01-05-2010
30-10-2012
Preliminary note: the original idea for this project was proposed by Prof Dr Reinhold Hedke from the University of Bielefeld to a group of researchers from various European countries. The project was then outlined in a group in which we were actively involved. Our decision to turn it into a national project will be followed by colleagues from other countries. But it is important to emphasise that the objectives proposed here do not depend on the international context.\nIn the last 30 years several European countries with an authoritarian past have experienced a transition to democracy (the Iberian countries and the countries of the former Soviet bloc), with a profound transformation of their political institutions, including both the institution of democracy and integration into the European Union. This political transition has been accompanied by a strong emphasis on the role of schools in promoting (democratic and European) citizenship, especially since the mid-1990s: citizenship education (CE) has been the motto for educational reforms in Europe (Menezes, 1999, 2003a), and the subject of many international studies on young people's knowledge, skills, attitudes and political involvement (Amadeo et al., 2002; Torney-Purta et al., 2001). However, despite this intense effort to promote citizenship education policies and strategies, little is known about the practice of schools. Additionally, in countries that have experienced such intense political transformations, it is relevant to answer the following questions: To what extent are schools currently committed to promoting a democratic culture that integrates a critical historical awareness of the totalitarian past? How are images of the past presented in curricula, textbooks, teacher training and classroom practices? Is the past openly discussed or hidden, criticised or whitewashed?\nThe last few decades have seen a renewed interest in citizenship in both theoretical and empirical terms (e.g., Beiner, 1995), particularly about intensifying signs of political disinvestment and disengagement among young people and adults in both emerging and ‘historic’ democracies (e.g., Amadeo et al., 2002). It is therefore not surprising that there is widespread emphasis on the role of education in counteracting these trends. Almost all citizens go to school and schools have historically played a central role in promoting the ‘ideal’ citizen, especially during the establishment of the nation-state where schools were a vehicle for the ‘creation’ of national identities (Habermas, 1992). It is therefore understandable why both European states and the European Union have emphasised the role of schools as instruments for promoting democracies. In Portugal, several studies have described and discussed educational policies in this field (Brederode Santos, Menezes, 1999), but the analysis of the implementation of these policies is scarce and limited to case studies (e.g., Roriz, 2007) which tend to ignore the analysis of school policies and practices and classroom strategies. \nOur team has a long experience of research in this area, using a variety of designs and methodologies, including both international studies (e.g., Arnot et al., 2000a; Menezes et al, 2003; Menezes, 2003b) and school-based case studies (e.g., Menezes, 1998; Stoer & Araújo, 2000). Thus, we are in a privileged position to develop a project that combines international comparisons with a school-based analysis. \nThe project will contribute to understanding how the authoritarian past is recognised in contemporary policies, curricula and practices and how it interferes with the promotion of a political culture that values the active participation of citizens in civic and political affairs - the cornerstone of contemporary democracies.
PCEP - Participation, Communities and Political Education
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Citizenship
School
Participation
Transition to democracy
CIIE\Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciência da Educação - FPCEUP