Collaborative learning in politics: creating spaces for political socialization in the classroom

Abstract

Political socialization describes the process by which citizens crystallize political identities, values and behaviour that remain relatively persistent throughout their lives (Neundorf and Smets, 2017). This paper analyses the change in attitudes towards politics in university students pursuing a communication degree after applying collaborative learning experiences among students in the first-year political science course and students in the second-year journalistic genres course. This is the result of an educational innovation project implemented at the University Loyola Andalucía, in Spain. The collaboration among students is aimed at establishing a collective blog about concepts and current political issues intended for high school students. The effects of the project on the attitudes towards politics among the university students involved are measured through a mixed methodology. On the one hand, a survey based on the IEA Civic Education Study questionnaire (Schulz and Sibberns, 2004) was administered both before and after the project of educational innovation was implemented. On the other hand, focus groups were also conducted in both referred moments. Our teaching experience informs us about how to create spaces for political socialization in a context characterized by a low level of interest in politics among young people.