Early Civic Learning and the Development of Social Competence: A Study of Elementary Schools in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper will discuss how civic education could build social competence in elementary school students in Pakistan and use the views of teachers and classroom instances. Although civic education is well known in terms of promoting democracy and citizenry, its potential in the social competence development of students at the elementary level is not fully developed and studied especially in the developing contexts. A qualitative research design was used in this study where data were gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews with twenty teachers of Social Studies and non-participant classroom observations in twenty Federal Government elementary schools. The thematic analysis was employed in analyzing the data to determine the patterns of social interaction, cooperation, empathy, and responsible behavior among the students. The results indicate that civic education is significant in terms of enhancing social competence through facilitation of participatory learning, respectful discourse, collaboration, and consciousness to social responsibilities. According to teachers, civic practices in the classroom facilitated good interaction with peers, as well as assisting students to acquire the necessary interpersonal skills. This paper has emphasized the need to enhance civic education in the lower level and use teaching models that involve the students through active learning on social issues. The results provide an implication to the curriculum design, teacher education, and educational policy to raise socially competent and responsible citizens at a tender age.