Social Studies Courses at Swedish Upper Secondary Schools
A study of the relationship between social studies and students democratic competence
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Jonas Stenman
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
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Subject: Political Science
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Points: 15
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Supervisor: Anders Broman
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Examiner: Malin Stegmann McCallion
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Date: January 2018
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Abstract
Swedish schools have a democratic mission to instill democratic values and knowledge in students. When they graduate, students are meant to be democratically competent citizens. In upper secondary school, this mission is executed in the social studies classroom. This is the only context in which Swedish schools actively try to influence students’ democratic competence. At the same time, not all students take the same amount of social studies courses. The purpose of this thesis is to study the association between social studies and students democratic competence, and the possible limits of such a relationship. Does social science courses really predict democratic competence, even when taking other factors into account? And if the goal is democratic competence, how much social studies is enough?
Since democratic competence is connected to voting-behaviour and trust in government it might be a problem if students are given unequal access to the courses where it is created.
I hypothesized that social studies predicts democratic competence, and that there is a point during courses at which that relationship weakens. To test the hypothesis, a cross-sectional, quantitative survey study was conducted, using established instruments of measurement. The data was analyzed using regression models and analysis of variance, and results indicate that social studies predict democratic competence, and that students need to take three courses of social studies before the association with democratic competence weakens. Since most students take only one course of social studies during their time at upper secondary school, implications for the future of the democratic mission is discussed.
Sammanfattning
Svenska skolor har ett demokratiskt uppdrag att ingjuta demokratiska värden, och kunskap i eleverna. När de tar studenten är det meningen att eleverna ska vara demokratiskt kompetenta medborgare. I gymnasieskolan verkställs det här uppdraget på samhällskunskapslektionerna.
Det är endast i det här sammanhanget som svenska skolor aktivt försöker påverka elevernas demokratiska kompetens. Samtidigt läser inte alla elever samma antal samhällskunskapskurser.
Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka sambanden mellan samhällskunskap och demokratisk kompetens, och de möjliga begränsningarna i ett sådant samband. Predicerar verkligen samhällskunskap demokratisk kompetens, även om man beaktar andra faktorer?
Och om målet är demokratisk kompetens, hur mycket samhällskunskap är då tillräckligt?
Eftersom demokratisk kompetens är kopplat till röst-beteende och tillit till staten, bland annat, så kan det vara ett problem om elever får ojämlik tillgång till kurserna där det skapas.
Hypoteserna är att samhällskunskap predicerar demokratisk kompetens, och att det finns en punkt under kurserna då den relationen upphör. För att testa hypoteserna genomfördes en tvärsnitts-, kvantitativ-, enkätstudie, med hjälp av etablerade mätinstrument. Datan analyserades med regressionsmodeller och variansanalys.
Resultaten indikerar att samhällskunskap faktiskt predicerar demokratisk kompetens, och att elever behöver läsa tre kurser i samhällskunskap innan sambandet med demokratisk kompetens försvagas. Eftersom de flesta elever bara läser en kurs i samhällskunskap under gymnasietiden, diskuteras implikationer för det demokratiska uppdragets framtid.
Table of contents
1. Introduction………..
11.1 Background: the democratic mission in Swedish schools…..………….... 1
1.1.1 Democratic theory and the role of the state………... 2
1.1.2 The subject of social studies……….. 3
1.1.3 Democratic socialization……….... 4
1.2 Democratic competence………. 4
1.2.1 Civic knowledge……….... 4
1.2.2 Political efficacy………... 5
1.3 Earlier research……….. 6
1.4 The present study………... 10
1.4.1 The research problem………. 10
1.4.2 The purpose of the study……….... 11
1.4.3 The specific research questions……….. 11
1.4.4 Definitions and operationalizations……….... 11
1.4.5 Research hypothesis………... 12
1.5 Disposition..………. 12
2. Method………...
132.1 Participants………. 14
2.2 Instruments………. 15
2.2.1 A four item efficacy scale……….. 15
2.2.2 IEA civic knowledge items……….... 16
2.3 Procedure……….... 17
2.4 Statistical analysis……….. 18
3. Results………...
204. Discussion………..
254.1 Conclusions………. 28 List of references and Appendix
List of tables and charts
1. Table 1………...
202. Table 2………...
213. Table 3………...
224. Chart 1………..
231. Introduction
Swedish schools have a democratic mission. They are tasked by the government to instill both democratic values and knowledge in its students. After completing upper secondary education, students should be democratically competent citizens. This mission is primarily focused on social studies courses, where democratic values and knowledge is shaped. Since the introduction of the Swedish Education Act of 2010, students can choose to take up to five courses in social studies. This means that they are not equally exposed to the democratic mission, and in this respect they do not have an equal opportunity to become democratically competent. The association between social studies and students democratic competence is the subject of this thesis.
