Journal of Social Science Education (JSSE - Universität Bielefeld)
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The Prediction of Political Competencies by Political Action and Political Media Consumption
Get PDFPolitical competencies are often considered a precondition for political action; however, they are not independent of previous political participation, which may also include the frequency and the kind of political media consumption. My research aims at finding out the importance of participation in political activities in the past, as well as taking over civic responsibility in positions at school or university for cognitive political competencies. The focus is on structural political knowledge of the polity, symbolic political knowledge about political figures and actors, and political reasoning. The main hypothesis reads that the media primarily influence symbolic political knowledge, while structural political knowledge is mainly achieved by active political participation. The ability of political reasoning is assumed to be equally influenced by both, media consumption and political participation. By using a small, homogeneous sample of university students, these hypotheses are examined by taking into consideration socio-demographic control variables and political interest in statistical analyses and by considering differential effects of various political activities and different forms of political media consumption. The results are primarily discussed with respect to potential future research and by considering political education in modern societies.
Justice in and through education? Students’ participation in decision-making
Get PDFDrawing on one year of ethnographic work in three Swedish lower secondary schools, this article problematizes students’ participation in decision-making in everyday school life in the perspective of social justice. In order to extend the traditional liberal understanding of justice and include also relational, procedurial, social and cultural aspects of justice, the analysis focuses on the range, depth and breadth of the participation. The analysis highlights how students’ participation in decision-making was curtailed and restricted in ways that referred to both the range and the depth of the participation. There were also deficiencies as regards the breadth. The analysis indicates inconveniences as regards students’ participation in decision-making in the perspective of social justice. At the same time it raises questions about social justice in educational contexts – to what extent is it possible to reach a social just school and classroom culture? Based on this analysis, it is argued that school actors need to be more explicit about the institutional frameworks and boundaries that regulate and frame students’ participation in decision-making in school. Such an approach might facilitate for students and staff to negotiate within these frameworks to a greater extent than was the case in these three schools. It is also argued that more students need to be involved in decision-making
Ways of Thinking Globalisation – Insights into a Currently Running Investigation of Students´ Ideas of Globalization
Get PDFThe investigation is about which ideas ninth form students at grammar schools and secondary modern schools have about globalisation. It shall be investigated if the perception of and judgement on globalisation-connected contexts happens along social structure-specific patterns. At first, by way of a questionnaire, the field of ideas is supposed to be broadly recorded, a selection of interview partners based on the results of the questionnaire aims at a deeper analysis of the students´ ideas. Knowledge of these subjective preconditions for learning, as far as the topic of globalisation is concerned, is supposed to provide empirically-grounded hints for what curricula in the political-economic field of learning might look like. Apart from the education-political background, also the methodical outline of the investigation is described. This is followed by a presentation of the results of the analysis of the questionnaire
The European Cooperation is Facing New Challenges - Some Impact on Citizenship Education in the Netherlands
Get PDFThe crisis in Europe constitutes a major test for the very pursuit of European integration and for its legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens. In this paper a number of striking economic aspects of the crisis will be discussed next to political tensions concerning sensitive issues. Given the decline in the support for the European integration among the public over the past years it is necessary to improve the quality of citizenship education on European issues and to use a more critical approach. Teaching and learning in a balanced manner is necessary about issues like migration, free movement, populist political parties, enlargement and other themes, besides other regular topics. In contrast to current opinions we argue that to reach not only the higher levels of secondary schools but also the lower levels a too strong social-constructivist approach is not effective. Complicated European issues need a good instruction by the teacher in combination with an attractive didactical approach that builds on a common core European orientation curriculum improving students’ knowledge and skills and thus enhancing opinions and attitudes
Using Classroom Recordings in Educational History Research. An East German Civics Lesson
Get PDFStudents learned in civics lessons in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) that their socialist society uniquely guaranteed all individuals the right to work, and that, as good socialists, they had the duty to take on socially meaningful work. Using the example of a video recording of an East German civics lesson and its transcription, this article demonstrates how to use audio-visual sources in historical scholarship on educational research. In this manner, we offer a new source in the evaluation of the East German state’s attempt to socialize young East Germans to value work as part of their socialist responsibility to the nation.Im Staatsbürgerkundeunterricht der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (DDR) sollte den Schüler_innen vermittelt werden, dass nur in einer sozialistischen Gesellschaft das Recht auf Arbeit gesichert ist und dass damit auch die Pflicht eines sozialistischen Staatsbürgers zu gesellschaftlich nützlicher Tätigkeit verbunden ist. Am Beispiel einer Videoaufzeichnung einer Unterrichtstunde zu dieser Thematik und ausgewählten Transkriptauszügen diskutiert der Artikel, wie audiovisuelle Quellen in der historischen Unterrichtsforschung genutzt werden können. Diskutiert werden damit auch die Möglichkeiten der Erschließung einer neuen Quelle zur Erforschung des Versuchs staatlich organisierter Erziehung, die den Schüler_innen die Bedeutung von Arbeit als eine sozialistische Errungenschaft und als Verpflichtung jedes sozialistischen Staatsbürgers zugleich vermitteln sollte
The Effects of the Economic Crisis on Inter-Ethnic Relations in Cypriot Schools
Get PDFThe aim of the paper is to examine the effects of the current economic crisis in the way teenagers experience and report interethnic relations with emphasis on interethnic violence in the school environment in Cyprus. It will report findings from an EU funded project which was recently completed (2012) titled: “Children’s voices: Exploring interethnic violence in schools”. Through an eclectic analysis on interview transcripts from group interviews with teenagers (16-17 year old) it emerges that in Cyprus there is an environment of growing concern about the presence of migrants in society and this has direct and indirect effects on education. Overall there are mixed perceptions about interethnic tolerance in schools ranging from negative to (politically correct) positive ones. While the prevalent discourse of multiculturalism in Cyprus uses the rhetoric of integration, what appears to be happening in the Cypriot educational system, is assimilation practices focusing on language acquisition. The findings of the empirical investigation point to interesting directions for educational policy regarding the whole gamut of interethnic relations in Cyprus at a period in time when the current economic crisis appears to have largely negative effects on multiculturalism. The paper concludes with a discussion on the way the Ministry of Education and schools in Cyprus respond to the above challenges and the prospects for the near future
Political Bildung in the Context of Discipline, Instruction, and Moral Guidance
Get PDFJohann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841) is considered the founding father of the science of education. In this article, I will try to show that Herbart sees the promotion of political Bildung as the task of discipline, instruction, and moral guidance, and that his work presents important components of a theory of political Bildung within an educational setting. According to Herbart, the political relationship to self and the world relates to issues that not only affect the lives of some but of a majority of people. But it is not people’s collective life as such that is the point of orientation for the political relationship to self and the world, but only the collective life where problems have arisen. According to Herbart, politics results from a conflict about the question as to how to regulate people’s collective life. While discipline, by providing the basic preconditions for instruction and moral guidance, makes merely an indirect contribution to political Bildung, the two latter forms of education – instruction and moral guidance – serve as the actual means by which political Bildung is achieved
