Beyond Facts and Acts: The Implications of 'Ordinary Politics' for Youth Political Engagement

Abstract

In this article, we demonstrate that students have a keen interest in ordinary, every-day issues that affect their lives, and have civic assets deriving from their daily experiences. Both findings showcase the importance of moving beyond civic education based on either of two assumptions: first, that youth lack knowledge (facts), or, second, that youth lack civic experiences (acts). Data from this article was collected in a two-part study of the state of civic education in Canada. Part of that research was an exploratory case study, based on interviews and observations with students in Ottawa, Ontario. This article is a re-analysis of in- depth interviews with 16 students, 12 female and four male, based on a biographical interpretive method. Our re-analysis of the data from our exploratory study provides significant examples of youth assets among our participants that lead us to consider the possibility that curriculum might better focus on the knowledge and experiences students do have as a means of promoting further participation and political engagement.