Young people “learning to become” active citizens: informal learning and youth social action in the Philippines

Purpose Citizenship education tends to focus on formal provisions – such as integrating citizenship education into curriculums – eclipsing the important contributions of informal learning to youth citizenship development. This paper explores the informal learning processes in how young people “learn to become” active citizens through activism and volunteering. It investigates how informal learning facilitates critical citizenship and shape more “hopeful” visions for social change despite intersecting crises young people face. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on multiple-case study analysis of two ethnographic and participatory research that I conducted with a youth-led organisations central Philippines from 2017 to 2023, where I observed, documented and discussed (through semi-structured interviews) their everyday activism. Findings This paper found that youth activists and volunteers engaged in informal learning, fostering political literacy through peer-to-peer and intergenerational interactions, task-oriented learning and observation. This learning helped young people to critically assess power structures, such as local politics, while also expanding their repertoires of activism and strengthening their contributions to youth movement building. Additionally, informal learning through participation broadened young people’s identities, repositioning their roles to become active local actors. This shift allowed them to promote their own vision of development and citizenship, a vision framed by solidarity and hope. Originality/value Youth citizenship learning is conceptualised as a situated and relational process. Using informal learning as a lens, this paper argues that citizenship education must be understood in the context of wider social issues, promoting critical literacy so young people identify power inequalities and devise methods for addressing them.