Students’ Understanding of the Concept of Democracy and Implications for Teacher Education in Social Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5617/adno.2437Keywords:
Democracy, concepts, understanding, teacher education, social studies, democratic theoryAbstract
Tidligere studier viser at norske skoleelever er kunnskapsrike om og viser sterk støtte til demokrati, og gir uttrykk for sentrale demokratiske holdninger. Vi vet at det må arbeides aktivt for å opprettholde disse kvalitetene, selv i stabile demokratier. Vi vet imidlertid lite om hvordan elever forstår og forklarer demokrati som fagbegrep. Dette er kunnskap som kan være verdifull for lærere og lærerutdannere i arbeidet for å oppfylle læreplanens formål i samfunnsfaget. I samfunnskunnskap er ikke demokratibegrepet bare sentralt for forståelse og deltakelse i faget, men også for elevers demokratiske deltakelse utenfor skolen. Denne artikkelen undersøker norske 16-åringers forståelse av demokratibegrepet, og bygger på semi-strukturerte gruppeintervjuer med til sammen 23 elever fra tre videregående skoler. Et sentralt funn er at elevene først og fremst uttrykker en liberal forståelse av demokrati med fokus på stemmegivning i valg som den viktigste formen for politisk deltakelse. I tilknytning til dette kan elevene sies å vise mer eller mindre begrenset eller utvidet forståelse av begrepet. I tillegg til å presentere og diskutere elevers forståelse av begrepet demokrati, ser denne artikkelen på mulige implikasjoner for lærerutdanning i samfunnskunnskap. Én implikasjon er at lærerutdannere aktivt bør involvere lærerstudentene i å diskutere og definere sentrale begreper. Dette kan være med på å støtte lærerstudentenes profesjonelle utvikling, og, gjennom dette, utvikle ungdommers muligheter for demokratisk deltakelse. Et slikt dobbelt fokus kan bidra med en kunnskapsbase som hjelper lærerstudenter i deres første år som praktiserende lærere.
Nøkkelord: demokrati, begreper, forståelse, lærerutdanning, samfunns-kunnskap, samfunnsfag
Abstract
According to recent studies, Norwegian students are knowledgeable about and show strong support for democracy, as well as demonstrate democratic attitudes. These qualities must be actively encouraged and maintained also in successful democracies. Little is known, however, about how students understand and explain democracy as a subject-specific concept. Such knowledge may be valuable for social studies teachers and teacher educators to fulfil the purpose of the social studies curriculum. The present article investigates 16-year-old students’ understanding of the concept of democracy. In social studies, the concept of democracy is essential not only for disciplinary understanding and discourse, but also for students’ out-of-school democratic participation. To investigate students’ understanding of this concept, semi-structured group interviews were conducted with a total of 23 students at three different Norwegian upper secondary schools. A central finding is that students primarily expressed a liberal understanding of democracy focusing on voting in elections as the main political activity. Students also demonstrated more or less limited or elaborate understanding. In addition to presenting and discussing students’ understandings of the concept of democracy, this article considers implications for teacher education in social studies. One implication is that teacher educators need to engage actively in discussing and defining core concepts with their students. This is related to supporting student teachers’ professional development and in turn developing adolescents’ opportunities for democratic participation. Such a dual focus can provide a knowledge base to help student teachers in their professional development in their first years as practicing teachers.
Keywords: democracy, concepts, understanding, teacher education, social studies, democratic theory
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