Litt (1970) Civic Education, Community Norms, and Political Indoctrination

educational systems indoctrinate students to be good citizens. But this indoctrination differs from society to society (within the US). how do different socio-economic communities affect indoctrination efforts? i.e. textbooks selected/attitudes and norms differ...

Litt, “Civic Education, Community Norms, and Political Indoctrination.”
Since political indoctrination is not uniform, the author aims at examining the factors influencing political indoctrination.
Sample: Youths from secondary schools in each of three communities in Boston with different socioeconomic and political characteristics.
- Alpha == upper-middle class, high political activities
- Beta == lower middle-class, moderate political activities
- Gamma == working-class, little political activities
Method
- Content analysis of all textbooks used in the civic education program (5 dimensions: emphasis on citizen political participation, political chauvinism, democratic creed, emphasis on political process, and emphasis on politics as the resolution of group conflict).
- Interviews of school administrators and teachers of civic education, and community leaders.
- Questionnaire administered on children before and after taking civic education courses, with a control group.
Findings
- Textbooks: no difference in terms of democratic creed, political chauvinism. Gamma texts had fewer references to norms supporting political participation, and political process. Both Beta and Gamma texts had less emphasis on politics as the resolution of group conflict.
- Community norms: reinforce democratic creed, avoid chauvinism, encourage political participation. Alpha community more supportive to themes of politics as process, power, and of politics as group conflict.
- Changes in political attitudes after taking a civic course: children in the civic education more likely to endorse democratic creed and less likely to hold chauvinistic sentiments than those who did not take a course. But, the exposure to the class did not affect the attitudes toward political participation when compared to a control group. Only children in Alpha community strengthened their perceptions on politics as process of power and politics as the resolution of group conflict.
Conclusions
- Materials, support, and affect differed across three communities. Students in three communities are being trained to play different political roles and respond to political phenomena in different ways. For working-class community, civic education offers training for the basic democratic procedures, no stress on political participation. Lower middle-class community adds emphasis on the responsibilities of citizenship, not political decision-making. Affluent and politically active community provides children with insights to political process, functions of politics, and dynamics of decision-making.