1.1 Background: the democratic mission in Swedish schools
When the second world war ended, democratic governments across the globe recognized the need to discourage authoritarianism and promote democratic values among its citizens (Sandahl, 2015, p. 20). Sweden was no exception, and in 1945 the subject of social science (called samhällskunskap in Swedish) was introduced in public schools. The purpose of the subject was twofold: to educate students on current societal issues and to foster good democratic citizens (Ekman, 2007, p. 9). This democratic mission is well established in Swedish schools today, even though it has undergone many changes since the war. The democratic ideals expressed in curriculums during the past decades have been based, in a large part, on the ideological and political trends of the day. The basic idea of democratic values has therefore taken different shapes, based on classical liberal individualism, aristotelian citizenship, cooperative aspirations, equal and human rights (Ekman, 2007, p.
10-12; Sandahl, 2015, p. 20). The dual nature of primary and secondary education in Sweden was continued when the most recent legislative changes to school politics were made, in the first and second decade of the 21st century. In the swedish Education Act of 2010 (see:
skollagen 2010:800) it is clearly stated that the purpose of Swedish schools is for the students to: “obtain and develop knowledgeand values”. These values are enumerated in the same law and include: “respect for human rights and the basic democratic values expressed in Swedish society”. The law further lists: “the inviolability of human life” and “the freedom and integrity of the individual” as key values (skollagen 2010:800). In the more specific context of swedish upper secondary schools, so called gymnasium, these values form a part of the curriculum:
“The school should actively and consciously influence and stimulate students into embracing the shared values of our society and encourage their expression in practical daily action ”
(skolverket, curriculum for the upper secondary school, 2013).
From a political science perspective, the degree to which the instructions in the curriculum are carried out might have implications for society as a whole, and for the democratic institutions that form a part of that society. Since “the values of our society” are clearly enumerated in law and curriculum, the questions often asked by political scientists are: how,
and in which context, does the school actively and consciously influence and stimulate the students? And what does all that influencing and stimulating actually lead to? In general terms, these questions also form the basis for this bachelor thesis. Before they can be made into specific research questions however, it is necessary to examine a possible theoretical framework, as well as earlier research in the field.
1.1.1 Democratic theory and the role of the state
Democracy, democratic values, and democratic participation are cherished concepts in many societies that practice, or aspire to democratic rule. For some, these concepts are measured using a classical liberal yardstick with an emphasis on freedom. For others, they are measured by levels of equality, with a particular focus on power structures and opportunities (Westheimer & Kahne, 2002, p.27). Quite regardless of these distinctions, many democratic societies consider it necessary for the survival of democracy to encourage civic, democratic participation by promoting democratic values (Martens & Gainous, 2013, p.967-969). It is perhaps not surprising that many governments have found primary and secondary educational systems to be a suitable place for this type of promotion. Using schools as vehicles of both knowledge andvalues is after all an old practice. Many schools, wherever and whenever they are found, have taught children the values of society and the state, whether those values were explicitly enumerated or simply implied (Moeller et al., 2014, p. 700). This practice has long been a field of study within classical democratic theory. The potential conflict between the autonomy of the citizen and the rearing ambitions of the state was described and discussed by Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century, John Locke in the 18th century and by John Stuart Mill in the 19th century, among many others. Hobbes famously argued for state control, although not specifically nor exclusively through schools, as a means of averting the collapse of civilization itself. Locke and Mill emphasized the rights of individual citizens. Both men argued that any attempt of the state to bias the thought of its citizens was an inherent evil, and a threat to the necessary and God-given freedom of the individual (Englert, 2016, p. 557). In the case of Mill, the object of discussion was precisely the promotion of state agenda in schools, and as such it was an early entry in a debate that continues to this very day.
In more recent history, the ambition of democratic states to foster democratic citizens by imposing democratic values on them appears to be less controversial (Englert, 2016, p. 558).
