Rethinking the thinking on democracy in education: Do educators make a

(democratic) difference?

Dr David Zyngier Education Faculty Monash University Australia

Dr Marcelo Loures dos SantosDepartamento de EducaçãoUniversidade Federal de Viçosa Brasil

Dr Marc PruynEducation Faculty Monash University Australia

Dr Paul R. Carr Orilla UniversityCanada

Dr Heidi Biseth University of Oslo - Norway

Dr Marita Delia TraversoFacultad Ciencias de la Educación Universidad de Morón Argentina

Adriana Murriello Directora General Colegio WardArgentina

Dr Sazali Yussof IAB Malaysia

3:30 - 3:40      Dr David Zyngier Introduction to Research Project & Achievements so far

3:45 - 3:55      Dr Paul Carr Teaching for Democracy not just about it!4:00 - 4:10      Dr Heidi Biseth Doing Democracy in Urban Scandinavian

Schools4.15 - 4:25      Dr Marcelo Loures, & Dr Marita Delia Traverso Teachers' beliefs about democracy: Brazil and Argentina a

comparative study 4:25 - 4:35  Dr  Marcelo Loures, & Dr Adriana Murriello What student

teachers think about democracy: Argentina and Brazil a comparative study 

4.40 - 4:50     Dr Sazali Yussof Principal Teachers' beliefs about democracy in Malaysia

Discussion and Questions  with all the panel via skype (audio only) 10 minutes (Discussant David Zyngier or Marc Pruyn)

Panel Outline

Doing Democracy: Global Doing Democracy Research Project

A comparative and contrasting study of education students, teachers and their educators in Australia, North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe The research explores three themes:

1. the apparent predisposition among teachers is to understand democracy and politics in a thin way;

2. the potential for teachers to do thick democracy in education; and

3. teachers understanding of the importance of power and difference in relation to democracy. The focus of this research study is how education supports, cultivates and engages in/with democracy.

What do Educators think about Democracy?

• Over 2000 respondents• Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland,

Israel/Palestine, Malaysia, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Turkey, USA ...

• Future research results from....• Will you be involved?

http://doingdemocracy.ning.com/

Method: The survey & participants

Intro: A chat with Dr Paul Carr

The Literature: Discourses of ‘democracy’

Critical Pedagogical Framework

– Barber’s Strong Democracy (Barber, 2004), – Westheimer and Kahne (2003) Kinds of Good

Citizens - responsible, participatory and justice oriented

– Gandin and Apple (2002) Thin & Thick Democracy

– Carr (2010) Does your vote count? Critical pedagogy and democracy

– Carr, Zyngier & Pruyn Can educators Make a Difference (2012)

Findings: ‘Democracy’ & the classroom

thin as opposed to thick democracyConceptualize the visible tension between:• the superficial features often associated with teaching about

democracy that focus on civics and citizenship• fundamental scaffolding which, permits people to appropriate

the deeper meaning of the term democracy (Gandin & Apple, 2002)

• students know that civic engagement is not an individual, private endeavour.

Thin democratic discourses

Activities such as students contributing food to a food drive or in a more active participatory manner organising a food drive for the poor.

Thick democracy discourses

Explore why people are hungry and act to make decisions about and solve its root causes

Our (main) Questions• What is a Democratic society?• Is your country a Democratic society? Why? Why not?• Is the USA a Democratic society?• Since the 9/11 is your country a more or less democratic country?• From your perspective, is the education system in which you were

educated democratic?• Are elections important to Democracy? • Do you feel that you are actively engaged in democracy?• Should teachers strive to promote a sense of democracy in

students?• What are you doing to promote democracy among students?

Dr Heidi Biseth University of Oslo - Norway) "Doing Democracy in Urban Scandinavian Schools"

Dr Marcelo Loures, & Dr Marita Delia Traverso Teachers' beliefs about democracy: Brazil and Argentina a comparative study

Dr Marcelo Loures, & Dr Adriana Murriello What student teachers think about democracy: Argentina and Brazil a

comparative study

Dr Sazali Yussof Head Teachers' beliefs about democracy in Malaysia

Discussion: Analysis of perceptions, experiences and perspectives of democracy and education in Australia,

Malaysia, Canada, USA, Norway, Argentina & Brazil

What would a thick democracy look like in school education system for you and

your students?

Join the project NOWContact us:david.zyngier@monash.eduprcarr@gmail.com