公民教育的目的乃在幫助學生與成人，以信心與決心勇敢地承擔他們的責任，以及幫助他們本乎民主原則，實現國家的和諧統一與達成國家的理想。公民教育已是學校教育的重要目標之一。今日公民教育教師所面臨的挑戰，就在於創作、設計與選擇公民教育課程及方法。而此種公民教育課程及方法要與學生成長和發展相配合，並符合社會的需要與期望。 本乎此項認識，本研究擬採理論分析法與調查研究法。首先從學術觀點，探究公民發展階段的理論模式；本研究的基礎在於公民發展階段的理論模式可以作為建構欲發展公民教育課程與方法的基礎與準則，以達成公民教育的目的。繼之在調查臺灣北、中、南、東部等四個不同地區與社經背景的國中學生，探討影響他們公民發展的社會因素，以驗證公民發展階段理論模式的適切性，以及明白其影響因素；並調查分析公民教育課程是否影響上述學生的公民發展，同時探求對上述學生公民發展有貢獻的其他教育因素。 本研究結果將對公民發展階段理論模式的建構，具有學術性貢獻，且研究結果將對公民教育課程與方法的創作與設計，具有實用的參考價值。獲致如下的發現： 一、影響我國國民中學學生公民發展的人物，層面廣泛，但仍以家庭、學校人物為主。 二、影響公民發展的人物，對不同背景的國民中學學生之影響程度，部份存有差異。 三、我國國民中學學生之公民發展成普遍受公民與道德科課程內容的影響，且分呈高、中影響程度。學生對公正的法律、完善的教育、和諧的社會等課程內容評價最高。 四、公民與道德科課程內容，對不同背景的國民中學學生之影響程度，部份存有差異性。 五、我國國民中學學生之公民發展，普遍受公民活動的影響，分呈高、中、低影響程度。其中以學習本國歷史與政府組織的公民活動，最受學生們的喜愛。 六、公民活動，對不同背景的國民中學學生之影響程度，呈顯著差異性。 七、我國國民中學學生之公民發展受公民活動方式的影響，分呈高、中、低影響程度。學生最喜歡藉由戶外活動、觀賞活動方式學習公民知識。 八、公民活動方式，對不同背景的國民中學學生之影響程度，部份呈顯著差異性。 九、我國國民中學學生的公民發展具階段性。 十、大部份的我國國民中學學生，其公民發展處於水平的社會關係的階段（第五階段）。

　　　　　The purpose of citizenship education is to help students and Adults face their responsibilities with confidence and determination and help them realize the national unity and the purpose in light of democratic principles. So citizenship education has been considered one of the constraint educational goals since the founding of our country and the concomitant need to educate youth and students for their democratic responsibilities. But citizenship education now has a low or no priority in our educational systems. The challenge facing educators and teachers today in regard to citizenship education is to produce, design, and select the course programs and approaches to citizenship. It is the belief of this study that a theoretical model that explains the sequence of events that occurs in children's lives as they evolve an internalized schema of citizenship can become the basis for structuring and developing a sound citizenship education programs and approaches. Therefore, the main goals of this study are to analyze the theoretical model of citizenship development and to come an understanding of the dynamic social processes that influence its development. This study consists of an exploratory study of opinions and practices of students who are about to be graduate from junior high schools in four different geographic areas and socioeconomic backgrounds both the social and educational influence of citizenship, their opinions and concerns are an important source of information regarding the citizenship development in Taiwan. In questionnaire survey, we finally obtained responses from effective samples. The findings, through statistical analysis, brought up highlights of conclusions: 1.The citizenship development of junior high school students was greatly influenced by peoples and courses. 2.The citizenship development of junior high school students was influenced by activities, programs of teachers, and experiences in elementary school. 3.Most of junior high school students in Taiwan were in horizontal social relationships.