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Evidence is assessed against outcomes expected by Australian governments, particularly the development of active citizenship characteristics and the ability to apply learning in real practice. Findings reveal systemic blocking factors tied to power relations and highlight the risk of producing “expert citizens,” motivating a redesigned program grounded in complexity and adult education planning theory.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-need-for-a-complexity-informed-active-citizenship-education-program/592726/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-need-for-a-complexity-informed-active-citizenship-education-program/592726.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Mimi","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem does the paper focus on regarding active citizenship education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Active citizenship is framed as a “wicked” problem—complex, evolving, multi-causal, and without definitive objective solutions—so education programs must account for complexity and interconnected stakeholder perspectives.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What did the original program’s findings show?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Graduates developed desired active citizenship characteristics, but they encountered systemic blocking factors linked to power relations when trying to apply learning. The findings also raised concern about the program producing a cohort of “expert citizens.”",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the new program respond to these findings?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"A revised program is developed using complexity and adult education planning theory, treating active citizenship as a “wicked” problem, adopting a systemic innovation approach, and including participatory budgeting to support knowledge transfer to other community members.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592726,1792116665,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336477974920,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Australian Journal of Adult Learning Volume 59, Number 1, April 2019  \nThe need for a complexity informed active citizenship education program  \nSharon Zivkovic  \nUniversity of South Australia  \nWhile active citizenship education programs are assumed to have positive benefits for the active citizenship practice of participants (UNESCO, 2009, p. 4), there is actually little evidence that programs do (de Weerd, Gemmeke, Rigter & van Riji, 2005, p. vii). This paper discusses a research project that aimed to determine and increase the impact of an active citizenship education program that incorporates education for sustainability principles.  \nThe inquiry’s findings showed that while the program developed in graduates the active citizenship characteristics desired by Australian governments, graduates encountered significant systemic blocking factors related to power relations when they attempted to put what they had learned during the program into practice. The findings also highlighted the risk of the program producing a cohort of‘expert citizens’.  \nTo address these findings and improve the interactions and working relationships between program graduates, paid community workers and other community members, a new program has been developed that is informed by complexity and adult education planning theory.  \n54 Sharon Zivkovic  \nThis new program recognises active citizenship as a ‘wicked’problem, takes a systemic innovation approach, incorporates a participatory budgeting process, and supports participants topass on their skills and knowledge to other community members.  \nKeywords: active citizenship, wicked, systemic change, power  \nIntroduction  \nActive citizenship is a wicked problem (Day 1997, p. 421) . Wicked problems are complex social policy problems that societies face which cannot be definitively described and that do not have definitive and objective solutions (Rittel & Webber, 1973, p. 155) . Characteristics of wicked problems include: they are multi-causal, they have many interdependencies, attempts to address them often leads to unforeseen consequences due to their multi-causality and interdependencies, the problem and the problem’s context evolve as attempts are made to address them, they require stakeholders to coordinate their approaches, and the various stakeholders have different understandings of what the problem is (Australian Public Service Commission, 2007) .  \nActive citizenship education  \nOne of two different understandings of active citizenship generally underpin an active citizenship education program: a communitarian notion of citizenship or a civic republicanism notion of citizenship (Annette, 2009, p. 152) . The communitarian approach to citizenship education focusses on learning through volunteering and community service (Annette, 2009, p. 152) . In contrast, the civic republican approach focusses on learning through civic engagement and nonformal [non-electoral (Jedwab, 2002)] political participation (Annette, 2009, p. 152) .  \nWhile the three levels of government in Australia have expressed interest in citizens developing citizenship characteristics associated with a civic republican notion of citizenship, they each have a different understanding of what characteristics are important. At a local government level, the Local Government Association of South Australia  \nThe need fora complexity informed active citizenship education program 55  \n(n.d.) recognises that the success of local government community engagement processes ‘rests on the need for a community well educated about civics and well informed on key issues affecting the community’. South Australian Local Government recognises the need for citizens to know what local government does and how they can be involved in the strategic planning and agenda setting for their local area (Local Government Association of South Australia, 2010) .  \nAt a state level, the former Premier of South Australia noted that while developing the civic leadership","cbCaiqjIZKyPA0Gg","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqjIZKyPA0Gg","pdf",207935,23,"English","# Introduction\n## Active citizenship education\n### Communitarian vs civic republican understandings\n### Education for sustainability alignment","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the paper focus on regarding active citizenship education?\",\"answer\":\"Active citizenship is framed as a “wicked” problem—complex, evolving, multi-causal, and without definitive objective solutions—so education programs must account for complexity and interconnected stakeholder perspectives.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the original program’s findings show?\",\"answer\":\"Graduates developed desired active citizenship characteristics, but they encountered systemic blocking factors linked to power relations when trying to apply learning. The findings also raised concern about the program producing a cohort of “expert citizens.”\"},{\"question\":\"How does the new program respond to these findings?\",\"answer\":\"A revised program is developed using complexity and adult education planning theory, treating active citizenship as a “wicked” problem, adopting a systemic innovation approach, and including participatory budgeting to support knowledge transfer to other community members.\"}]","The need for a complexity informed active citizenship education program | PDF",1792075258,58]