| This mixed-methods study examines the interplay between social structure, daily interaction and personal agency on youth's learning of citizenship in terms of a comparison of high school students in Calgary Canada and Taipei, Taiwan. Three existing models are adapted to conceptualize an integrated framework for the investigation, including Gagnon and Page's multi-dimensional framework of citizenship, the IEA person-in-context model, and Cote's capital identity model.; This study collected 979 self-report questionnaires and 27 individual interview tapes across several publicly-funded high schools in both Calgary and Taipei. Quantitatively, a series of exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance, zero-order correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regressions were carried out. Qualitatively, the interview data were analyzed by content analysis along with the assistance of NUD*IST 4.0 and Inspiration 6.0 software programs. With combining the participants' survey answers and interview responses, thematic diagrams of interviewees' profiles were produced for further comparison to uncover the variation of the youth's political socialization between and within societies.; Two main claims are offered in this study. First, public discourses and practices of the society have impacts on youth learning of citizenship through socializing agents; however, youth's internalization of socialization messages and construction of citizenship experiences vary based on personal agency. Second, male youth tend to become marginalized for their learning of citizenship in high school settings, particularly in an individualistic society.; An empirical model of youth's process of political socialization emerges from the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative analyses. This model identifies factors in three interactive levels of forces influencing youth's intention of future participation in citizenship. The macro level refers to social structure such as the state's international position, political, economic, social and educational systems, societal values, government policies, and mass media. The micro level includes daily interaction with parents, school learning experience of citizenship, and participatory experience in the wider community. The personal level consists of gender, tangible and intangible resources, sense of efficacy, and rational choice. This model provides a beginning in depicting youth's processes of political socialization nested in macro-level and micro-level environments in both western and eastern societies. |
