ERIC Number: EJ1027072
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-764X
EISSN: N/A
Dutch Adolescents' Narratives about Democracy: "I Know What Democracy Means, but Not What It Means to Me"
de Groot, I.; Goodson, I. F.; Veugelers, W.
Cambridge Journal of Education, v44 n2 p271-292 2014
In the last decade, educational scholars have studied various aspects of adolescents' citizenship narratives. This paper reports on a qualitative study into the narratives about democracy of 27 adolescents from an urban area in the Netherlands. The aim of the study was to gain an insight into the type of democratic engagement that Dutch adolescents develop. Fourteen vocational and 13 pre-university students were selected. Each student was interviewed twice. Narrative thematic data analysis revealed that only five students had developed a strong conception of democracy. Our findings suggest that few students had spent time developing and challenging their narratives about democracy, and that few students have developed a greater sense of democratic engagement. Our paper concludes with several suggestions for furthering the study and practice of democratic citizenship education.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Adolescents, Democracy, Definitions, Urban Areas, Secondary School Students, Interviews, Student Attitudes, Concept Formation, Citizenship Education, Focus Groups, Citizenship Responsibility, Politics, Grounded Theory
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A