The paper presents active citizenship as the main goal of citizenship education. It stresses the interdependence of democracy and active citizenship. It points out that active citizenship needs to be understood as a global concept, defined as participation in civil society, in the community or in political life on the basis of mutual respect and non-violence, and in accordance with human rights and democracy. The paper is based on the assumption that active citizenship in its full sense can only be achieved in adulthood, and that people need to learn how to be active citizens. While active citizenship is listed among the main objectives of the European Union, its development faces several challenges: (1) the formation of active citizens is dependent on economic and social preconditions; (2) the formation of active citizens is challenged by certain phenomena and developments in the digital age of “post-truth” and fake news; (3) the formation of active citizens depends on didactical settings that meet the learning needs of people. These challenges are discussed with respect to Germany and the European Union.

The paper defines what reason is and specifies five criteria for the good or bad use of it. Employing these criteria, the paper analyzes a recent example of a bad use (coming from an internationally well-known politician). The paper emphasizes the central role of reason for citizenship education in democratic societies, and envisages the idea of reason-education: an education in the good employment of reason (inspired by Socrates). It points out that the respect for objective truth is the foundation for this education.

This paper aims to clarify trends and issues surrounding citizen education in Japan, focusing on political literacy, from the following points: 1) Concepts of citizens, civilians, and residents in the global era, 2) Basic human rights in the Constitution of Japan and Political Education Provisions in the Basic Law of Education, 3) 18-year-old voting rights, and political activities of high school students, and 4) Today's challenges on freedom and the right of learning, and social education as citizen education. By considering them, this paper points out the significance of reinterpreting Hirakata Thesis ― "Social Education for All Citizens" from the Osaka Prefecture Hirakata City Board of Education in 1963 ― in the modern context.

Since independence and maturity are considered prerequisites of a democratic society, it is a given that the educational mandate of the school should be strongly determined by these two concepts. Development of knowledge and personality as well as specialized, interdisciplinary and extracurricular learning are put into a new relationship to each other, and education for independence is connected to social and cooperative learning. In this »new« culture of learning, the roles of students and of teachers change. Through increased participation and personal responsibility of the students, teaching increasingly becomes a co-production of all actors involved. For the issue of the success of student-active teaching and for the willingness to change teaching into a learning and working environment that promotes autonomy, it is at last important to what extent teachers regard pupils as rational and reasonable persons who can be trusted and granted freedoms.

In a rapidly changing society, schools should prepare students to adapt themselves to new circumstances. The knowledge they have acquired must be related to their lives and applied to solve problems in their world. Now teachers should help students to improve their self-directed learning abilities through student-centered lessons. The student-centered education requires the curriculum reconstruction including the addition, deletion, contraction, and revision of educational contents. It is inevitable in the learner-centered classroom as the context of each lesson is different depending on the students' cognitive abilities, prior experience, knowledge and skills, motivation, needs, emotions, and inclinations. Now teachers should promote their professionalism with personal, experiential and practical knowledge to plan the curriculum reconstruction aimed at student-centered education.