A Few Good Men: Canadian High School Students' Conceptions of Politics as a Man's World

• In Event: 73.061 - Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: 73.061-7 - Teaching About Politics and Controversial Political Issues in Social Studies Education

Abstract

In this paper we report on a mixed methods study of how high school students in two regions of Canada (Alberta and the Maritime provinces) understand democratic participation, a concept that is central to social studies teaching and scholarship. In particular, we are interested in comparing young men and women’s conceptions of democratic participation. In the paper we: Map the qualitatively different ways grade 12 students understand democratic participation; analyze student conceptions for differences across gender lines; and situate the students’ understandings of democratic participation in the context of social studies curricula and theoretical work in citizenship education.

Authors

• Alan M. Sears, University of New Brunswick

• Carla L. Peck, University of Alberta