Developing a citizenship literacy education program for secondary students and evaluation of implementation

Civic literacy plays a fundamental role in the structure of a democratic society. Systematic studies should be carried out in schools to improve individuals' civic literacy competencies. Schools should be designed for students to receive civic literacy education, providing opportunities for them to apply the teaching approaches used and the knowledge acquired. The aim of this research is to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully participate in the democratic process through the civic literacy education program and to reveal the effectiveness of teaching approaches designed to increase their civic literacy competencies. The research was designed with action research. The study group of the research consists of 25 students and their parents studying in a secondary school in Kaynaşlı district of Düzce province in the 2022-2023 academic year. The study covers a period of 14 weeks and 35 hours. Academic achievement test, citizenship model scale, semi-structured student-parent interview forms and student diaries were used as data collection tools in the study. While the quantitative data of the research were analyzed with the dependent sample t test; Qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis. According to the research findings, it has been determined that the civic literacy education program increases students' academic success and improves their civic literacy competencies. According to the analysis obtained from the interview forms and student diaries, it was determined that students and parents made positive evaluations about the education program. In general, it has been determined that the findings obtained through quantitative and qualitative approaches support each other. Based on the research findings, civic literacy can be taught as a separate course in secondary schools. Research can be conducted with larger study groups so that the data can be generalized to a larger population