16-Year-Old Students' Understanding of the Concept Democracy

• In Event: Social Studies Education in Global Contexts

Abstract

According to recent studies Norwegian pupils are knowledgeable about and show strong support for democracy. Little is known, however, about how pupils understand and explain democracy as a concept. The present article investigates 16-year-old students’ understanding of democracy as a specific concept. In social studies, the concept democracy is not only essential for disciplinary understanding and discourse, but also for students’ out-of-school democratic participation. To investigate these aspects, semi-structured group interviews were conducted with a total of 23 students at three different upper secondary schools. A central finding is that students primarily demonstrate an understanding of democracy as “rule by the people” with voting in elections as the main political activity. Implications for social studies education are brought up.

Author

• Nora Elise Hesby Mathe, University of Oslo