Different states do however emphasize different democratic values, and discussions therefore often focus on the tendency of action, not on the action itself. Whatever the tendency - be it a focus on classical liberalism and the freedom of the individual, or opportunities for equality, or some combination of these and other aspects of democracy - the action has often centered on civics or social studies courses (Hope & Jagers, 2014, p. 470). It is still assumed, it seems, as it was in the time of Locke and Mill, that schools can impose values on students, in much the same way as it dispenses knowledge (Malafaia et al., 2016, p. 43-44). Civics or social studies courses therefore seem to be the perfect forum for imparting civic, or democratic, values. Lawmakers, policymakers and school officials in different countries appear to shape the civics or social studies curriculum in large part to sustain this dual mission (Dassonneville et al., 2012, p. 144-145). What is perhaps less apparent, is the way in which the students
democratic values are measured. Any given school, or education authority, certainly has established procedures to evaluate students knowledge of a subject, like social studies for example, but procedures to evaluate their democratic values are less common (Ekman, 2007, p. 12).
1.1.2 The subject of social studies
Democracy, equality andhuman rights are values specifically mentioned in the description of the purpose of the social studies subject, called samhällskunskap in swedish, published by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket, ämnesplan för samhällskunskap, 2013).
The same policy also states that teaching social studies should: “contribute to creating conditions for active participation in the life of society ”. This makes social studies, and the different courses within the subject, unique in relation to the democratic mission of Swedish upper secondary schools. Influencing and stimulating democratic values might be the responsibility of every teacher and school employee, in every subject or context, but those are general mandates. The subject of social studies is the only one where the democratic mission is specific (Sandahl, 2015, p. 20). The learning outcomes associated with the different courses in social studies all concern knowledge and abilities related to political and social life. According to the National Agency for Education, students should be given the opportunity to achieve these outcomes through teaching in five different social studies courses. The outcomes include the following: (1) “Developing knowledge of democracy and human rights, both individual and collective rights, social issues, social conditions, as well as the function and organization of different societies from local to global levels based on different interpretations and perspectives”, (2) “Developing knowledge of the importance of historical conditions and how different ideological, political, economic, social and environmental conditions affect and are affected by individuals, groups and social structures”, (3) “Developing the ability to analyse social issues and identify causes and consequences using concepts, theories, models and methods from social sciences” and (4)
“Developing the ability to search for, critically examine and interpret information from different sources and assess their relevance and credibility” (Skolverket, ämnesplan för samhällskunskap, 2013). These learning outcomes, combined with the aims of the subject, creates a possible avenue of political scientific inquiry. Since programmes in upper secondary education in Sweden are elective, there are differences in the amount of social studies courses a student might take. This, in turn, means that not all students at Swedish upper secondary schools are exposed equally to attempts at influencing and stimulating their democratic values. Students who attend a social studies programme (in Swedish:
samhällsvetenskapligt program) can take up to seven courses with a social, or political, content, five of which are included in the description of aims and learning outcomes for social studies published by the National
Agency for Education, and included here. These are: Social Studies 1(b) through 3, International Relationsand International Economy. Measured in education points (poäng) for upper secondary education, a student at the social studies programme can read up to 500 points in social and political courses out of a total of 2500 points during their entire three
years at school (see: Skolverket, samhällsvetenskapligt program, 2013). In other words, such a student can spend 20 per cent of upper secondary education in different social studies courses. This might be contrasted with a student at a natural science programme (in Swedish:
naturvetenskapligt program). Such a student might only read a single course in social studies (Samhällskunskap 1b), giving that student a grand total of 100 points in the subject (see:
Skolverket, naturvetenskapligt program, 2013). That student would spend only 4 per cent of upper secondary education in social studies classes.
1.1.3 Democratic socialization
The theoretical concept of democratic socialization deals with the process by which an individual internalizes the values, norms and ideologies of the society of which she is a part.
This process is often slow, and complicated. It involves either active or passive participation of the individual. Chronological factors such as age and critical points in time are important, as are surrounding actors such as teachers, schools, peers and parents, each with their own complex set of conditions (Broman, 2009, p. 66-70). In the specific context of the democratic mission in Swedish upper secondary schools, it is possible to describe democratic socialization as an ambition. The curriculum for upper secondary education mandates that schools should act as socializing agents for the students by “actively and consciously influencing and stimulating students into embracing the shared values of our society”
(Skolverket, Curriculum for the upper secondary school, 2013).
