Citizenship Education and Political Literacy in Hungary According to Hungarian Non-Governmental Organizations Focusing On Citizenship Education

Abstract

Through citizenship education, countries try to provide individuals with the desired knowledge, skills and values. Although curriculums are prepared for this purpose, deficiencies may occur in practice because of various reasons. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) interested in education can also contribute to completing these deficiencies. The European Union also supports the work of NGOs in this direction. It’s understood that citizenship participation in Hungary, a member of the European Union, is less than other member countries. In this context, this research aimes to reveal the views of NGOs -interested in citizenship education in Hungary- regarding citizenship education and political literacy. In this study, an example of a case study from qualitative research designs, the opinions of members of NGOs working on citizenship education were taken within the scope of a purposeful sample. The data were analyzed by content analysis. As a result of the research, it’s seen that members of various NGOs organize educational and awareness-raising activities for students and teachers. According to them, citizenship education isn’t carried out at an adequate level in Hungary. So, it’s thought that political literacy, one of the basic elements of citizenship education, should be included in the program. But, it has also been concluded that political literacy is handled more with the knowledge dimension. Key Words: Citizenship education, Hungarian non-governmental organizations, political literacy