Page 55 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 55
m. banjac ■ knowledge on political participation among basic school pupils
a nation-state” (Topf, 1997, p. 27). So clearly the knowledge of pupils at
the lower secondary level of education is necessary to foster their trust
in democratic institutions and democratic procedures as well as partici-
pative opportunities that they will have as future full members of a par-
ticular democratic state-polity.
Within this cluster, we included three tasks from the NAK 2019
test, one with just one question, the second with two questions6 and the
third with again just one question7. The first question (Q3) addressed the
more historical dimension of political participation in Slovenia in its pe-
riod of state formation at the beginning of the 90s. Therefore, the ques-
tion asked pupils through what kind of voting process Slovenian voters
decided about Slovenia’s independence. Four possible answers were giv-
en among which only one was correct, namely the response “With the
participation at the independence referendum (plebiscite) on independ-
ence for Slovenia” (response B). The second question revolved around
the topic of political parties as a key representative organised group seek-
ing through the election to exercise political power. The first question
(Q4) asked pupils about the possibility to establish a political party in
Slovenia. Among four possible answers the correct one was the response
C (“at least 200 adult citizens sign the party establishment statement
and register the party with the competent authority”). The second ques-
tion (Q5) within this task included in the analysis addressed participa-
tion of political parties in Slovenian National Assembly elections. So the
question asked pupils to explain why the party that received 3,8 percent
of all the votes will be or will not be represented in the National Assem-
bly in the next term. The correct answer to this question was if the pu-
pil responded that the party will not be represented in parliament/Na-
tional Assembly because it did not reach the parliamentary threshold of
4%. More simple answers were also allowed (e.g. “the party will not be
represented because it received too few votes”), but the answer needed
to clearly express that the party will not be represented and also explain
why not. The fourth question (Q6) that was included in this cluster ad-
dressed the possibility of political participation at the local level within
the Slovenian political system. The question asked pupils to record one
possibility of how individuals can exercise their right to participate in
6 Although this specific task had three questions, we omitted the last question from the
analysis because it did not meet the methodological selection criteria for this particular
analysis.
7 Again, this task had two questions, both addressing political processes and governmental
arrangements at the local level (lokalna samouprava). While the first question did not met
the inclusion criteria, the second did and was thus included.
53
a nation-state” (Topf, 1997, p. 27). So clearly the knowledge of pupils at
the lower secondary level of education is necessary to foster their trust
in democratic institutions and democratic procedures as well as partici-
pative opportunities that they will have as future full members of a par-
ticular democratic state-polity.
Within this cluster, we included three tasks from the NAK 2019
test, one with just one question, the second with two questions6 and the
third with again just one question7. The first question (Q3) addressed the
more historical dimension of political participation in Slovenia in its pe-
riod of state formation at the beginning of the 90s. Therefore, the ques-
tion asked pupils through what kind of voting process Slovenian voters
decided about Slovenia’s independence. Four possible answers were giv-
en among which only one was correct, namely the response “With the
participation at the independence referendum (plebiscite) on independ-
ence for Slovenia” (response B). The second question revolved around
the topic of political parties as a key representative organised group seek-
ing through the election to exercise political power. The first question
(Q4) asked pupils about the possibility to establish a political party in
Slovenia. Among four possible answers the correct one was the response
C (“at least 200 adult citizens sign the party establishment statement
and register the party with the competent authority”). The second ques-
tion (Q5) within this task included in the analysis addressed participa-
tion of political parties in Slovenian National Assembly elections. So the
question asked pupils to explain why the party that received 3,8 percent
of all the votes will be or will not be represented in the National Assem-
bly in the next term. The correct answer to this question was if the pu-
pil responded that the party will not be represented in parliament/Na-
tional Assembly because it did not reach the parliamentary threshold of
4%. More simple answers were also allowed (e.g. “the party will not be
represented because it received too few votes”), but the answer needed
to clearly express that the party will not be represented and also explain
why not. The fourth question (Q6) that was included in this cluster ad-
dressed the possibility of political participation at the local level within
the Slovenian political system. The question asked pupils to record one
possibility of how individuals can exercise their right to participate in
6 Although this specific task had three questions, we omitted the last question from the
analysis because it did not meet the methodological selection criteria for this particular
analysis.
7 Again, this task had two questions, both addressing political processes and governmental
arrangements at the local level (lokalna samouprava). While the first question did not met
the inclusion criteria, the second did and was thus included.
53
