ABSTRACT

This book uses international collaboration between nine European countries to explore how teacher education systems across Europe perceive and act upon devolving democracy and democratic citizenship. Understanding these countries’ cultural approaches to individual and national priorities in education is essential in perceiving similarities and differences in the meaning of ‘democracy’. The book offers debate on the prospects for teacher education and the development of democratic citizenship in Europe based on historical, political, economic and cultural contexts and the Council of Europe’s (CoE) competences for democratic citizenship.

With critical analysis and evaluation around the common theme of teacher education and its role in developing democratic citizenship, the book provides awareness and understanding of how teacher education responds to the Council of Europe’s (CoE) conceptual model of competences for democratic culture. 20 competences categorized as Values, Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge and Critical Understanding are defined so they can be taught to enable learners to practice them in their daily lives as democratic citizens.

This book will be of key interest to academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of teacher education, educational policy and politics, and citizenship education.

chapter Chapter 4|16 pages

Democratic citizenship in scarce conditions

Educating citizens in neoliberal Estonia

chapter Chapter 8|13 pages

The evolving concept of democracy in the Kosovo education system

Reflections on the role of teacher education

chapter Chapter 9|19 pages

Itinerant curriculum theory in the making

Towards alternative ways to do alternative forms of teacher education

chapter Chapter 10|14 pages

“Democracy for me is saying what I want”

The teaching profession on free speech, democratic mission and the notion of political correctness in a Swedish context