Journal of Social Science Education (JSSE - Universität Bielefeld)
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Is the coronavirus created by the government to control us? Critical thinking and conspiracy beliefs among Norwegian youth in upper secondary schools
Full text linkResearch on belief in conspiracy theories among youth is an unexplored field in the Nordic context.
Research also indicates a negative correlation between critical thinking skills and conspiracy beliefs.
The results show that more than 50% of the pupils report having learned ‘much’ or ‘very much’ about critical thinking, but very little about conspiracy theories.
The results show that the pupils believe in conspiracy theories only to a minor extent, but there are significant differences in the degree of conspiracy beliefs.
Purpose:
The aim of this article is to contribute new knowledge about critical thinking in social studies and conspiracy beliefs in Norwegian schools. We explore Norwegian high school pupils’ self-reported learning about critical thinking in social studies and their attitudes toward conspiracy theories.
Design/methodology/approach: The survey focuses on what the pupils have learned about critical thinking and conspiracy theories in social studies.
Findings: The results show that the pupils believe in conspiracy theories only to a minor extent. We found no significant association between how much they think they have learned about critical thinking, and conspiracy beliefs. However, there are significant differences in the degree of conspiracy beliefs and several of the background variables.
Research limitations/implications: The findings are discussed in terms of the increasing focus on critical thinking as part of the social science subjects in school. We suggest that conspiracy theories should be taught both with an empathic strategy and with a clear focus on critical thinking skills, rather than through a confrontational approach.
 
War narratives, trust, lifeworld, participation and post-conflict society: The JSSE open issue 2023
Full text linkTeachers\u27 perceptions of cultural capital: How do they influence the teaching of civic, social and political education?
Full text link Highlights
− Teachers of citizenship education in lower SES schools emphasise voting and elections in their teaching approach.
− Teachers of citizenship education in fee-paying schools emphasise political structures, national politics and social responsibility.
− Teachers of citizenship education in lower SES schools tend to emphasise personal responsibility.
− Teachers of citizenship education in fee-paying schools tend to focus on participatory citizenship.
− There is little evidence of justice-oriented citizenship education in Irish schools.
Purpose: This study examines whether differences exist in the teaching of CSPE across school types: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), fee-paying and ‘other’ schools. The study also examines whether such differences are linked to students’ cultural capital.
Design Methodology: A survey of 222 Irish CSPE teachers was used to identify differences in their teaching of CPSE. Responses were analysed by statistical and thematic analysis. The findings are discussed in relation to Bourdieu and Passeron’s work on cultural capital and Westheimer and Kahne’s typology of three forms of citizenship.
Findings: CSPE in DEIS schools was aligned with personally responsible citizenship, whereas CSPE in fee-paying schools tended to align with participatory citizenship. In other schools there were elements of both personally responsible and participatory citizenship.
Research limitations: The results are not generalisable. Furthermore, the findings are based on the teachers’ espoused practice rather than observation of their actual practice
Taking the “terror” out of “terrorism”: The promise and potential of fear reducing education
Full text linkPurpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how education can help students develop democratic resilience as a bulwark against terror-induced fear, securitization, and possibly even extremism itself.
Approach: This article presents findings from a qualitative study exploring security governance in Norwegian secondary schools. The empirical corpus draws on 16 semi-structured interviews with educators to explore their perspectives on security governance in schools.
Findings: The securitization of education risks normalizing fear culture in schools. Trust can likely be used to prevent or reduce the emergence of such fear. This study explores educational narratives by analyzing how a combination of cognitive trust and emotional trust may help students to build democratic resilience against terror-induced fear. In this context, helping students develop more sophisticated understandings of the social world and ensuring trustful relationships is a promising peacebuilding and potentially de-securitizing approach to explore in education
Education as prevention: Intersectional feminism in security spaces
Full text linkPurpose: This article argues that the inclusion of education in prevention creates space to address long standing concerns about the racialized and gendered problems created by traditional security approaches
Design/methodology/approach: The article uses intersectional feminism as it’s theoretical lens/basis.
