Abstract

The results of this paper are the product of a broader research on political participation. The expressions of young university students are there analyzed about civic education received at school related to political participation. Three focus groups were held with freshmen at Universidad del Bio-Bio, Chile. The results show that the vision of young people about the formation received is rather critical. On the one hand, the need for civic education is identified as that which allows to address the complexity of political activity. Secondly, it is found that school education does not respond to this need, since it is qualified as poor and biased. For students, education must play a politicizing role, providing inputs to influence social change.