Dr Jennifer Farrar, Dr Sarah Anderson, Prof. Stephen McKinney and A. Britton published the project report on barriers and opportunities in developing youth political literacy. The report is available at: https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/315863/ and the full reference for the report is:

Farrar, J. , Eichorn, J., Britton, A., Anderson, S. K. and McKinney, S. (2023) Developing Politically Literate Young Citizens in Scottish Education: Barriers and Opportunities. Project Report. University of Glasgow, UK.

This research reports on a small-scale study involving student and newly qualified Modern Studies teachers in Scotland. Funded by the Gordon Cook Foundation, it was carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh, and Education Scotland. The team worked with a cohort of student teachers destined for Modern Studies classrooms to explore the extent to which they felt equipped to educate young people in political literacy. We tracked their experiences into schools, both during their PGDE and probationary years, to examine their perceptions of the opportunities and barriers that may exist at a curricular and/or structural level in schools, or in the wider educational or social and political system. While small in scale, the use of a survey and focus groups within a staggered sequence across 18 months yielded rich data that provides key insights into the role and potential of Modern Studies as a secondary subject, and the potential role of Modern Studies teachers in fostering political literacy and understandings related to citizenship education in children and young people.

First published: 15 February 2024

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