1.2 Democratic competence
If democratic socialization is the “end game” of the democratic mission, then one concrete way for upper secondary schools to achieve it might be to instill “democratic competence” in the students. For the purposes of the current study, I will use the definition proposed by Tiina Ekman (2007). She argues that democratic competence reflects both aspects of the dual mission of swedish schools. The acquisition of both knowledge about democracy and society and democratic values is required if the democratic mission is to be completed, and democratic socialization achieved (Ekman, 2007, p. 11-13). Ekman divides these two aspects into civic knowledge and political efficacy, both of which she connects to the subject plans for social studies courses in Swedish upper secondary schools (Ekman, 2007, p. 14).
1.2.1 Civic knowledge
Civic knowledge can be described as knowledge about the processes, rules and norms that surround civic society, with an emphasis on understanding political institutions, both horizontal and vertical, and complex societal problems (Levy, 2013, p. 361). Ekman’s 2007 definition is based on the content of the social studies course samhällskunskap A, which was replaced with samhällskunskap 1b, when the Education Act of 2010 came into effect. Most requirements were however transferred to the new course. For example, the requirement that
students gain knowledge about current political and societal affairs remains, as does the requirement that they be able to analyze complex cause- and effect-connections in democratic society (Skolverket, ämnesplan för samhällskunskap, 2013). By this definition, students civic knowledge is measured regularly as part of the grading process in samhällskunskap 1b. The same is true for the courses samhällskunskap 2 and samhällskunskap 3, which build on the preceding courses and share the same basic requirements while focusing more on individually chosen themes and student specialization. In the course, international economics, students are required to account for trade relations from different perspectives, and interpret corresponding societal issues. In the course, international relations, they must examine and interpret societal issues relating to international conflicts and problems, such as consequences of globalisation and the importance of cooperation. All aforementioned courses, samhällskunskap 1b, samhällskunskap 2, samhällskunskap 3, international economics and international relations, share the general aims and learning outcomes associated with the subject of social studies as described by the National Agency for Education. This means that all five courses must promote democracy, equality and human rights and contribute to creating conditions for active participation in the life of society. All five courses must also create conditions for students to develop knowledge of politics and society, such as understanding different ideological, political, economic, social and environmental conditions and how they affect and are affected by individuals, groups and social structures (Skolverket, ämnesplan för samhällskunskap, 2013).
1.2.2 Political efficacy
Political efficacy is a concept commonly used in the subfield of political science called political psychology. It relates to the extent to which citizens feel they have the capacity to understand and affect government, and the extent to which they trust, and have faith in that same government (Caprara, Vecchione & Capanna, 2009). In this regard political efficacy can be compared to other efficacy concepts such as self efficacy (in the study psychology) and social efficacy (in the study of sociology). An individual who feels that she knows how the government works, and that she can participate in and influence the decisions of the government if she wants to, would score high on a political efficacy test. The same would be true for an individual who has a lot of faith and trust in the government. He would probably score high on the test too. This distinction, between trust in one’s own ability and faith in institutions, represent the two faces of political efficacy commonly called internal and external political efficacy (Reichert, 2016, p. 236). External political efficacy in general, and internal political efficacy in particular, is sometimes used to test the effectiveness of laws, policies and regulations aimed at promoting democratic values, such as respect for individual rights andpolitical participation, in schools (Arens & Watermann, 2017, p. 938). To this end, a number of psychometric scales for political efficacy have been deployed. According to Ekman (2007), the democratic-mission-aspect of social studies courses in swedish upper secondary schools, can be studies using political efficacy as an indicator. In fact, the aims for the subject of social studies, included in all five courses, such as “creating conditions for active participation in the life of society”, and the requirements of social and political knowledge would correspond to political efficacy according to this view.
1.3 Earlier research
Many studies, both in Sweden and in other countries, particularly in the US and the UK, have centered around the teaching of democratic values and competencies in schools. In the following section, I will present a general summary of earlier research focusing on aspects of relevance for the present study. First, is the democratic mission ever accomplished? What do we know about Swedish schools and their ambition to be a democratic socializing agent for students? At least one earlier Swedish study has attempted to answer this question. Then, I will present earlier research on the subject of social studies. Is social studies courses really the arena in which the democratic mission is fulfilled, and why should we be interested in the amount of courses students take? Finally, I will present some studies about students democratic competence. How is democratic competence related to the democratic mission in school, and what else has been associated with the concept?
