title: Youth's Initiations of Civic and Political Discussions in Class: Do Youth's Perceptions of Teachers' Behaviors Matter and Why?
abstract: Teachers are thought to play an important role in fostering youth civic engagement; however, the current literature is limited with regard to providing concrete suggestions as to what teachers can do to promote youth civic engagement and why teachers have an impact on youth. To address these limitations, we simultaneously tested three alternative explanations to identify the critical way(s) in which perceived teachers' behaviors might contribute to youth civic engagement in school. We also investigated the underlying processes that may explain why youth's perceptions of teachers' behaviors matter, by focusing on the mediating roles of young people's feelings about politics and their political efficacy beliefs. The sample included 7th (n = 876, Mage= 13.42, SD = .71; 51 % girls) and 10th grade students (n = 857, Mage= 16.62, SD = .71; 51 % girls) residing in Sweden. Among the different aspects of perceived teacher behaviors, only an engaged and inspiring teaching style fostered youth's initiations of civic and political discussions in class over time among both early and late adolescents. Moreover, youth's feelings about politics significantly mediated the effect of perceived teachers' behaviors on youth civic engagement in class. Contrary to our expectation, youth's political efficacy did not act as a mediator. The present study sheds light on what teachers can do to promote youth civic and political engagement in a school setting.
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Research, School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden. sevgi.bayram-ozdemir@oru.se.
authors.forename: Sevgi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bayram Özdemir
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Research, School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stattin
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Research, School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Özdemir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011057:Politics; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D000070777:School Teachers / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden; D014705:Verbal Behavior
keywords: Civic discussion; Civic engagement; Student–teacher relationship; Sweden; Teaching approach