Journal of Social Science Education (JSSE - Universität Bielefeld)
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Citizenship Education in Slovenia after the Formation of the Independent State
Get PDFIn the present article we first describe how citizenship education is positioned in the curriculum of pre-university Slovene education. We then analyse the influence of various pedagogical and other concepts in the last fifteen years on the formation of legal provisions and curricular solutions, as well as on actual citizen-ship instruction in the state school. We first establish how influence is exerted – or could be exerted – on citizenship education by the interests of the Roman Catholic Church such that its own subject of denomina-tional religious education is implemented in the state school, along with general implications regarding ques-tions of which values should form the basis of education in the state school. Recently the question of moral education and the educational concept in the state school has come to the fore, and with this also the ques-tion of universal or particular values. In the continuation we analyse how the prevailing permissive paradigm influenced the very concept and implementation of the subject of Ethics and Society in the 1990s, and from the end of the previous decade onwards – after the implementation of curricular reforms – how it has influ-enced the subject of Citizenship Educational and Ethics
Civic Education in Estonia: Democratic or Authoritarian
Get PDFThe paper distinguishes between traditional formal and social theoretical concepts in education for democracy. On this basis, both Estonian and EU civic education systems are critically analysed. In both cases, the political literacy is not covered with adequate social theoretical concepts. Traditionally, there is a formal description of main political institutions outside of real social relations. Many social scholars have revealed that such an education but contributes to reproduction of the existing social structures. The Author develops a social theoretical approach to democracy and civic education. It relies on main social dichotomies like that of social actors and social structures, and institutional organization theory. It defines main social actors and models of decision making in main social spheres (economy, politics and education). These concepts are linked to social values (individual freedom and prosperity or social equality, solidarity and well-being) and social outcomes (effectiveness and justice). The author also uses these concepts to describe and analyze his students’ democratic knowledge, attitudes and experiences. An integration of social theoretical concepts and practices enables to achieve the ideal goals of democracy education. The paper also critically evaluates the existing civic education system (syllabus, textbooks and national examinations) in Estonia. The system focuses on delivery of some arbitrary texts. In schools with Russian instruction, the authoritarian Estonian civic education strengthens the authoritarian national attitudes of Russian students. As a result, it counteracts to the national integration of Russian students with the Estonian state
Transition to Democracy and Citizenship Education in Portugal: Changes and Continuities in the Curricula and in Adolescents’ Opportunities for Participation
Get PDFThe intense historical transformations in Portugal during the last 30 years have had a profound impact on the educational system and on its role in citizenship education. During this period, Portugal experienced dictatorship, the last socialist revolution in Europe (1974), the end of colonial empire and of colonial wars, the stabilization of a democratic regime and the entrance in the European Economic Community later to be trans-formed into the European Union. Such deep social and political transformation had strong implications in education and its mission in promoting democratic citizenship has been intensively discussed, with fears of ideological inculcation and a tension between conservative vs. emancipatory goals underpinning the curricular decisions in the field. This paper considers these transformations and articulates them with the perspective of adolescents in basic and secondary education regarding citizenship, politics and civic engagement and the actual opportunities for participation they feel they have in the family, the school, and the community. The bases for this discussion are two studies with Portuguese adolescents: the IEA Civic Education Study that involves three national representative samples of students from grade 8, 9 and 11; and a longitudinal study (2005-07) with adolescents from grades 9, 10 and 11. Results from both studies show a tendency for a dissatisfaction/distrust that young people have in relation to key-institutions of democracy (government, political parties) but, at the same time, the valuing of active citizenship and the emergence of new forms of participation. That oxymoron appears as a challenge to both researchers and teachers that might take advantage in being more aware of the quality of youngsters’ participation experiences in their various life contexts
“Shut Up When You Talkin with Me.” Civil Education in a Post-Communist Society Challenged by the Institutionalized Public Culture. The Case of Bulgaria
Get PDFThe paper provides a concise overview of the state of arts of civil education in Bulgaria giving proofs that the contents and values of CE basically contradict the fundamental cultural pattern which is embedded in the institutional design of the school system and the policies of the Ministry of Education. There is a tremendous tension between critical and hypocritical education in democracy. The discrepancy between public “talk” and institutional “action” in civil education is more than overt. This is why the more we concentrate our attention on texts (textbooks, expert publications, manuals for teachers, etc.) the higher level of advancement of CE we will encounter and vice versa – the more we study the school life as practice the less traits of civil culture we register. Hence, the main conclusion is that civil education cannot substitute or get ahead of the democ-ratic institution building; both processes should develop in accord with each other. Or they both would turn out to be abortive
Citizenship Through Faith and Feelings: Defining Citizenship in Citizenship Education. An Exemplary Textbook Analysis
