The Making of Civic Virtues: A School-Based Experiment in Three Countries
Présenté par : Simon Briole Center for Environmental Economics (Montpellier, France) ; Discutant : Léonard Moulin (Ined)
Résumé
With the rise of polarization and extremism, the question of how best to transmit civic virtues across generations is more acute than ever. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that schools can be the place for this transmission by empowering students and gathering them around concrete and democratically chosen objectives. We draw on an RCT implemented in a large sample of middle schools in three European countries. The evaluated program leads students to carry out collective citizenship projects in their immediate communities under the supervision of teachers trained in student-centered teaching methods. The program significantly increases student altruism, their political self-efficacy as well as the quality of their relationship with their classmates and their respect for the rules of school life (less sanctions and absenteeism). In all three countries, the benefits are greater for students with the highest level of altruism and interest in politics at baseline. Investments made at an early age appear to be complement to those made during adolescence for the production of civic virtues.
Biographie de Simon Briole
Simon Briole is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Environmental Economics of the University of Montpellier and a Research Affiliate of the Paris School of Economics Chaire Travail. He received his Ph.D. in economics from EHESS.
He is an applied microeconomist specialized in public policy evaluation. His thesis dissertation studies human capital formation and his research broadly focuses on how to address inequalities in education, health and the labor market.