About the project
The realities of a worldwide democratic recession, despite a steady rise in literacy rates over the past 50 years, contest orthodox ideas on ethical-political education. Education is clearly a double-edged sword, carrying prospects of inclusion as well as exclusion, of promoting as well as undermining democratic values and forms of practice.
Consequently, there is a call to rethink orthodox narratives on democracy education.
This collaborative research project moves beyond the current state of research, systematically analyzing the cultural notions on democracy education in Norwegian schools today.
The project examines previous and current conceptions of ‘democracy’ and ‘education’, as well as the relation between them. The ambition is to strengthen, advance, and renew models and theories that support a more sustainable and fruitful democracy education.
The project adopts a narratological approach in its vigilant and systematic analysis of school curricula, Norwegian programs of democracy education, historical documents, and classroom practices.
The three research strands explore
- History of and in democracy education
- Political philosophies of education
- Aesthetic practices in school