公民教育的重要性已经得到我国学界的普遍认同，但是在实践中要借鉴西方公民教育的一些模式却存在两难选择。我国政治主流价值观与西方意识形态毕竟不能完全相融合，甚至还在某些地方存在矛盾冲突之处。因此，我们要有效学习西方公民教育，必须对其结构以及价值论基础进行分析和研究。西方公民教育围绕国家——社会——自我三者的关系处理，形成了自身独特的价值模式。早期西方公民教育侧重“国家”符号和爱国主义教育，在民族国家发展的早期，“国家”概念主要是作为一种价值符号的形式出现，其作用是激发民众的凝聚力和增进民族认同。随着民主制的发展，公民教育中对“国家”的定义开始变成一种建立在契约制基础上的政治团体或政治机器，公民科和社会科的兴起意味着对“国家”更多的警惕和牵制，公民教育越来越反对价值的接受和规则的服从，而强调反省、批判和行动。“社会”概念内涵的扩展代表着“国家”与“社会”彻底的分野，政治与意识形态在教育中不再一统天下，知识性和能力性的目标有助于增强民主社会中公民维护自身权利的能力。同时，“自我发展”和“自我实现”的教育目标也成为西方公民教育的重点。现代公民教育对儿童人格的教育不再主要通过价值色彩浓重的道德教育进行，而通常借鉴去价值化的心理学为手段。西方公民教育结构变迁的历史发展脉络恰恰对应了西方近代化和现代化过程中价值论主体化的转向，主要体现在三个方面：“价值”内涵本身的转变，现代西方公民教育中价值源点的转变，以及随之形成的公民教育新赋值结构。我国建国以后很长一段时间主要受苏联意识形态和教育思想影响，有强烈的国家主义和集体主义立场，客体化的价值论路径得到强化。因此，以主体论为基础的西方公民教育对我国公民教育的建构有重要的启发意义。西方公民教育的精髓在其结构中的“自我”这一部分，“自我成就”是公民教育目标的重要组成，而“自我”又是整个公民教育体系的价值源点，由此为基础才建立自下而上的赋值结构。但是西方公民教育的“社会”部分实际上是弱化的，其价值意义没有得到充分展现。所以，对于中国公民教育结构的设想，本文建议以“自我”部分为基础，以“社会”部分为赋值核心，对于国家、社会和自我三者的关系进行一定程度的调整。

The importance of civic education has been universally recognized by scholars in China, but there is some dilemma to learn from the Western model of civic education in practice. After all, Chinese political mainstream are very different from western values and ideology, which can lead to certain areas of the contradictions and conflicts. Therefore, we have to learn effectively in the structure of civic education in the West as well as its value theory.Western civic education around the the relations of state - society - self, which informed their own value unique patterns. Early emphasis on civic education in the West was on the ‘State’ as a symbols and a kind of patriotic education .In the early development of the nation state, ‘state’ concept was primarily a form of symbolic value, whose role was to stimulate people's cohesion and promoto a national identity. With the development of democracy, civic education in the definition of ‘State’ started into a system built on the contract on the basis of political groups or political machine. Civics and Social Studies on the rise means that the ‘State’ more vigilant and pinned down. Civic education began to opposite to acceptance and obedience of the rules, and emphasised on self-examination and criticism and action. An extension of ‘Social’ concept represented the dividing line between ‘national’ and ‘society’. Politics and ideology in education were no longer dominated the world, and the target at knowledge and ability helped to strengthen the right of citizens in the democratic society to defend their capacity. At the same time, the aims ‘self-development’ and ‘self-realization’, had also become a focus of civic education in the West. Modern civic education character education of children mainly through a means of psychology. The structure change of Education in the West precisely corresponds to the historical development of western thought and modern theory of value . It is mainly embodied in three aspects: The connotation of ‘value’ changes, the value source of modern civic education in the western changes, and the subsequent formation of the structure of civic education in the new assignment. The moral education in China had a strong sense of nationalism and collectivism, which was strengthened on a objective path. Therefore, the main body of Western-based civic education means an important source of inspiration. The essence of the Western civic education structure was in its ‘self’ in this part of the ‘self-achievement’. the ‘self’ goal of civic education is an important component in the whole value system, which is based on only the establishment of the structure of bottom-up assignment. However, ‘social’ part of civic education in the West is actually weakened, and its value has not been fully demonstrated significance. Therefore, the structure of the Chinese civic education is suggested to based on ‘self’ part and make a certain degree of adjustment of relations three parts.