Page 53 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 53
m. banjac ■ knowledge on political participation among basic school pupils
litical system. The last cluster focuses on unconventional means of politi-
cal participation. In this article’s study, we analysed the percentage of cor-
rect answers to each of the selected questions and thus obtained the data
on the knowledge of pupils on specific teaching objectives as defined in
the Patriotic and Citizenship Culture and Ethics subject’s curricula.
Pupils’ knowledge about political participation:
results and interpretation
For every individual in a democratic society, especially those young, it is
crucial to be knowledgeable in various political processes and essential
democratic procedures offered to them if they are to be an empowered
person making meaningful interventions in the political life of the socie-
ty. But it is not only the institutionalised and general set of rules and pro-
cedures that a young person should know about, but also the “sets of prac-
tices, to which the participation of citizens is key” (Forbrig, 2005, p. 13).
The NAK’s 2019 test on the Patriotic and Citizenship Culture and
Ethics subject second task addressed precisely the above mentioned is-
sues. It included two questions, the first asking of pupils’ more general
knowledge about democratic political procedures, while the second was
very specific and related to concrete possible democratic participative
practices. The first question (Q1) demanded pupils to recognise from the
appended picture one rule of democratic voting procedure directly at a
polling station. Possible correct answers to this question were either the
secrecy of the ballot/anonymous voting or one person, one vote princi-
ple (each decides for himself/herself). The pupil’s answer of “privacy” was
also considered as correct. The second question (Q2) was on democrat-
ic decision-making in the classroom demanding from pupils to explain
the democratic procedure to reach a joint decision about the destination
of their excursion at the end of the school year. The answer was marked as
correct if pupils responded by one of the subsequent (or content-wise sim-
ilar) argument: (1) The class reaches the decision democratically by con-
versing and sharing arguments about different destinations, thus jointly
lowering the number of possible options and then voting on them; (2) The
class reaches the decision by selecting (with the majority of pupils) a pro-
cedure through which they will decide upon their final destination; (3)
They reach the decision by discussion/unanimously/with consensus that
the decision will be taken by their teacher; (4) The class reaches the deci-
sion by casting a ballot and the proposal that gets the majority of votes is
selected. It must be noted here that simple answers such as “draw” or “vot-
ing” was not accepted as correct; pupil’s explanation of the consequence of
specific procedure was required.
51
litical system. The last cluster focuses on unconventional means of politi-
cal participation. In this article’s study, we analysed the percentage of cor-
rect answers to each of the selected questions and thus obtained the data
on the knowledge of pupils on specific teaching objectives as defined in
the Patriotic and Citizenship Culture and Ethics subject’s curricula.
Pupils’ knowledge about political participation:
results and interpretation
For every individual in a democratic society, especially those young, it is
crucial to be knowledgeable in various political processes and essential
democratic procedures offered to them if they are to be an empowered
person making meaningful interventions in the political life of the socie-
ty. But it is not only the institutionalised and general set of rules and pro-
cedures that a young person should know about, but also the “sets of prac-
tices, to which the participation of citizens is key” (Forbrig, 2005, p. 13).
The NAK’s 2019 test on the Patriotic and Citizenship Culture and
Ethics subject second task addressed precisely the above mentioned is-
sues. It included two questions, the first asking of pupils’ more general
knowledge about democratic political procedures, while the second was
very specific and related to concrete possible democratic participative
practices. The first question (Q1) demanded pupils to recognise from the
appended picture one rule of democratic voting procedure directly at a
polling station. Possible correct answers to this question were either the
secrecy of the ballot/anonymous voting or one person, one vote princi-
ple (each decides for himself/herself). The pupil’s answer of “privacy” was
also considered as correct. The second question (Q2) was on democrat-
ic decision-making in the classroom demanding from pupils to explain
the democratic procedure to reach a joint decision about the destination
of their excursion at the end of the school year. The answer was marked as
correct if pupils responded by one of the subsequent (or content-wise sim-
ilar) argument: (1) The class reaches the decision democratically by con-
versing and sharing arguments about different destinations, thus jointly
lowering the number of possible options and then voting on them; (2) The
class reaches the decision by selecting (with the majority of pupils) a pro-
cedure through which they will decide upon their final destination; (3)
They reach the decision by discussion/unanimously/with consensus that
the decision will be taken by their teacher; (4) The class reaches the deci-
sion by casting a ballot and the proposal that gets the majority of votes is
selected. It must be noted here that simple answers such as “draw” or “vot-
ing” was not accepted as correct; pupil’s explanation of the consequence of
specific procedure was required.
51
