What do secondary school pupils know about the European Union? Implications for learning

Abstract

The development of a European Dimension in Education is an objective linked to the construction of European identity and the exercise of active, responsible and critical citizenship. The paper analyzes the knowledge of Spanish Compulsory Secondary School pupils on topics regarding the European Union. The research involved 705 pupils from five secondary education centres in four Spanish regions. Twenty four item test was designed to examine the pupils' knowledge about: a) the European institutions, b) history of European cooperation, c) European citizenship, d) Europe in daily life, e) social and cultural identity and f) human rights and responsibilities. The results show that: a) 80.3% of the pupils only answered 14 items or less correctly; b) there were significant differences among pupils according to the year of study and the region, but a small size effect; c) pupils lack knowledge regarding “Europe in everyday life”, “European Citizenship”, “History of European cooperation” and “The European institutions”. There is a discussion of the need to define a cross-curricular approach.