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UiA Scholars develop educational programme for Holocaust Centre

During this last year, scholars from the University of Agder have developed and tested a new educational programme on democracy and xenophobia, which was ordered by the Holocaust Centre.

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On 26 November, UiA scholars Aslaug Kristiansen (from the left), Kristin Endresen, Helen Eikeland and Åse Haraldstad will travel to the Holocaust Centre in Olso, where they will present a new educational programme on democracy and participative citizenship.

“Students should not only be offered more theoretical knowledge on democracy, but also practical examples on how to teach about democracy and xenophobia in a classroom defined by diversity”, says Aslaug Kristiansen.

She is professor at the Department of Education at the University of Agder (UiA) and leads the research group Democratic Mobilization (DEMO),  of which she was one of the initiators in 2015.

During this last year, the group has among others developed an educational programme on democracy for the Norwegian Centre for Holocaust and Minority Studies (the Holocaust Centre). 

The educational programme was part of the Dembra project (in Norwegian), financed by the Ministry of Education and Research, and the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training. Dembra aims to strengthen schoolchildren’s knowledge on democracy by offering free courses and coaching to schools all around the country. 

“Democracy is not just a matter of going to a polling station and vote. It is also about dialogue and coexistence across different social classes, religions and perspectives on life”, says Kristiansen.

Having delivered the final report, the scholars will travel to Oslo to present the new educational programme to the Holocaust Centre and to Minister Jan Tore Sanner.

“Our educational programme will help increase the knowledge on democracy of students in teaching education.  Democracy is not something that was established and achieved once and for all, it is something every new generation must learn to re-create”, says  Kristiansen.

Democratic upgrade

The objective with the educational programme is to help Teacher Education students to integrate democratic and peace-creating values in their future lesson plans. They will learn pedagogical working methods that will enable them to both teach and practice democracy. 

 UiA-pedagogics Kristin Endresen, Åse Haraldstad and Helen Eikeland have developed the educational program together with Kristiansen.

“We were interested in the role democracy plays in Teacher Education and in the classroom. As pedagogues, we wished to focus on the practice of democracy within the school. Our educational programme mostly revolved around how the school can build a strong attitude towards democracy and participative citizenship, and only to a lesser degree concerned itself with democracy as a political system of government”, says Kristiansen.

She is well aware that “democracy and participation” is one of the four core elements that will affect all subjects taught in primary and secondary education, after the new core curriculum is introduced in the autumn of 2020.  

The classroom as a community 

Students in their second and third year of the Teacher Education study, and bachelor students in Pedagogics at UiA are among those that have tested the educational programme. A total of about 200 students have participated in teaching the programme.

The pedagogues have especially worked with methods on how to increase the community dimension and inclusive relationships within the classroom. 

“It is our task to provide students with insight and teaching methods they can continue to use in their teaching career”, says Kristiansen.

Role of the teacher and dialogue 

The UiA pedagogues link the educational programme on democracy to two main models. One revolves around the development of the integrity of the teacher, the other around how to inspire curiosity and dialogue in an investigative learning environment. 

“The role of the teacher is decisive for a learning environment that motivates and contributes to the pupils’ learning and development. The teacher functions as a role model. She will not only teach democracy but also show what democracy means in practice, while in contact with a broad diversity of pupils at school. This means that the teacher must know how to handle this diversity, says Associate Professor Helen Eikeland. 

Based on student experiences 

“Youngsters show interest in democracy, which is good in a time when it is said that the democracy is under threat and that young people do not care”, says Associate Professor Kristin Endresen.

She considers it important that Teacher Education students learn to be confident teachers who dare to use the different experiences of all pupils in a multi-cultural school environment. 

“Critical thinking is key to developing a real democratic spirit. Teacher students must learn to look at a case from different viewpoints. This is a basic skill which they should teach also to their own pupils when they have become teachers,” says Endresen.

To develop one’s own critical thinking while simultaneously respecting others’ opinions is a democratic virtue that takes practice.

Philosophical approach 

Assistant professor Åse Haraldstad refers to the investigative philosophical dialogue as a training method both for critical thinking as well as for a democratic attitude.  

“Dialogue is not about winning a debate, but about listening to others and defining one’s own stance”, says Haraldstad.

One of the tasks she gives to students is that they must recapitulate the viewpoints of others. 

“That may sound easy, but it is quite hard to reflect the other’s opinion in a fair way without adding one’s own interpretation to it. This is a daily sin we see in public debates”, says Haraldstad.