Only 36% of eighth graders declare that other people can be trusted. This is very bad news. The crucial importance of trust for the level of social capital and, more broadly, for the functioning of democracy should prompt us to double our efforts to reverse this trend.
Only 36% of eighth graders declare that other people can be trusted. This is very bad news. The crucial importance of trust for the level of social capital and, more broadly, for the functioning of democracy should prompt us to double our efforts to reverse this trend.
The results of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2022 shed new light on the civic knowledge and skill of young people from more than 20 countries around the world. Poland is among the countries where eighth graders achieved the highest scores in knowledge and understanding of civic issues. At the same time, the study reveals young Poles’ critical attitude toward the political system and politics, as well as low trust in other people and institutions (including schools!).
ICCS is a comparative study, involving 22 countries and two German states. In Poland, it was carried out among eighth-grade students, with data also collected from teachers and principals. ICCS provides a unique insight into the state of civic education in Poland, and the findings should serve as a basis for designing changes that will strengthen civic education in Polish schools.
Civic education is the key area of interest and activity for us at the Center for Civic Education so we analyze these results and draw conclusions and recommendations from this study for our work.
Polish schools do a good job of explaining to young people the mechanisms that govern the social and political world. This has not changed since the previous studies conducted in 1999 and 2009. Polish eighth graders achieved one of the highest scores in the test of civic knowledge and understanding. Only Taiwan and Sweden ranked ahead, with Estonia equal to Poland. Traditionally, girls scored better than boys. Polish students found questions related to global issues and open-ended questions more difficult. A distinctive feature of civic education in Poland is, as it turns out, the discussion of current social and political issues in class.
Polish students are democrats—three out of four consider democracy the best form of government—but they stand out among their peers in other countries with a very critical attitude toward the political system and politicians. Interestingly, the more knowledge they have on this topic, the more critically they evaluate politics. Polish Eighth graders also stand out for their distrust of the government, parliament, and political parties. Trust in these institutions is the lowest among institutions that have been listed, and compared to 2009, it has dropped further. One can speak of a large and steadily growing political alienation among young people.
Most troubling is the very low generalized trust among surveyed students—only 36% of eighth graders in Poland declare that other people can be trusted—down by as much as 22 percentage points since 2009 (from 58%). This is very bad news. The crucial importance of trust for the level of social capital and, more broadly, for the functioning of democracy should prompt us to double our efforts to reverse this trend.
Trust in schools among Polish teenagers is also low; only 45% of students trust them, which is the lowest score among the surveyed countries. This result corresponds to the critical perception students have of school relationships—both those between students and teachers and among students themselves. Forty-five percent of students disagree that most students in their school treat each other with respect, and 39% do not believe that students get along well with most of their teachers. In this area, Polish students’ responses are also more critical than those of their peers in other countries. Thus, it can be said that Polish schools are often not perceived by eighth graders as institutions that can be trusted or as communities where good relationships prevail.
Polish national identity and pride in living in Poland among eighth graders are not threatened. They are certainly not endangered by European identity (also common among Polish teenagers) and identification with the European Union. The stronger students’ national identity, the stronger their European identity as well—sense of belonging to different communities reinforce each other, they are not in competition.
National and European identities are stronger than the sense of belonging to the global community. Global issues are rarely addressed in Polish civic education; this perspective is less significant for both students and teachers. Over time, this may become a challenge, as global interdependencies—such as migration and climate issues—will increasingly affect societies. It is therefore worthwhile to supplement civic education in schools with this context already.
For young people, equality, non-discrimination, and human rights are more are more and more important. Most surveyed eighth graders in Poland support principles related to gender equality and rights for migrants (results are higher than in 2009). Engagement in human rights activities is most often indicated by Polish youth as a behavior required of a good citizen.
Between 2009 and 2022, significant changes occurred in young people’s attitudes toward religion and its place in social and public life. Religion is no longer a key point of reference for young people in Poland—less than half of respondents declare that religion should regulate social life. The picture of advancing secularization of Polish youth is reinforced by comparison with other countries: in 2009, Poland was among the countries where religion played the greatest role, while today we are in the group where it matters the least.
Student self-government is the most widespread form of civic education in practice and civic engagement at school. In Poland, self-government is based mainly on electoral practices (student council elections), which, however, are not sufficient to give students a sense of influence on school matters—other forms of student participation in decision-making are much rarer.
Perhaps the prevalence of electoral participation at school level is related to the widespread declaration of voting after the age of 18 (as many as 86% of eighth graders make such a declaration). One might already say that among young people, voting is becoming a new binding social norm.
Polish students show average civic engagement outside school compared to other countries, but they stand out positively in volunteering. Almost three out of five eighth graders have such experience—the highest result among the surveyed countries. This may be the evidence of social awareness, but it may also be a consequence of awarding extra points for volunteering in secondary school admissions. It is also encouraging that as many as 77% of students declare they will engage in helping others in their local community in the future. This is a great potential.
Polish eighth graders stand out for their interest in politics and social issues, and they quite often seek information about them in the media (still more often on television than online). Interestingly, Polish students in comparison with other countries are among those who trust traditional media the least and social media the most. At the same time, more than one-third of students say they do not feel well prepared to assess the credibility of information about politics. This situation is troubling, given the risks associated with uncritical use of social media.
It is encouraging that the vast majority of young people are optimistic about their future—especially regarding the prospect of finding stable and interesting work. When it comes to life aspirations, the most important for eighth graders are finding a job they enjoy, financial independence, and a salary adequate to their qualifications. Marriage is indicated less often, and having children ranks last in terms of number of responses. Both marriage and having children are more often considered important by boys than by girls.
Responses from surveyed teachers indicate that civic education in Polish schools is conducted in a fairly traditional way, tied to the curriculum, focused on knowledge and simple subject skills. This happens contrary to teachers’ intentions, as they also consider developing students’ competencies (e.g., critical thinking) and supporting young people’s civic activity equally important.
At a more general level, the data show that Polish youth are changing in similar ways to their peers in other countries: their political alienation is deepening, youth are rapidly secularizing, and beliefs about equal rights for various social groups, including those at risk of exclusion, are spreading. Schools, as just one of many environments of youth socialization, are not able on their own to reverse any of the negative trends of change. They are also hindered by a rigid curriculum, which forces teachers to focus on memorizing information, leaving little time for practical forms of education.
The data collected in the study allow for the formulation of several concrete recommendations—directions for strengthening civic education:
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