Demokrati genom val eller samtal? : En kvalitativ studie av hur elevdemokrati tillämpas i samhällskunskapsämnets olika kurser.

Sammanfattning: Teaching students about democracy and strengthening their abilities to act and perform within a democratic society is according to the curricula for the Swedish educational system an important task for any Swedish teacher. In social sciences, however, these aspects play an even greater role as the current curricula for civic education clearly states that civic education should offer students the opportunity to learn about democracy and its various forms and mechanisms. As there are probably about as many thoughts and views on democracy as there are people, it is to be expected that all teachers do not treat the subject the same. Previous studies have shown that there are discrepancies between how democracy is being implemented during classes, which has proved to be a problem that affects students’ further ability and wishes to engage and act within a democratic system outside and after school. For this reason, I have chosen to further study this phenomenon, to see whether there truly are differences regarding the implementation of democracy in different classrooms, and if these differences can be associated with which course or program the students are taking.  The study has been done through participant observation, where I have examined how teachers in four different courses of civic education in upper secondary school implement democracy in their classes. In the analysis I have sought for signs of discrepancies depending on which course the students have been studying (through vocational or university preparatory programs) and tried to see which form of democracy (electoral or deliberative democracy) that seems to permeate the classroom activity the most. Judging from these observations, it seems that the further up the course ladder we climb, the more deliberative the classroom democracy seems to get.