VET and citizenship education: Guest lectures and public debate

Conceptions of citizenship education are always constituted by ideals about how a community ought to be. In pluralist democracies, the politics of citizenship education are thus bound to be controversial. For Switzerland, the question of citizenship education and its relationship to Europe arises in a specific manner. On the one hand, Switzerland is strongly intertwined with Europe, socially, culturally, economically and scientifically. And at the other hand, it shapes - also in education - its own tradition sometimes by adopting, sometimes by clearly distinguishing itself from European developments.

An initial lecture by Dr. Margot Joris will provide an introduction on the state of research on citizenship education policy in Europe and respective activities on a European scope. This European perspective is complemented by a contribution from Prof. em. Dr. Philipp Gonon on the importance of citizenship education in the development of the VET system in Switzerland as we know it today.

A joint discussion with the audience will provide the opportunity to discuss issues around citizenship education from a broader perspective and open up an (internal) two-day workshop of historians of education to elaborate on contested ideals of citizenship education in Europa.

Students and researcher within SFUVET as well as other actors in VET research and politics are warmly welcome to participate. Streaming of the presentations will be available upon request (the link will be sent before the event).

Participation is free of charge. Lecture will be held 9 November 2023 in room 214, SFUVET, Zollikofen