We explored the potential of using a peer relations approach for researching children’s citizenship in elementary classrooms. Children express or enact citizenship through their behavior toward classmates and the relationships they engage in (i.e., lived citizenship). These behaviors and relationships can be more or less in line with goals for citizenship education. We propose that, through peer relations methodology, these behaviors and relationships can be assessed systematically. In addition, some of the widely researched behaviors and relationships in peer relations research already closely align with goals for citizenship education. With this theoretical and methodological argument, we consider recent publications on classroom behaviors (i.e., prosocial behavior and aggression) and relationships (i.e., positive and negative affect) and their meaning for exemplary goals for citizenship education (i.e., solidarity, peace, and social cohesion). We show how individual children and classroom peer groups differ in these regards and thus in their citizenship and how these differences can be stratified by gender, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. Specific attention is paid to the role of teachers, as organizers of the social structures in their classrooms and as educators who can promote citizenship. Finally, we propose new ways for using peer reports to study citizenship in elementary classrooms more directly and to discover potential avenues for teachers to foster citizenship through peer relations.

我们探索了使用同伴关系方法来研究小学课堂中儿童公民身份的潜力。儿童通过他们对同学的行为以及他们所参与的关系来表达或制定公民身份（即生活公民身份）。这些行为和关系或多或少符合公民教育的目标。我们建议，通过同伴关系方法，可以系统地评估这些行为和关系。此外，同伴关系研究中一些广泛研究的行为和关系已经与公民教育的目标紧密结合。通过这种理论和方法论的论证，我们考虑了最近关于课堂行为（即亲社会行为和攻击性）和关系（即积极和消极影响）的出版物及其对公民教育示范目标（即团结、和平和社会）的意义。凝聚）。我们展示了个别儿童和课堂同龄人群体在这些方面以及公民身份方面的差异，以及如何根据性别、种族背景和社会经济地位对这些差异进行分层。特别关注教师作为课堂社会结构的组织者和促进公民意识的教育者的作用。最后，我们提出了使用同伴报告更直接地研究小学课堂公民意识的新方法，并发现教师通过同伴关系培养公民意识的潜在途径。