| The prevailing conclusion of political socialization research is that schools have no effect on the political attitudes of young adults. This conclusion is based upon two potentially erroneous assumptions: that school-provided information about government and politics is consistent and that students are passive receptors of that information.; Sixty-two students in eight high schools completed a survey and participated in two one-hour interviews. The survey solicited information about students' anticipated future political participation, sense of social responsibility, political efficacy and estrangement. In addition to demographic information, the survey collected information on participation, sense of personal competence, government courses taken, cognitive complexity, and exposure to incongruity in classroom instruction. The first interview solicited information about students' social commitment, knowledge of the policy-making process, anticipated political participation, descriptions of what they are learning about government in school, perceptions of the accuracy of teacher descriptions of government and politics, and knowledge of instances where teachers contradicted themselves. The second interview asked students to consider five statements which could be interpreted as inconsistent. Their responses were used to develop a typology of three mediation styles.; The findings suggest that most students do not exhibit a strong sense of social commitment, have only superficial, fragmented knowledge of the policy-making process, and expect to participate little as adults. Student attitudes can be related to cynical messages which students believe are transmitted by schools. Many students note incongruity in formal instruction, believe their teachers have not presented an accurate picture, and know of examples where a teacher said one thing but meant another.; The findings also suggest that students process incongruous information in at least three ways. Although differences in group means are not statistically significant, perhaps due to the small sample size, consistent differences across four measures of political attitudes suggest that the way students process information may be related to the acquisition of certain political attitudes. Schools are encouraged to emphasize the teaching of democratic theory and utilize strategies designed to improve student information processing capability. Future research is also proposed. |
