Journal of Social Science Education (JSSE - Universität Bielefeld)
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Variations of Young Germans’ Informal Conceptions of Financial and Economic Crises Phenomena
Get PDFThe development of a sound understanding of financial and economic crises phenomena must be considered an important goal within the scope of citizenship, economic and social science education. As with every other educational endeavour, this intention requires solid information about what informal conceptions learners hold about this specific aspect of reality. However, even though this necessity is widely acknowledged, respective theoretical and empirical research is rather scarce. The research to be presented here aims to contribute to filling this gap by exploring variations in young Germans’ common-sense conceptions of financial and economic crises phenomena. The research activities adhere to a comprehensive view of how economic issues should be involved in education. Moreover, a phenomenographic research approach is adopted. This approach was implemented in an interview study with 56 secondary school students in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). Besides this study, the paper also considers evidence from German survey data. In the interview study, four different conceptions (i.e., denial of the crisis, magical thinking, optimism, realism) could be reconstructed, which vary with respect to whether students’ awareness of specific facets of the crisis was given or not. In addition, from this study as well as from the survey data, an excessively optimistic attitude was stated in young Germans. This attitude, however, seems to be more a symptom of insecurity and overstrain than a manifestation of a profound comprehension. These results are discussed with regard to the design of formal curricula and instruction
Social Background, Civic Education and Political Participation of Young People – the German Case
Get PDFDue to social and political change the process of young citizens’ political socialization was put on a new basis in West European democracies over the last decades. In this article we discuss some aspects of this development and show their consequences. We analyse empirical findings from Germany, focussing on the relevant social factors which influence the individual propensity to participate in politics. The impact of the financial and economic crisis in Europe on political attitudes will also be considered, taking in account sociological aspects. Based on the empirical findings we discuss implications for civic education. In contrast to many discussions in literature about this issue, in which the focus is on the need to put the various influences of political socialization into a broader context, we argue that the parental social background is the crucial upstream factor, prior to e.g. civic education. The conclusion indicates that a group‐specific educational approach, taking into account the social background, is the most promising one for reaching the normative goal of civic education: Politically self‐determined citizens.Aufgrund der sozialen und politischen Veränderungen ist die politische Sozialisation Jugendlicher in den Westeuropäischen Demokratien auf eine neue Grundlage gestellt worden. In diesem Beitrag diskutieren wir Aspekte dieser Entwicklung und zeigen, welche Folgen sich aus diesen ergeben. Wir analysieren empirische Befunde aus Deutschland mit dem Schwerpunkt auf die Frage, welche sozialen Faktoren relevant sind für die individuelle politische Partizipationsbereitschaft. Der Einfluss der Finanz‐ und Wirtschaftskrise in Europa auf politische Einstellungen wird dabei ebenfalls betrachtet. Dies geschieht unter Berücksichtigung der soziologischen Aspekte. Auf Grundlage der Ergebnisse Fragen wir nach den Folgen für die politische Bildung. Im Gegensatz zu dem in der Literatur häufig vertretenen Ansatz, die politische Sozialisation in einem breiten Kontext zu betrachten, verweisen wir auf die hohe Bedeutung des Ausgangspunktes von Sozialisationsprozessen, die soziale Herkunft. Diese ist anderen Faktoren der politischen Sozialisation, wie der politischen Bildung, vorgelagert. Um das normative Ziel der politischen Bildung zu erreichen, den „politisch selbstbestimmten Bürger“ ist ein gruppenspezifischer Ansatz, der die soziale Herkunft berücksichtigt, am vielversprechendsten
Encouraging Classroom Discussion
Get PDFClassroom discussion has the potential to enhance the learning environment and encourages students to become active participants in the educational process. Student participation in classroom discussion has been shown to significantly improve the student learning experience. Research suggests that classroom discussion is an effective method for encouraging student classroom participation and for motivating student learning beyond the classroom. Participation in classroom discussion encourages students to become active collaborators in the learning process, while at the same time providing instructors with a practical method of assessing student learning. Classroom discussion is an effective tool for developing higher-level cognitive skills like critical thinking. Despite the potential discussion holds for student learning, many in academia lament the lack of participation in the classroom. The lack of student participation in classroom discussion is not a recent problem; it is one that has frustrated instructors for decades. Instructors report that some of the more current methods for encouraging classroom discussion can be exasperating and at times non-productive. This two-year study of 510 college and university students provides insight into the reasons why some students do not participate in classroom discussion. This study, which also elicited input from sixteen college and university professors and two high school teachers, offers some suggestions for creating and encouraging an environment conducive to student participation in the classroom
Practice as Prize: Citizenship Education in two Primary Classrooms in Ireland
Get PDFWhile citizenship education forms part of the formal curriculum at primary level in Ireland, its inclusion as a strand unit of Social, Personal and Health Education, rather than as a discrete subject, tends to make it less visible. In practice, citizenship education is strongly influenced by external agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in the field as the dominant producers of teaching resources and programmes in the area. In many cases, these programmes are award-driven, requiring schools to compete with others for recognition or to exemplify a particular standard of practice. Using thick description (Geertz 1973) and teachers\u27 narratives, this article presents two cases based on the practice of two experienced primary teachers who negotiate the complex space between professional practice and the particular agendas of external agencies and NGOs. Focusing on two exemplars of their teaching, the article locates their work within the broader context of citizenship education in Ireland, highlighting the extent to which the exemplars chosen typify or challenge existing practice. The article includes the outline plans used by the participating teachers and draws on an extended dialogue between the participants and the researchers in which issues relating to citizenship education, classroom and whole school practice and the broader educational context were discussed and probed
Teaching Human Rights in Turkey: Commentaries on a Single Lesson from Multiple Perspectives
Get PDFA lesson on human rights in Turkey is analyzed for its representativity and methodology within the Turkish teaching culture from the viewpoint of a Turkish researcher, an American teacher and curriculum developer, and a German teacher
The Greek Financial Crisis: Discourses of Difference or Solidarity?
