Paper long abstract:

Education and Identity: Who are Afghan Students?

This paper reflects on the way in which Afghan students identify themselves as members of the society and as citizens and the role of schools in their perceptions.

Although identity crisis is a deep rooted problem in multi-ethnic and multi-lingual Afghanistan, recently president's approval of the electronic ID card on which the word "Afghan" has been printed as the "nationality" of the holder of the card, has brought again identity to the frontline, as many do not identify themselves as Afghan. This research took place when issues of identities were openly discussed in media and among all walks of life.

After fall of Taliban, Afghan government introduced a new curriculum and significant importance was given to peace, citizenship and human rights. In order to promote the international dimension of education, Afghan government has also welcomed school partnerships with international community offering training on concepts and skills such as global citizenship, critical thinking and digital literacy.

The main question of this research is, to what extent students' perception of their identity is a function of what they learn at school comparing to what they learn from the society and in particular the elites?

Data from questionnaires and interviews have been analyzed from 60 secondary school students in a total of 10 schools of which 5 were receiving education on citizenship through international partnership (group A) and 5 were not (group B).

The findings suggest that majority of students in control group (B) (not receiving complementary education on citizenship) identify themselves in terms of ethnicity, religion, language and gender. While students in the treatment group (A), tended to identify themselves more subjectively as human being, citizen and a "proper noun".

Considering the emergence of radical and extremist identities at national and international levels, this research was intended to understand citizenship education's contribution to peace and to discuss the implications of the findings for schools. This paper provides recommendations for how school-based citizenship education may contribute to current challenges related to citizenship and identity.