Civic and social science learning in the Czech Republic: Current state, challenges and prospects

Highlights: – Civic learning has undergone important changes since 1989. – In 2004, innovative Framework educational programmes were legislatively introduced. – Teacher training is significantly competency-oriented. Purpose: Taking the form of a report, the presented text aims to map the curricular changes in civic education and social science learning in basic and upper secondary schools after 1989. It seeks to identify the key features of undergraduate teacher training at universities, with an emphasis on field-specific didactics, and to provide a brief overview of school textbooks, methodological portals, journals and professional organisations. Additionally, it aims to outline prospects and future challenges. Approach: The research design is based on the use of descriptive method and on the analysis of documents – laws, ministerial decrees, curriculum, educational programmes, a list of textbooks endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, educational portals and specialist journals. Findings: The article outlines the most significant changes in the approach to civic education and social science learning during the democratisation of society following the fall of communism. It characterises the school curriculum, undergraduate teacher training in the Czech Republic and innovations aimed at developing professional competencies. It also discusses field-specific didactics and its position, methodological support and professional communication among teachers within the professional community (textbooks, portals, associations, etc.). Research limitations: The limitations primarily lie in the deliberate focus solely on the educational field and its curricular framework, rather than on individual aspects of the educational process (such as teaching methods and forms, field-specific extracurricular learning, evaluation of the impact of teacher qualification on lesson quality, the out-of-school context of civic learning in society, etc.). This approach is motivated by the aim to ensure maximum consistency in the text. Another limiting factor is the fact that while current challenges for the field are outlined, answers to these issues are contingent on the implementation of relevant empirical research, which is still largely lacking in the Czech Republic.