What It Means To “be political”

A survey ran by Canta revealed 75% of takers having not received any form of civics education at school. Source: Glen Carrie on Unsplash.  

As a kid, everything I knew about the word politics, was it’s something adults always said they pretended to care about, featuring dinner table conversations and depressing news segments. It was the fancy unknown and I never really bothered to ask about it.  

Or, at least, not until I became conscious of my presence in society - which happened in high school and when Covid hit.  

When I found out that the government could choose how long I stayed home from school, it was like a flashing light in my face telling me: ‘Hey! You’re a part of this! This involves you!”   

That makes me lucky.  

And it wasn’t for a decade and a half, that I learned everyone everywhere has a different idea of how the world should work, leading me to the question – why did it take so long?  

Despite attending school for most of my life, I could not find much relevant information there. I knew there were contractual obligations restricting teachers from sharing their own political viewpoints, but was that reason enough to leave the politics discussion out of the classroom - entirely?  

The closest I could get was economics or history, but neither of them provided what I wanted.   

I couldn’t help but get frustrated that there weren’t many places I, as a young person in Aotearoa, could find political information relevant to my country and community.  

Unfortunately, this was not a unique experience.   

There is currently no mandated civics education in the school curriculum, meaning its’ presence and quality varies widely leading to significant gaps in student understanding of political systems and their own role within them.  

A survey ran by Canta highlighted this knowledge gap, with 75% of takers having not received any form of civics education at school.  

With limited formal civics education available, many students turn to personal research, the internet, and family to fill in the gaps. This reliance on vast but unmoderated methods highlights a significant insight into how political knowledge is acquired, potentially underscoring the need for more structured education on the subject.  

I interviewed Dr. Helena Cook, a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canterbury, and the chair of the Civics and Citizenship working group of the New Zealand Political Studies Association, to find out more.  

“I think often young people are extremely political,” Cook said.  

Dr. Helena Cook. Source: Supplied / Helena Cook.  

Cook emphasised the challenge in defining civics education. Conventional aspects like electoral systems are crucial but are just one part of a broader understanding of civic duty.   

“If you’re talking about traditional forms of political engagement, like what is an electoral system, how do you vote, then absolutely students should be supported to learn more about that... It can be really daunting when you’re 18 and thrown into your first election, and have to try and operate in a system you don’t really know anything about.”  

Despite a lack of formal civics education, it seems many people understand the importance of voting – 97.3% of survey respondents who were eligible voted in the 2023 election. Reasons for voting listed included privilege, responsibility, and representation.  

“It’s traditionally framed as the most recognisable form of political engagement,” Cook said.  

“I suppose people like to think they are contributing to democracy; they want to feel a sense of agency or contribution to who is in power. The way young people are engaged with social media means there’s a lot more awareness than, for example, 20-30 years ago. You really had to go out and look for it, and now it’s kind of delivered to you.” 

This falls in line with the perceived accessibility of political coverage online. Respondents commonly stated the most reliable places to get political information were policies sections on campaign websites, the news, government websites, and social media.  

“You don’t really have an excuse to not know about what’s happening in the world,” said Cook.  

Recognising that students have varied learning styles and levels of accessibility; it becomes clear the traditional classroom setting may not always be the most effective.  

“We have to remember that [the understanding of citizenship] is often through an extremely Eurocentric lens. And that actually, that is not always speaking to the experiences of migrant communities, of Māori, of Pacific communities,” Cook said.   

Engaging in community, contributing to the wellbeing of those around them, existing as a minority. The perceived universal understanding of what it means to be involved in society is in fact, less agreed upon than one may think. For some groups, attitudes and activities are normal, though others may see them as political acts.