Civic identity is what? Definition and concept

Each person is provided with freedom of choice, including with regard to self-determination and identification. The personality is formed in the biological shell under the influence of society and the problems of society. The stability of the social system of the state depends on how much one assesses its influence on the life of the people and the state. The formation of civic identity is a rather problematic moment in the stage of adolescent development. Young people can not fully appreciate their role and their opinion in the life of the country. In many respects this is due to a banal lack of information or ways of submitting it. This article describes what constitutes a national civil identity.

General information on the concept of civil identity

The formation of civil identity is an integral part of the organization of the governance of the state, ensuring national security and defense. If the people can identify themselves, then such a country can rightly be considered democratic.

Historically, the introduction of the concept of "citizenship" into circulation and the understanding of its citizens is a unifying factor. It is believed that this helps to eliminate the schism in society, unites the various classes, strata and groups of the population. This causes the unity of all people, which, of course, contributes to stabilization. Regardless of who is who and how much money, everyone becomes equal. This allows us to work out a unified legal framework and an apparatus for protecting the interests of citizens. The government of the country where the foundations of civil identity are laid down can form a political system.

Civic Education of Schoolchildren of Different Ages

The civic identity of younger schoolchildren and their older comrades is now becoming a topic of discussion in pedagogical, psychological and scientific circles. After all, a person must recognize himself as a person from a very young age.

Civic education implies the following:

• Impact on the child's psyche;
• The supply of knowledge of a certain kind;
• Instilling a sense of love and respect for the Motherland;
• The awakening of interest in the history of the country and its ancestors;
• Laying the foundations of jurisprudence;
• The formation of the concept of responsibility for what was done, for the decisions made, and the destiny of the state;
• Formation of an active civic position.

Forged knowledge

Ultimately, it is implied that the formation of the student's civil identity should lay certain foundations in it. He must have information about his rights and responsibilities, the state structure and the choice.

A child that is affected by parents, kindergarten and school should have an idea of the values, respect the rights and choices of other people, and be tolerant. In the development process, children should develop critical thinking, the ability to adequately perceive the political situation. A person should have a desire to express his opinion or indignation, he must want to participate in public and political life. The upbringing of civil identity is to nurture a generation that lives in accordance with democratic values.

Definition of the concept of civil identity

There are many interpretations of the notion of civil identity. Indeed, it can characterize completely different things and has a different meaning. But first of all, a civil identity is a person's self-determination of his belonging to a particular group. He must clearly understand the fact of choice.

In each state this concept is assigned a different meaning. Civic identity is a sense of self as a constituent part, an element of organized power. And it is she who must protect him from any negative manifestations of society.

Duality in the definition of a term

The concept of civil identity can be characterized from two perspectives. The first says that this definition expresses the person's belonging to a particular people of a particular state. The second position, in contrast to the previous one, asserts that the initiation does not go to a specific society, but to the totality of people as a whole. This theory confirms that a civilized person considers himself a collective subject.

Indeed, the first position identifies two definitions and says that civil identity is citizenship. But it is not enough to be a part of the country on a passport, it is important to have an attitude towards the state and feel part of it. The basis for a comprehensive view should be an understanding of the possibility of free choice and self-identification. The people, in which there are the foundations of the civil culture of the individual, with the help of the sphere of education, certain qualities are laid, such as patriotism, morality and tolerance.

Factors of formation of civil identity

The existence of certain aspects influences the formation of public consciousness. In order for every citizen of the country to identify their civil position, there must be a number of factors:

• United history;
• Common cultural values;
• Absence of language barriers;
• Uniting emotional states;
• The provision of information by socialization institutions;

The history of the emergence of the theory of civic education

Civil identity is something that worried people in ancient times. As a direction in the sphere of education, it was formed long ago, so that the problems were studied not only by modern thinkers. Analyzing the opinions of historians and philosophers, we can conclude that the foundations of self-determination in this respect were laid in ancient civilization. During the development of the perception of this concept in society, so it itself became more educated and knowledgeable in this regard. This gives the right to assert that the nature of social relations is determined by the degree of implementation of the philosophy of civic education.