In the beginning of this introduction, I showed that the democratic mission in Swedish upper secondary schools is, in part, “to actively and consciously influence and stimulate the students to embrace the democratic values of swedish society” (Skolverket, Curriculum for the upper secondary school, 2013). I argued that this often leads political scientists to ask:
how, and in which context, does the school actively and consciously influence and stimulate the students? And what does all that influencing and stimulating actually lead to? In the context of political science, especially within the framework of classical institutionalism, the actions of government institutions and the associated behaviour of its citizens is fundamental to our understanding of politics and society. Therefore, we should also add the question: does school influence and stimulate any democratic values at all? In other words: is the democratic mission ever accomplished? The democratic mission delegated to Swedish schools might be viewed as an ambition to act as a democratic socializing agent. Some studies seem to indicate that it does, at least to some extent, achieve this ambition. In his thesis about the democratic mission in schools and students democratic orientations, Broman (2009) found that teaching students about democracy had general effects on students. In individual cases, social studies in school could change students political orientation in significant ways, but on an aggregate level the chance of such change was less significant. The results nevertheless confirmed that Swedish schools, among other factors, are socializing agents for students (Broman, 2009, p.
224).
In his study, Broman focused on the subject of social studies, measuring students political efficacy and democratic orientations before and after completion of a social studies course in order to confirm a causal relationship between the course content and students democratic orientation. This focus on social studies courses when studying the democratic mission is not uncommon. Another Swedish study, on political socialization in Swedish schools focused on the subject of social studies, using course aims and learning outcomes to argue that social studies courses in Swedish upper secondary schools is where political socialization occurs (Ekman, 2007, p. 190-192). Social studies is after all the only subject in Swedish schools
with an explicit connection to the democratic mission, as further demonstrated above (under the heading “the subject of social studies”). Therefore, if democratic socialization takes place anywhere in school, social studies courses would be a good place to look.
Since all students in Swedish upper secondary schools take at least a basic course in social studies (samhällskunskap A before 2011, and samhällskunskap 1b, or 1a1 and 1a2 after 2011), comparative research between different schools, student groups or programmes is possible. One such study, conducted in the 1980s, measured political literacy among Swedish adolescents (Westholm, Lindqvist & Niemi, 1990). Political literacy might be described as an aspect of internal political efficacy and civic knowledge, as it can relate to individuals actual and perceived ability to understand politics. The results indicated that there was an effect of education on political literacy, and that there were clear differences between students at vocational (in Swedish: yrkesförberedande) and academic upper secondary school programmes. In other words, students became more politically literate as a result of education, and students at academic programmes became more politically literate than their counterparts at vocational programmes. Other studies have resulted in similar findings.
When it comes to the question of course amount, studies on other school subjects, such as the subject of English, have found that the amount of English courses a student takes, in different school districts for example, is associated with the students future ability to follow complex news stories and participate in discussions about current events, which is a common learning outcome of the English subject in anglophone countries. Different schools offer a different amount of English courses, and the amount chosen by students affect their ability to interact in society (Hakuta, 2000, p. 19). In Sweden, studies of SFI, Swedish for Immigrants, have presented similar findings. The subjectSwedish for Immigrants is offered to immigrants as an assimilation tool, and is considered an important factor for integration. The subject consists of four different courses, with common learning outcomes but varied content, much like the courses within the subject of social studies. The amount of SFI courses taken by immigrants in Sweden has been shown to be one on several factors predicting future successful integration (Hayrapetian, 2008, p. 24-28). In the context of social studies, few researchers have focused on the amount of courses students take, but as I showed above, comparisons of other factors have been made. For instance, students at Swedish vocational programmes have been shown to be significantly less politically competent (e.g possess a combination of civic knowledge and political efficacy) than students at academic programmes (Ekman, 2007, p.
195-196).
Political scientists have argued that the democratic values sought by governments, and enumerated in the democratic mission of Swedish schools, can be measured using a variety of tools, including internal political efficacy (de Groot, Goodson & Veugelers, 2014, p. 149).
Indeed, some suggest that social studies courses positively affects internal political efficacy (Broman, 2009, p. 227-228). That is to say, taking a social studies course in school can increase your internal political efficacy (Levy, 2013, p. 357). Other factors, like political interest, discussions of political issues and politically educated parents, among others, have been shown to correlate with, if not cause, internal political efficacy among adolescents (Levy, 2013, p.13; Brussino et al., 2011, p. 189; Diemer & Rapa, 2016, p. 223). It has also
been suggested that political knowledge is mediated by (internal-) political efficacy to cause political participation, a key aspect of democratic values (Reichert, 2016, p. 229). In other words, the more knowledge of politics a citizen has, the greater her political efficacy, which in turn enhances her sense of democratic values (which might be one of the goals of government).
