Eitt af meginmarkmiðum núgildandi aðalnámskrár (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið,
2011/2013) er að búa nemendur undir þátttöku í lýðræðislegu samfélagi. Samkvæmt
þessu á grunnskólinn að vera sá staður sem veitir nemendum svigrúm til að öðlast
reynslu af lýðræðislegu starfi og vera þátttakendur í því. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar
var að kanna mögulegar breytingar á viðhorfum nemenda í þessum efnum yfir fimm ára
tímabil, 2010 til 2015. Tveir hópar nemenda í 6.–10. bekk (Nalls = 627) voru spurðir um afstöðu
sína til lýðræðis og lýðræðisþátttöku með fimm ára millibili. Rannsóknin var gerð
í samvinnu við tíu skóla sem söfnuðu gögnum við reglubundið sjálfsmat. Niðurstöður
sýna að viðhorf nemenda til lýðræðis í grunnskólum á Íslandi og lýðræðisþátttaka virðist
hafa tekið mjög litlum breytingum á framangreindu tímabili. Engar breytingar var að finna
á því sem kallað hefur verið frjálslynd lýðræðissjónarmið, svo sem tjáningarfrelsi og
samkeppni í skólastofunni. Aftur á móti mátti greina smávægilega jákvæða breytingu á
viðhorfum til þess sem kallað hefur verið samstarfslýðræði, þ.e. til þátttöku og samvinnu.
Mikilvægi lýðræðisþátttöku að mati nemendanna virtist dala lítillega yfir þetta fimm ára
tímabil. Niðurstöðurnar voru bornar saman við danska rannsókn frá árinu 2001 sem þessi
rannsókn tók mið af. Enginn afgerandi munur fannst á viðhorfum dönsku og íslensku
ungmennanna. Þó virtust frjálslynd lýðræðissjónarmið vera traustari hjá dönsku ungmennunum.
The Icelandic national curriculum guide for compulsory schools published in 2011 specially
emphasized the importance of preparing students for active participation in a democratic
society: “It is expected that children and youth learn democracy by learning about democracy
in a democracy” (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið, p. 19). Democracy was furthermore
emphasized as one of six fundamental pillars of the Icelandic education system
together with literacy, sustainability, health and welfare, human rights, equality, and creativity.
Accordingly, knowledge about changes in attitudes towards democracy and democratic
participation since the introduction of this new conception in 2011 is of importance.
The increased emphasis on issues related to democracy introduced in the Icelandic national
curriculum guide for compulsory schools were to be fully implemented in 2013. Studies
on how Icelandic students are prepared for an active participation in the constantly changing
democratic society are few and far between. Therefore, the results of this study can be
considered of importance for education stakeholders such as teachers, parents, students,
and scholars.
The theoretical model used in the study is based on the works of Danish researchers (Jacobsen,
Jensen, Madsen, Sylvestersen, & Vincent, 2004), where democratic perspectives
in a Western tradition are conceived as liberal democracy (e.g., emphasizing the rights of
the individual) and republican democracy (e.g., emphasizing solidarity). According to the
model, both perspectives need to be in place for a democracy to function, and it is in the
tension between these two perspectives a democratic process becomes active. The goal
of this study is to contribute to an increased theoretical and empirical knowledge about
democratic processes and democratic participation in public schools. The research was
intended to detect possible changes in the responses of children to questions related to
liberal and republican democracy after the full implementation of the Icelandic national
curriculum guide from 2011.
The goals of the study were approached by asking two groups of children in Grades 6 through
10 (Ntotal = 627) about their attitudes towards democracy and democratic participation
in the classroom. The first data collection was conducted in 2010 and the second data collection
was conducted in 2015. The study was conducted in collaboration with 10 schools
that carried out the data collection as a part of their own internal evaluation.
The results show that attitudes towards democracy and democratic participation over the
above depicted period had changed remotely during the five-year period. No changes were
found in attitudes related to a liberal democracy. A slight positive change was detected
regarding opportunities for participation and collaboration in a republican democracy.
However, the importance of democratic participation showed a slight decline during this
five-year period.
According to the model of Jacobsen et. al. (2004) one of the prerequisites for liberal democracy
is individuality. A comparison with Danish result from 2001 showed that about
61% of the Danish adolescents indicated that it was very important to “be the way they are”
but only 47% of the Icelandic adolescents responded the same way in 2015. These results
were in accordance with other manifestations of liberal democracy in the survey, which
seemed stronger among the Danish adolescents.
The limited change in the attitudes of adolescents towards democracy and democratic
participation raises questions about whether compulsory schools had the resources to
implement the changes in policy recommended by the 2011 national curriculum guide.
More research is needed to explore what was done in schools to increase democracy in
the classroom during the 2011-2013 implementation period. Furthermore, it is important to
conduct further research to identify efficient ways for teachers and school administrators
to meet the policy recommendation for an increased emphasis of democracy in Icelandic
classrooms. Finally, comparison with results from other countries give reason to conduct
more research on manifestations of liberal democracy (e.g., opportunities for an open and
democratic discussion; respect for individuality) among Icelandic adolescents.
