Children's views on citizenship education and peace in Catalan

The implementation of citizenship education (CE) as a comprehensive and peace-oriented subject was analyzed in the Catalan context (northeast of Spain) by interviewing 28 school representatives and from the perception of 627 pupils in the upper-primary level, including the children’s definition of peace. CE has been introduced as a light subject, affected by social controversy and without specific teacher training. Nevertheless, children like this class and find it useful, with girls appreciating it more than boys. In their views, this subject is useful for personal improvement, living with others, conflict solving, and understanding the world. Still, children picture themselves in a non-proactive and disengaged way, as pre-citizens, and define peace as “negative peace.” In this scenario, CE remains in the curriculum and focuses on social cohesion and peacebuilding in plural societies. From this perspective, CE urgently needs a shift from a subject to study to an emancipatory social and political practice. Consequently, more visibility, systematization, and teacher training and a better articulation between school and society are indispensable to reinforce genuine democracy and peace from and inside the school.