Belonging and social participation: The role of education in perceptions of belonging and experience of citizenship in Spanish youth

Abstract

Social participation and citizenship are key components of living in democracy. Citizenship, to different extents, is part of school curriculums as a means of building an engaging and participatory population. In Spain, fulfilling the democratic principles of participation are key to the objective of education, however, when looking at recent elections, participation rates in Spain barely exceed 50% of the voting census. The lack in participation can be due to a number of reasons, nonetheless, regarding Spain’s multiple regional identities and social groups, it is clear that regions with stronger regional identity show higher percentages of participation. By comparing teenager’s perception and experience of what it means to belong to a society, this thesis examines the constructions of belonging to understand how one learns to belong, national identities are made and how these affect social participation in Spanish youth. Through a qualitative research consisting of semi-structured interviews to high school students in the regions of Catalonia and Andalusia, young people’s perception of what it means to belong was gathered to understand its significance in social participation. The respondent’s perceptions of belonging to different social groups pointed how individual identities are constructed through symbolic interactionism and, in performing and engaging, one’s belonging is reinforced. Strong sense of belonging was therefore present when an individual’s role in a social group is strongly delineated and specific. As social groups become larger and more abstract, such as that of a national collective identity, the role of the individual becomes blurred and participation diminishes. The study looks into informal and formal education and the role they play in making this sense of belonging, or citizenship, and the implications education has in the fulfilment of a democratic society. As fulfilling the democratic principles is core to the education’s objective in Spain, one must criticize the current curriculum as it lacks a capability approach for building a population or participatory citizens.