Civic Education Research Lab successfully completed

The Civic Education Research Lab (CERL) was launched in October 2024 with the aim of examining the role of school-related factors in the political socialization of young people through secondary data analysis and of fostering greater collaboration among researchers in the field of political education through joint events. After a duration of one and a half years, the project—funded by the College for Social Science and Humanities—concluded in mid-April. The lab was jointly initiated and implemented by Dr. Pascal Alscher and Dr. Elisabeth Graf (IFS) as well as Dr. Daniel Deimel (University of Duisburg-Essen).

The accompanying event series kicked off with a keynote event in Essen featuring presentations by Professor Jan Germen Janmaat (University College London) and Professor Laura Wray-Lake (University of California, Los Angeles). Following a workshop on secondary data analysis using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), the series concluded in March with an online symposium. The events generated considerable interest within the interdisciplinary research community and clearly demonstrated the strong presence of researchers from the Ruhr region in the field of civic education.

The Research Lab’s work focuses, on the one hand, on classroom dynamics during discussions of political and social issues in schools and on social inequalities in civic education. In addition to presentations in its own event series, the research was and will also be presented at national and international conferences (AERA, GEBF, ECER). The collaborations and research initiatives launched within the framework of the Lab will be continued and further expanded beyond the project’s duration.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the College for Social Science and Humanities for funding and supporting the research projects and activities!

Further information: Civic Education Research Lab (CERL)