Get PDFThe so-called Greek Financial Crisis, which has been the object of close attention in the German media since the end of 2009, has caused a public debate on who should be held responsible for the decline of crisis-hit Greece, the common currency and the Eurozone. The media’s enduring and controversial public discussion has lately been referred to as the Greek bashing. When the crisis had spread much further in 2012 and also other countries suffered from high debt, economic stagnation and unemployment, the news coverage became more moderate. This project report highlights the role of medial discourses of difference and solidarity during the crisis. Therefore, we rely on an exemplary data-set that does not only take the development of the German media’s tenor on the Greek Crisis into consideration, but also adds an international perspective in order to compare the medial treatment of different countries involved. The study methodologically focuses on the analysis of (metaphorical) language and grammatical structures in the news coverage of the German daily newspaper BILD, the German magazine SPIEGEL as well as the international news magazines Economist (Great Britain) and TIME (USA). Therefore, the interdisciplinary approach of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used in order to produce insights into public discourses in sociopolitical contexts.Deutsche Medien haben der sogenannten Griechischen Finanzkrise erhebliche Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Im Hinblick auf die Verantwortlichkeiten für den Niedergang Griechenlands, für die Krise des Euros und der Eurozone war die öffentliche Meinung in Deutschland gespalten. Damit einher ging eine anhaltende und kontroverse mediale Diskussion, die aufgrund des teils rüden Stils alsbald als Greek bashing bezeichnet wurde. Nachdem sich die Krise 2012 auf andere Mitgliedsstaaten ausdehnte und dort zu hoher Staatsverschuldung, ökonomischer Stagnation und Arbeitslosigkeit führte, nahmen Mediendiskurse (auch zu Griechenland) etwas moderatere Züge an. In unserem Projektbericht rekonstruieren wir die Rolle, die Mediendiskurse der Differenz und der Solidarität im Verlauf der Krise gespielt haben. Beispielhaft zeichnen wir diesen Prozess an Daten aus deutschen Medien nach, ergänzen diesen Blickwinkel jedoch durch eine zusätzliche, internationale Perspektive, indem wir die Ergebnisse einer vergleichenden Analyse ausgewählter Medien aus drei Ländern präsentieren. Methodologisch stützen wir uns auf Analysen (metaphorischen) Sprachgebrauchs und grammatischer Strukturen in den Berichterstattungen des deutschen Boulevardblattes BILD sowie der Nachrichtenmagazine SPIEGEL (Deutschland), Economist (Großbritannien) und TIME (USA). Wir bedienen uns des interdisziplinären Ansatzes der Kritischen Diskursanalyse (KDA), um Einsichten in öffentliche Diskurse in soziopolitischen Kontexten zu fördern
Review of the Book: Ali A. Abdi and Paul R. Carr (Eds.), Educating for Democratic Consciousness: Counter-Hegemonic Possibilities
Get PDFSocial Media and the Idle No More Movement: Citizenship, Activism and Dissent in Canada
Get PDFThis paper, informed by a critique of traditional understandings of citizenship and civic education, explores the use of social media as a means of fostering activism and dissent. Specifically, the paper explores the ways in which the Idle No More Movement, which began in Canada in 2012 marshalled social media to educate about and protest Bill C-45, an omnibus budget bill passed by the Federal Government. The paper argues that Idle No More is demonstrative of young people’s commitments to social change and willingness to participate in active forms of dissent. As such, it presents opportunities for fostering ethically engaged citizenship through greater knowledge and awareness of Indigenous issues in Canada, which necessarily requires an understanding of the historical and contemporary legacies of colonialism that continually position First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples as ‘lesser’ citizens. Finally, the paper suggests that the example of Idle No More stands in contrast to the notion of a “civic vacuum” that is often used to justify the re-entrenchment of traditional civic education programs in schools and as such, can be used as a pedagogic tool to teach for and about dissent.
Active Citizenship in University Education: Lessons Learnt in Times of Crisis
Get PDFDespite the fact that historically the university has been the par excellence locus for the discussion of public issues and the formation of citizens, current European Union education policies promote and foster citizenship in secondary education, while the civic dimension of higher education is less prominent. This paper presents the case study of a small peripheral Greek university, which provides for the teaching of citizenship, through a dedicated taught module. According to the analysis a strategy of exposure to current problems, heightened due to the crisis in Greece, has affected students’ behaviour and their understanding of the concept of “active citizenship” as promoted by European Union policy. Finally implications are drawn for the prospect of promoting active citizenship through university education