Demokratiundervisning i grundskolan - Lärares förhållningssätt och undervisningsmetoder

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to investigate how elementary school teachers work with the concept of democracy in the classroom. In this study different methods for teaching about the concept of democracy are analyzed as well as teachers' attitudes towards democracy education.  The Swedish school system is supposed to raise the future generation of democratic members of  the society and our teachers are the ones assigned to implement this difficult task. We grew an interest and curiosity in what methods teachers use in their teaching to ensure democracy awareness among young children.  A number of different sources have been used as a foundation for finding methods for democracy education. Apart from that, other sources have been used to analyze the results of the methods we have found. The methods include cooperative learning (group work, roleplay and drama), current events as resources and deliberative communication. The analysis made in this study shows patterns in the teaching methods as well as how different teachers approach the concept of democracy. Also how student influence impacts democracy education in elementary schools.  The concept of democracy is complex and depending on the individual teacher's approach to democracy teaching the methods tend to vary. In conclusion many of the methods we have come across in our research tend to be of the cooperative kind. For this reason traditional teaching is never recommended. In addition, variation in teaching methods is important for a proper and meaningful democracy education.