Findings: Education can be a space that allows for more women, non-binary persons, and people of color to engage as policy actors in the prevention of violent extremism. While policy documents emphasize the role education plays, and alludes to the presence of women, non-binary persons, and people of color in education, the research and application often overlooks these perspectives
Measuring citizenship competences: Assessment of measurement invariance
Full text linkHighlights:
Standardised questionnaires are used to measure the outcomes of citizenship education.
A prerequisite for cross-group comparisons based on these questionnaires is an assessment of measurement invariance.
This study used data from 6035 students from 87 Dutch primary schools to examine the measurement invariance of citizenship knowledge, attitude, and skill across sex, socioeconomic position and migration background.
The measurement invariance was sufficient in most cases.
Periodic assessment of measurement invariance in instruments measuring citizenship competences is important due to the dynamic nature of the construct.
Purpose: Standardised questionnaires are used to measure the outcomes of citizenship education. These outcomes are often compared across groups to document different outcomes, for example, between boys and girls. A prerequisite for cross-group comparisons is an assessment of measurement invariance.
Methodology: This study used data from 6035 students from 87 Dutch primary schools to examine the measurement invariance of the Citizenship Competences Questionnaire (Ten Dam et al., 2011). Dutch schools use this questionnaire to gain insight into students’ citizenship knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Measurement invariance was assessed across sex, socioeconomic position, and migration background.
Findings: Measurement invariance was sufficient in most cases, allowing for cross-group comparisons of associations between latent constructs and their indicators, and in some cases, for cross-group comparisons of the latent means. We conclude by emphasising that periodic assessment of measurement invariance in instruments measuring citizenship competences is important due to the dynamic nature of the construct
Laboratori di cittadinanza digitale integrata e sostenibilità. Proposte di Unità di Apprendimento disciplinari e digitali per la secondaria di primo grado [Integrated digital citizenship and sustainability workshops. Proposals for disciplinary and digital learning units for lower secondary school]
Full text linkSocial science education under digital conditions: The role of creativity in media practices on social networks
Full text linkPurpose: This paper explores social media practices with an exemplarily focus on constructions of space and social movements. It aims at identifying prospects for social science education under digital conditions regarding the reconfiguration of content and possibilities for digital literacy.
Approach: By reviewing and summarizing popular strands of discussion on the application of social media practices in constructions of spaces and social movements, we identify common didactical themes from an educational perspective. Subsequently, we discuss social networks as real-world learning contexts in light of creative practices.
Findings: Building on this, we derive theoretical implications for social science education for teaching and learning within social networks with a special focus on creativity. Following this, we present implications for social science literacy as well as digital literacy, which are two sides of the same coin.
Practical implications: Finally, we present implications for future research and outline prospects for a future social science education
Constraints on and facilitators of young people’s participation: The case of border regions of mainland Portugal
Full text linkHighlights:
Young people are involved in diverse types of participation, being engaged, disengaged or unpolitical.
Young people perceive opportunities to organise initiatives but not to participate in local decisions.
Constraints on participation and responses to promote it were identified.
Context-specific barriers were mentioned by young people and policymakers.
Municipalities and schools are priority contexts for fostering youth participation.
Purpose: This article aims to assess constraints on and facilitators of youth participation in rural border regions. Knowledge about regional participation of young people is useful for developing territorialised policies.
Methodology: Using a mixed method approach designed in line with theories of civic and political participation and youth studies, we analysed responses from young people to a questionnaire (n = 3968) and interviews with policymakers (n = 36) and young people (n = 20).
Findings: Young people are involved in diverse types of civic and political participation and perceive more opportunities to organise initiatives than to participate in local decision-making. Constraints on participation relate to the distance between politics, governance institutions and young people, weak strategies of municipalities, lack of youth organisations and mobility. Facilitators of participation include supporting youth-led activities or involving young people in local decisions.
Research implications: the study contributes to understanding youth participation in rural regions