Page 46 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 46
šolsko polje, letnik xxx, številka 5–6
involves the transition of issues from the public sphere to the private
sphere and focuses on the existence of choice, capacity deliberation and
the shift towards individualised responses to collective social challenges
(Wood and Flinders, 2014, p.165).
Such a type of depoliticisation, it can be argued, is also often present with-
in citizenship education where student’s participation is understood in in-
dividualizing (following one’s own desires, interests, etc. through partic-
ipation) or in moral and altruistic ground. Because it is understood from
this viewpoint, participation within citizenship education is frequently
not rationalised and presented as a consequence of heterogeneous com-
plexities of political processes, relationships and phenomena in which also
young people are embedded in.
Keeping in mind some of the above mentioned dilemmas about po-
litical participation within citizenship education, it is important to main-
tain focus on the political dimension of participation in democratic soci-
eties. The relevance of a pupil’s knowledge along with appropriate skills,
values and behaviour oriented towards the political participation is of
great importance because, as Crick (2004, p. 62) writes, a politically lit-
erate person is not only well informed about the politics but also capable
of active participation and communication. They are able to critically re-
flect on positions of others and present their own arguments. Moreover,
a persons’ critical reflection enables analysis and awareness of the power
relations that shape their subjectivity (Pérez Expósito, 2014). Under the
heading of political participation within citizenship education, pupils are
gaining key capacities to not only autonomously and efficiently practice
formal democratic participation possibilities, such as voting, but also seek
informal political means to counter-power, such as resistance, reciprocity
and persuasion. As Pérez Expósito argues, political participation is a ter-
rain of creativity on different levels and in different arenas, rather than
a dogmatic adscription to fixed practices and must be therefore as such
also treated, demonstrated and thought within citizenship education in
schools and in formal educational school settings in general.
Political participation in citizenship education in Slovenia
When considering how concrete formal educational system, in our case
Slovenian, grasps and employs certain relevant concepts, in our case po-
litical participation, we need firstly to entangle how it is addressed gener-
ally at the level of wider prevalent principles upon which national educa-
tion/schooling system is built and enacted. Key orientation in this respect
is the White paper on education in the Republic of Slovenia. From Slo-
44
involves the transition of issues from the public sphere to the private
sphere and focuses on the existence of choice, capacity deliberation and
the shift towards individualised responses to collective social challenges
(Wood and Flinders, 2014, p.165).
Such a type of depoliticisation, it can be argued, is also often present with-
in citizenship education where student’s participation is understood in in-
dividualizing (following one’s own desires, interests, etc. through partic-
ipation) or in moral and altruistic ground. Because it is understood from
this viewpoint, participation within citizenship education is frequently
not rationalised and presented as a consequence of heterogeneous com-
plexities of political processes, relationships and phenomena in which also
young people are embedded in.
Keeping in mind some of the above mentioned dilemmas about po-
litical participation within citizenship education, it is important to main-
tain focus on the political dimension of participation in democratic soci-
eties. The relevance of a pupil’s knowledge along with appropriate skills,
values and behaviour oriented towards the political participation is of
great importance because, as Crick (2004, p. 62) writes, a politically lit-
erate person is not only well informed about the politics but also capable
of active participation and communication. They are able to critically re-
flect on positions of others and present their own arguments. Moreover,
a persons’ critical reflection enables analysis and awareness of the power
relations that shape their subjectivity (Pérez Expósito, 2014). Under the
heading of political participation within citizenship education, pupils are
gaining key capacities to not only autonomously and efficiently practice
formal democratic participation possibilities, such as voting, but also seek
informal political means to counter-power, such as resistance, reciprocity
and persuasion. As Pérez Expósito argues, political participation is a ter-
rain of creativity on different levels and in different arenas, rather than
a dogmatic adscription to fixed practices and must be therefore as such
also treated, demonstrated and thought within citizenship education in
schools and in formal educational school settings in general.
Political participation in citizenship education in Slovenia
When considering how concrete formal educational system, in our case
Slovenian, grasps and employs certain relevant concepts, in our case po-
litical participation, we need firstly to entangle how it is addressed gener-
ally at the level of wider prevalent principles upon which national educa-
tion/schooling system is built and enacted. Key orientation in this respect
is the White paper on education in the Republic of Slovenia. From Slo-
44
