The role of historical education in the formation of civic identity among youth

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to strengthen the role of historical education in shaping the civic identity of young people amid profound social transformations and the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine. Under current conditions, historical education acquires not only an educational but also a security dimension, serving as a factor of social consolidation, national resilience, and the development of critical thinking among the younger generation. The rethinking of the content and methods of teaching history is essential for fostering a conscious citizen capable of acting on the basis of historical memory, democratic values, and responsibility for the future of the state. The purpose of the article is to clarify the impact of historical education on the formation of civic identity among young people and to identify effective directions for enhancing its educational potential under conditions of social change and wartime challenges. The research methodology is based on the combination of systemic, cultural-historical, and competence-based approaches, which made it possible to analyze the content, functions, and educational practices of historical education in the context of civic upbringing. Methods of comparative, structural-functional, and content analysis, as well as synthesis of empirical sociological research and educational experiments, were applied. The research results indicate that historical education is a multidimensional system of value formation in which the cognitive component is integrated with moral-emotional and activity-based aspects. It has been demonstrated that historical education fosters patriotism, humanism, critical thinking, and young people's readiness for social participation. The main barriers to its effectiveness have been identified, including fragmented content, ideological bias, insufficient practical orientation, digital inequality, teacher training gaps, and weak institutional coordination. The conclusions justify the need to shift toward a competence- and activity-oriented model of historical education, implement practice-based learning formats (projects, debates, service-learning), expand digital resources, and strengthen teachers’ qualifications in ethical memory and trauma-sensitive teaching of war-related topics. The prospects for further research include the development of integrated models for teaching history and civic education, as well as studying the influence of the digital environment on the formation of historical consciousness and civic competencies of Ukrainian youth.