From Influencing School Food to Handling Hate Speech: Methods, Areas, and Limitations of Active Citizenship in Finnish Social Studies Textbooks
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| Title: | From Influencing School Food to Handling Hate Speech: Methods, Areas, and Limitations of Active Citizenship in Finnish Social Studies Textbooks |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Pia Mikander (ORCID |
| Source: | Education, Citizenship and Social Justice. 2025 20(1):77-92. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 16 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Elementary School Teachers, Elementary School Curriculum, Social Studies, Textbooks, Textbook Bias, Textbook Selection, Textbook Standards, Citizenship Education, Democratic Values, Freedom of Speech, Democracy, Social Media, Social Bias, Social Discrimination, Communication Skills, Educational Environment, Place Based Education, Foods Instruction, Persuasive Discourse, Propaganda, Misinformation |
| Geographic Terms: | Finland |
| DOI: | 10.1177/17461979231197409 |
| ISSN: | 1746-1979 1746-1987 |
| Abstract: | Historically, education for active citizenship has not been a high priority in Finnish schools. In this discursive study of Finnish social studies textbooks for grades 4-6, we investigate how students are encouraged to practice active citizenship, where the focus of active citizenship lies, and how active citizenship is limited in antidemocratic ways. Referring to the theoretical discussion about democracy in education, we note a discursive focus on individual influencing and communication skills as methods for active citizenship education. We find that active citizenship focuses on students' immediate surroundings, the school, and the local area as potential fields of influence. We note how antidemocratic threats to active citizenship are often portrayed with a focus on individual feelings and manners, not on understanding democratic structures and antidemocratic threats such as silencing voices through online hate speech. We welcome a discussion about how young students can become active citizens, by encouraging a more democratic classroom culture within social studies, thereby creating space for imagining alternative futures and utopian thinking. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1466388 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Historically, education for active citizenship has not been a high priority in Finnish schools. In this discursive study of Finnish social studies textbooks for grades 4-6, we investigate how students are encouraged to practice active citizenship, where the focus of active citizenship lies, and how active citizenship is limited in antidemocratic ways. Referring to the theoretical discussion about democracy in education, we note a discursive focus on individual influencing and communication skills as methods for active citizenship education. We find that active citizenship focuses on students' immediate surroundings, the school, and the local area as potential fields of influence. We note how antidemocratic threats to active citizenship are often portrayed with a focus on individual feelings and manners, not on understanding democratic structures and antidemocratic threats such as silencing voices through online hate speech. We welcome a discussion about how young students can become active citizens, by encouraging a more democratic classroom culture within social studies, thereby creating space for imagining alternative futures and utopian thinking. |
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| ISSN: | 1746-1979 1746-1987 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/17461979231197409 |
