Civic education is generally assumed to play a key role in youth’s political sophistication. It aims to equip young people with the necessary competencies and skills to effectively participate in political and civic life. However, few studies have examined the relative importance of different facets of teaching quality within civic education as well as mediating factors for fostering active citizens. The present study seeks to fill this gap by investigating how different facets of teaching quality are associated with adolescents’ willingness to participate in political and civic life and how this relationship is mediated by political knowledge and interest. The study uses original data from N = 250 students (n = 152 7th graders: M_age = 12.54, SD = 0.91, range = 11–14, 45% female; n = 98 10th graders: M_age = 16.12, SD = 0.97, range = 15–18, 35% female). The findings show that not all teaching quality facets are equally important. While perceived cognitive activation and open classroom climate were positively associated with students’ willingness to participate, a statistically significant association with discussions of current political events in the classroom was not found. In addition, the relationship between perceived cognitive activation and willingness to participate is fully mediated by students’ political knowledge and interest. This study illustrates the relative importance of different teaching quality facets in civic education and calls for continued efforts to better understand teaching quality in civic education.

人们普遍认为，公民教育在青年政治成熟度方面发挥着关键作用。它旨在使年轻人具备必要的能力和技能，以有效地参与政治和公民生活。然而，很少有研究探讨公民教育中教学质量不同方面的相对重要性，以及培养积极公民的中介因素。本研究旨在通过调查教学质量的不同方面如何与青少年参与政治和公民生活的意愿相关，以及这种关系如何通过政治知识和兴趣来调节，从而填补这一空白。该研究使用来自N  = 250 名学生的原始数据（ n  = 152 名七年级学生：M_年龄 = 12.54，SD  = 0.91，范围 = 11–14，45% 女性；n  = 98 名 10 年级学生：M_年龄 = 16.12，SD = 0.97，范围 = 15–18，35% 女性）。调查结果表明，并非所有教学质量方面都同等重要。虽然感知的认知激活和开放的课堂气氛与学生的参与意愿呈正相关，但没有发现与课堂上当前政治事件的讨论存在统计学上的显着关联。此外，感知认知激活与参与意愿之间的关系完全由学生的政治知识和兴趣介导。这项研究说明了不同教学质量方面在公民教育中的相对重要性，并呼吁继续努力更好地了解公民教育中的教学质量。