Department of Political Science and Public Administration

This course aims to understand the emergence of democratic culture through educational institutions and practices. It examines the theoretical origins of education for democratic citizenship and studies the historical process of the democratization of education by focusing on practices, concepts, and ideas that claim democracy as a social form of coexistence. Education for democracy is related to the cultivation of democratic consciousness and social solidarity, to the enhancement of democratic ideas and practices and to the production of new forms of collective action in defense of citizenship and society as a whole. The development of democratic culture through education is also related to the recognition of diversity and the rights of different groups and individuals. In this respect, this course will examine the democratic ways of socio-political coexistence through the subject of citizenship education as taught in schools with a particular focus on the recognition of gender identity and cultural diversity as well as the acceptance of immigrant-origin students in contemporary schools. Ethnocentrism, racism, xenophobic stances and totalitarian theories are also under examination.

Learning outcomes – course aims

1. The understanding of the relation between democracy and education as a historical process.
2. The role of modern education in the social and political democratization process during the 20th century.
3. The questioning of the conception of students as passive individuals.
4. The recognition of the social origins of inequality vs biological interpretations.
5. The recognition of democracy as a constant social and individual struggle.
6. The exploration of educational methods that promote student motivation based on their experience, and shape a new relation to the world and the knowledge itself.
7. The understanding of the renewed role of the teacher in democratic education.

More information and support material at the course’s e-class.