Trends and dilemmas in citizenship education

This article elaborates some important trends and discussions in citizenship education. It seems that there are strong arguments from scientific scholars which express opposition to a focus on only formal facts and democratic procedures in the teaching of citizenship education. This approach is also...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNordidactica Vol. 2013; no. 1; pp. 180 - 200
Main Author Solhaug, Trond
Format Journal Article
LanguageDanish
English
Published Karlstads Universitet 01.08.2013
Subjects
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
DEMOCRACY
Political Science
Statsvetenskap
TEACHER DILEMMAS
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN2000-9879
2000-9879

Cover

More Information
Summary:This article elaborates some important trends and discussions in citizenship education. It seems that there are strong arguments from scientific scholars which express opposition to a focus on only formal facts and democratic procedures in the teaching of citizenship education. This approach is also criticized by students for its meaninglessness and irrelevance. There also seems to be relative agreement that democracies are being challenged for various reasons, that school plays an important role in citizenship education, that republicanism is the preferred framework, and that students construct their own views of the world (constructivist learning processes). Despite this rather general agreement, there remain quite a few important dilemmas and also disagreements in the field of citizenship education. Among these are: the conceptualization of democracy, the knowledge to be presented, adopting a national versus a global perspective, the maturity of young citizens regarding the question of multiculturalism, and approaches to teaching (particularly providing room for criticism). These and other dilemmas are discussed, and a summary of recommendations is put forward.
ISSN:2000-9879
2000-9879