The formation of civic identity of students was an important link in education in ancient Greece. It was the natives of these lands who left behind them the greatest works and the richest legacy of philosophical thought in relation to science and pedagogy. For example, Plato with his works expresses the importance for society and civil self-determination of education. This is evidenced by the names of his numerous works devoted to education.

Follower of Plato Aristotle considered the integral part of the successful management of the country the cultivation of a decent generation with the right thoughts and ideas. In his view, the education of young people is the key to maintaining the state system. He said that it is necessary to begin to influence the consciousness of children at the age of seven. Aristotle argued that the level of development and awareness should reach such a degree that a person was able to manage his own state.

Medievalism

Among the educators of the eighteenth century, it was believed that the formation of a national civil identity is impossible without a sufficient level of education. For stability in society, a certain percentage of such people was necessary. This opinion was shared by the greatest minds of their time - Rousseau, Diderot, Pestalozzi, Helvetius. In the person of the Russian scientific community, KD Ushinsky inclined toward such an idea.

All these people argued that the society can fully feel its power and develop skills only if everyone will enjoy the right to education. The state should be given the opportunity to get education, because this is in the field of the country's interests.

The achievements of the nineteenth century

A new understanding of civil identity was made by thinkers of the nineteenth century. In their view, the injustice of the division of society into classes and estates hinders the unity of the people and a stable understanding of the rights of the individual. So Owen, Fourier, Marx and Engels asserted also in the West in their utopian systems. The Russian democrats, whose representatives were Chernyshevsky, Belinsky and Dobrolyubov, only supported this idea.

A single line permeates all their theoretical developments. According to them, property, knowledge and honors are not important in the process of social production. All people in this sense are equal to each other.

The idea of the American philosopher Dewey

The idea of this American philosopher somewhat refreshed the notion of civil identification. It is the newest direction in the sphere of this education. According to his works, it can be concluded that the main idea is to form a democratic society. Man should not be imposed an opinion from the outside.

Dewey advocated the idea of personal development. He argued that providing an opportunity for self-expression is a much more effective method than external pressure. That is, you need to grow on yourself, not relying on statements and texts, though wise, but strangers, but only on your experience. Thus, you can determine your position only by trial and error.

Dewey said that in children it is necessary to develop not individual abilities and skills, but to allow them to achieve even small, but meaningful purposes for them. The school should prepare the child for adulthood not only mentally, but also morally. It must be hardened, formed and independent. That is, it is necessary to train young citizens not according to static material written in textbooks, but to try to modernize it under the current period of time and keep pace with the constantly developing world.

Soviet Ideology

Modern Russian civil identity is largely due to the period of the USSR. This issue was paid special attention to the standards of pedagogical science, such as Sukhomlinsky, Makarenko, Blonsky, Shatsky and Pinkevich. All their works describe the methods of education, the organization of collective activity. But these people, like their work, are united by a universal appeal for the formation in children of a feeling of love and respect for the motherland, family, the history of their ancestors and all people.

Through the various forms of art, the foundation of humanity and citizenship must be conveyed to the child. Moral values, in the opinion of these famous teachers, are inculcated in people at a fairly young age. The whole life of a person and his relation to the world and others depend on how much he learned in childhood as concepts such as good and evil.

Modern vision

At the moment, the problem of the issue of civil identity is the subject of work of many philosophers, psychologists and educators, such as Sokolov and Yamburg. Most experts adhere to the view that the system of education of this concept in modern children is no good. The child should not be an "empty vessel", which adults at their discretion fill. He must himself take an active part in the educational process. Thus, he develops his vision and understanding of what is happening.

The relationship between the pupil and the teacher must be humane, they should feel equal. Only when the child himself is completely absorbed and interested in his own development and self-knowledge, in education will make sense. If children manage the teaching from their positions, then this will become the basis of moral formation. One of the aspects of modern education is the cultivation of a responsible citizen from a young age.