes towards developing students’ identification with E urope and to their knowledge of E urope, though not at the expense of their ethnic and national identities, which were stronger than their E uropean identities. Lack of a E uropean dimension in education (both in and out of school) seems to result in a lack of identification with and knowledge about E urope.