Democratic Experience and the Democratic Challenge: A Historical and Comparative Citizenship Education Study of Scandinavian Schools

Abstract

In Scandinavian schools, there is a significant tradition for creating a democratic context of experience; this tradition is gradually being challenged by new political and economic movements and increasing focus on tests, assessments, knowledge, and skills. The purpose of this study is to analyze and discuss the status of the current context of experience in Scandinavian schools and the students' perceptions of the classroom environment. The study is based on a historical and secondary analysis of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS). The ICCS is large-scale comparative study investigating more than 140,000 Year 8 students in more than 5,300 schools from 38 countries. The conclusion is that the Scandinavian school still, to a considerable degree, develops a democratic and open environment. However, this is not without challenges. The results reveal an asymmetry between the open dialogue-based classroom and the students' poor influence in decision-making at school.

Keywords:

• ICCS
• democratic experience
• lower-secondary
• classroom environment