Get PDFThis article describes the specifics of the definition of citizenship in citizenship education (CE). The ambiguity of understanding citizenship between status and active position is indicated and differentiate, and percep-tions of citizenship activity are revealed. The author proposes to build a typology of citizenship conceptions in CE, suggesting an analytical instrument for typology building (types of attitudes, reflected in and crucial for each conception of citizenship). Citizenship conceptions from two Russian textbooks are analysed in order to show reconstruction of their implicit meanings. A proposed analytical instrument for the typology building is applied to the reconstructed citizenship conceptions. The author proposes a demonstrated manner of analysis and typologisation as instruments for international studies on citizenship education
The History of Europe and its Constituent Countries. Considerations in Favour of the New Europe
Get PDFThis article analyses the process of the development of Europe. The discussion is divided into three parts. First, the idea of a European identity with its humanizing, civilizing and Christian dimensions; we will consider how this served as the original foundation for a European identity. The second part looks into the diverse attempts to create a united Europe based on efforts to overcome models which in their turn sprang from nationalist perspectives. Finally, it examines the idea of a European interculturism whose foundation is a commitment to ethics and education
The Vision of a Future Europe: Infectious or Infected? The Position of Education
Get PDFThis essay aims to examine the discourse that conceptualizes the educational exchange and the European culture within the framework of a theory of European identity construction. Then, I shall discuss the main positions of this discourse, their concern with the global market and their indifference about political and material inequalities. The following question is posed: which are the innovative proposals that could set in course an ideal of a unified, just and radical Europe? A first approach to it is provided by Habermas\u27 and Derrida\u27s recent publications. Their views constitute the starting point of my intervention in the debate on the educational future of Europe and the inculcation of a European identity in students\u27 consciousness. But my response to the above question challenges the kind of European philosophical discourse that does not rethink the main objectives of the social and political elites of Europe. I suggest that we criticize the dominant position of those elites and that we promote an alternative normativity of equality and justice. In the absence of such a normative condition, the bad side of modernity may continue to prevail and serve the material and symbolic interests of the privileged European classes
Generational Belonging and Mediascape in Europe
Get PDF"Web generation", "Nintendo generation", "e-generation" and so forth, are just a few among the popular generational definitions often mentioned not only in journalistic simplifications but also in scientific publications. This paper presents a theoretical examination of the implications and the limits of the generational approaches to audience research, in order to show under what conditions they can in fact be both relevant and useful. Refusing the simplifying attitude that dominates in popularization just quoted, the analysis develops the sociological tradition, drawn on the work of Mannheim, that studies the generations as a collective subject bound by a shared historical semantics, a resource of models of interpretation and linguistic devices by means of which experiences are thematicized and crystallized in a common "we-sense". On the basis of a certain body of empirical evidences, the authors outline some significant aspects and mechanisms of the mutually reinforcing relationship between media diet and generational semantics, pointing out the capacity of certain specific products to unite the generations in shared cultural legacy. The article concludes with a look to European framework, suggesting that a common European culture must be promoted by institutional strategies that look at the media as means for its dissemination, and that take stock both of local construction of identities and of cultural diversification between generations
Civil Society as a Network of Communities
Get PDFAccording to a political philosophy approach, civil society may be defined as the network of institutions of private origin and a public purpose in which communities share goods, meanings and values, significantly contributing to the progress or decline of governance. Its empowering role is growing as cooperation networks spread across the local, national, supranational and global levels, strengthening both the communities they serve and the governance procedures they legitimize. Those institutions cut through the “tabula rasa” model of political society, creating networks of cooperation among people with common or at least complementary fields of experience, aims and judgements. The building of a typology of institutions according to functions of care, culture, capital, and citizenship, enhances civil society as an intermediate between community and governance
Educating in European Identity?
No full textIn den letzten Jahrzehnten ist so manches Mal die Bedeutung einer „europäischen Identität” unterstrichen worden, manches Mal, um die Distanz der Bürger zum europäischen Projekt zu übrebrücken; andere Mal, um die Vertiefung dieses Projektes überhaupt zu ermöglichen. Der Autor unterzieht diesen Begriff einer kritischen Überprüfung, im Rahmen der Problematik der kollektiven Identitäten überhaupt, und unterscheidet zwischen Identität und Identifizierung, deren Bedeutung unterstrichen wird. Gefragt wird wie diese zu vermitteln sei und welche Rolle dabei die Erziehung spiele. Schliesslich wird auch Bezug auf die Allgemeinbildung genommen und speziell auf die Kenntnis des sogenannten „europäischen Erbes.”In the last decades, the claim for a "European identity" has been manifested sometimes as a solution for the citizens\u27 distance to the European project, sometimes also as a precondition for a further development of the project itself. The paper submits these manifestations to a critical evaluation, bringing to the fore some prob-lems connected with the concept of collective identity. It distinguishes between identity and identification, underlines the relevance of the last one and asks how to implement this identification and in which way the education can contribute to this effort. The knowledge of the cultural heritage is underlined