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Bringing Democratic Theory into Didactical Practice. Concepts of Education for Democracy Among Norwegian Pre-service Teachers

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Abstract

Democracy is highlighted in the Norwegian school system. This article investigates how pre-service teachers in social studies understand the more theoretical concept of democracy, and in what ways they intend to operationalize it with future pupils. Three ideal types are used to locate perspectives in the data: pure liberalist, majority rule and deliberative models of democracy. The findings indicate that perceptions of democracy in the sample are most commonly associated with core aspects of liberal democracy through a general focus on elections and voting, majority rule and individual civil liberties. A striking finding is the highly apparent internalization of participation as a norm and ideal in itself. However, ideas of contents and didactical implications of participation varies among respondents. As many also display a seemingly restricted interpretation of the political sphere, this might imply a thin understanding of democratic participation. The article further points out that translating concepts from political science into pedagogical notions is not a straightforward endeavor.

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Notes

  1. All these forms of democracy have roots in liberal philosophy. However, the use of the forms here connected with certain practices justifies their distinction. When referring to liberalist democracy here, the understanding is grounded in ideas of classical liberalism with a focus on atomist individualism, notably reestablished more recently by Robert Nozick with the work Anarchy, State and Utopia (1974).

  2. For more information, visit http://doingdemocracy.ning.com/.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by University of South Eastern Norway.

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  1. Department of Culture, Religion and Social Studies, University of South Eastern Norway, Grønland 58, 3007, Drammen, Norway

    Kristin Gregers Eriksen

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  1. Kristin Gregers Eriksen
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Correspondence to Kristin Gregers Eriksen.

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Eriksen, K.G. Bringing Democratic Theory into Didactical Practice. Concepts of Education for Democracy Among Norwegian Pre-service Teachers. Interchange 49, 393–409 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-018-9332-7

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