Journal of Social Science Education (JSSE - Universität Bielefeld)
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The Power of Ideas. The Teaching of Economics and its Image of Man
Get PDFEconomics as a science not only investigates what is (as a positive science) and what should be (as a normative science), but influences, through its fundamental ideas, what facts and norms are recognized as such in society. This holds especially true for economic education. My article explains this thesis and elaborates, in particular, how this form of education stipulates a particular vision of human beings worldwide. First, I show how economics actively seeks to influence the inscription of the commonplace image of the human through economics education. Second, I discuss economics as a textbook science in Thomas Kuhn’s sense: as a science incapable of giving the students any plural or critical understanding of their self and the world. In the third step, I identify the essential features of the human image lying at the base of the economic curriculum; an image (so I argue), which splits society into mere cogs in the machine of the economy on the one side and omnipotent social engineers on the other side
Native Students Attitudes towards Equal Rights for Immigrants. A Study in 18 European Countries
Get PDFThe present study investigates the determinants of native student attitudes towards equal rights for immigrants giving particular attention to the effect of immigrant share in the classroom and the extent to which it can be generalized across country contexts. The contribution sheds some new light on the validity of the contact hypothesis, which suggests that mixing native and immigrant students in schools and classrooms can contribute to higher levels of support for immigrants’ rights. The analyses were conducted across 18 countries participating to the ICCS survey in 2009. For the analyses we applied a three-level multilevel model controlling for individual, classroom, and country characteristics. We tested a random slope for immigrant share in the classroom at country level, and we modeled both linear and quadratic effects of immigrant share. The overall pattern suggests that in most countries there is a small positive effect of immigrant share, which does not change dramatically in direction or size at higher immigrant share levels
A Critical Review of International Studies into Citizenship and Citizenship Education - Lessons for Citizenship Education in Slovenia
Get PDFReferring to a critical review of eight international research initiatives (e.g. studies, surveys, research reports) conducted between 2001 and 2010 in the field of citizenship and citizenship education, this paper examines the relationship between different conceptualisations of citizenship and the nature, role and impact of citizenship education. I focus on the European aspects of these research initiatives and draw on the knowledge they disseminate to reflect on the theory of citizenship and the practice of citizenship education in Slovenia. First, I present an overview of the methodology used in the literature review and reflect on the significant limitations in conducting international and comparative research. Second, I reflect on the various relationships between different conceptualisations of citizenship and their effects on citizenship education practices as presented in the overviewed literature. On the basis of the knowledge and results of the literature review, I then make several observations which are relevant to the advancement of citizenship theory and citizenship education practice in Slovenia. Finally, I argue that different conceptualisations of citizenship can have a significant influence on the practice of citizenship education, as evinced by the analysis of the recent results on civic knowledge in Slovenia
Civics Courses in the German Democratic Republic (GDR): A Case Study in the History of Curriculum and Educational Research
Get PDFCivics courses in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) were intended to educate students to become socialist personalities. The didactical and ideological structure of the course, however, created internal contradictions that turned civics into an “impossible” course. This case study offers a model for conducting educational research into a single course curriculum using a multi-perspective analysis
Vote for Me! Electing a Class Monitor in a Chinese Middle School
No full textPlease Vote for Me is a film produced in China, but provoking hot discussion all over the world. Because bare-knuckled threats, outright lies, well-placed bribes, and well-resourced lobbyists happen among eight-yearolds without a savvy politician’s script. To any Chinese, this is the best material to review Chinese democracy. However, electoral politics is the system, but not the democracy itself. Similarly, the Chinese Electoral Law is the foundation of the Chinese political system, which does not mean democracy in reality. Therefore, it can be reviewed and adjusted to be more suitable for a better democracy
From Internationalism to Internationalisation: the Illusion of a Global Community in Higher Education
Get PDFBoth global education and international education are movements designed to promote the concepts of internationalism and global community in national education systems, but with different histories. While the former, a grassroots K-12 movement, has struggled to make headway against the forces of neoliberalism, the latter has thrived in a market-driven era in which revenue from international student mobility has offset declining public funding of higher education in many developed countries. Current trends in the internationalisation of higher education have resulted in increasing commercialisation and intensive competition for international students, fuelled by world rankings of elite universities. Tensions exist between these trends and the more altruistic goals of international education proclaimed in institutional mission statements and government policies. An analytical matrix is offered as a tool with which higher education institutions can map their internationalisation activities and assess the extent to which they match their stated policies and missions. While the rhetoric of international education purports to promote the concept of a global community, the article suggests this claim may be illusory
The Impact of Economic Crises on the Perception and Knowledge Level of Students Regarding Economic and Financial Concepts
Get PDFEconomic crisis, during the past two years, has an impact on Greek students of 17 years old. Elements of the crisis have intruded on their everyday life. Economic and financial concepts constitute part of their attempt to understand the world they live in and as a result affect their educational level. This paper is an exploratory attempt to study the effects of economic crisis in the economics knowledge of Greek students using a sample of 62 Senior High School (lyceum) students. Data analyzed consists of a 30 question exam based on the Test of Economic Literacy (TEL) developed by the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) and a questionnaire which was given at the end of the exam. The survey was conducted in two different periods in 2010-2011 & 2011-2012. Results indicate that students level of knowledge of economic and financial concepts, concerning the crisis, is considerably high compared with quantitative results from the U.S. national norming sample of the TEL
New Theories and Practice in Social Studies in Japan: Is Citizenship Education the Aim of Social Studies as a School Subject?
Get PDFThis paper aims to introduce new theories and practice in Social Studies in Japan since the 1990s, to outline some trends and characteristics relating to the question ‘Is Citizenship Education the aim of Social Studies as a school subject?’ and to identify ‘Applied’ and ‘Academic’ Social Studies as two separate categories. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology has long advocated the merits of Applied Social Studies, but recent trends have seen educational researchers and local education administrators actively supporting the reformation and promotion of Social Studies from an ‘applied’ perspective. Going even further, several schools and districts are so in favour of this development that Citizenship Education has been incorporated as a subject or topic into the school curriculum. However, defence of Academic Social Studies is also deeply rooted; its argument being that Social Studies means Social Sciences. According to this view, Geography, History and Civics (comprising politics, economics and sociology) are treated as distinct fields of Social Studies
Education of Roma Women Between Feminism and Multiculturalism Study Case: Roma Women in Romania
No full textIn the present paper I analyze the way gender relations and women’s rights are negotiated inside the minority communities living in Romania. The paper highlights the intersection between ethnicity and gender, and the struggle between conserving the identity as well as norms and values of the traditional Roma communities. My main theoretical approach is based on Okin’s (1998, 1999) view that there is an existent tension between feminism and multiculturalism, between group rights and individual rights. I analyse the way the state’s decision to protect the identity of a community (in order to give groups the total freedom to decide their private sphere of life) may affect the rights of the individuals who are part of that community. The paper specifically investigates how access to education is negotiated between traditional Roma communities and the Romanian state, moreover, and looks closely at how such negotiations affect the Roma women in their decisions making. Concerning these issues, I analyze the situation of Roma women’s rights in the context of the intersection between patriarchal societies and Romanian society in which gender inequalities have been minimalized and women have won rights and freedoms equal with the one owned by men. Finally, I intend to draw suggestions for public policies through which individual rights a group rights should become compatible but without the harm of the first