This is where democratic competence enters the field. Defined as a composite of political efficacy and civic knowledge, the construct of democratic competence can be used to measure the effect of the democratic mission in schools, or more specifically the role of upper secondary school as a democratic socialization agent. In her 2007 study of equality of political citizenship, Ekman argues that the two key concepts in the study of political participation; civic knowledge and political efficacy, should be combined. Civic knowledge, in this case, represents an objective judgement, while political efficacy represents a subjective judgement. By measuring both, it is possible to draw conclusions about the conditions for political citizenship, she argues.
Apart from differences between academic and vocational programmes, or the effect of social studies courses on things such as political efficacy, civic knowledge or democratic orientation, studies have shown that school segregation can affect democratic competence, with an emphasis on civic knowledge. Students in areas with high numbers of immigrants and low social status knew less about democracy and societal issues (Khattar, 2014, p. 401).
This result was mirrored in a study of the effects of growing institutional divergence among Swedish upper secondary schools. Decentralization of the Swedish school system and a growing number of private schools meant that the effect of the individual school on factors such as students democratic competence increased (Amnå et al., 2010, p. 28).
In addition to this, another two factors have been connected to, or shown to predict, aspects of democratic competence. Gender seems to predict only political efficacy, where boys, particularly at vocational programmes, are more confident in their democratic skills than girls, but not civic knowledge (Ekman, 2007, p. 195). Political interest has been linked to both aspects of democratic competence, as a positive correlation between the two has been observed in several studies (Ekman, 2002, p. 12).
Finally, international studies of students democratic competence, in one form or another, have shown that Swedish students compare favourably to students in other countries, as in the latest international civics and citizenship education study of lower secondary school students, aged 13 to 15 (M age= 13,5) published by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (Schulz et al., 2017, p. 56). It has also been suggested that Swedes in general, are highly competent democratic citizens, if not always active ones. The idea is that most Swedes are “citizens on call”, ready and able to do their democratic duty whenever the need arises (Amnå, 2008, p. 163). This description connects to aspects of the German politische bildung tradition. In this tradition, democratic competence can be observed on four levels of political engagement, ranging from (1) the politically uninterested citizen, who does not engage in politics, (2) the reflecting spectator, who has knowledge of politics, but seldom
participates in politics except for voting, (3) the action capable citizen, similar to the idea of the citizen on call to (4) the active citizen, who is a member of political parties or interest groups (Detjen, 2000, p.12). Studies of the aims and learning outcomes of social studies in schools, have indicated that this scale could be used to identify the degree of democratic competence that students should attain in social studies courses (Detjen, 2000, p. 14).
Arguing that the action capable citizen, and the active citizen, have competencies that go beyond the core of the social studies subject, Lödén, Stegmann McCallion and Wall (2014) identified the second level as the minimal level of competence that citizenship education should target. The reflecting spectator is compared to a sports fan, who follows the game, knows the rules and has an understanding of the strategies involved (Lödén, Stegmann McCallion & Wall, 2014, p. 389).
So, let us reconnect with the questions I asked at the beginning of this section. What do we already know about the democratic mission in Swedish upper secondary schools, and the democratic competence of its student body? First, I asked if the democratic mission is ever accomplished. What do we know about Swedish schools and their ambition to be a democratic socializing agent for students? Studies conducted in Swedish upper secondary schools, during the last decade, indicate that schools can indeed fulfill their democratic mission, in the sense that they can act as political or democratic socializing agents for students, even if there is some question of their effectiveness (see: Ekman, 2007; Broman, 2009).
Then, I asked if social studies courses really is the arena in which the democratic mission is fulfilled, and why we should be interested in the amount of courses students take? The Swedish National Agency for Education identifies social studies as the only subject where the teaching of both democratic values and competencies is specifically required (Skolverket, ämnesplan för samhällskunskap, 2013). Studies have also suggested that social studies courses is the primary arena for teaching democratic values and competencies such as civic knowledge (Ekman, 2007, p.190-191). Although few studies on the subject of social studies have focused on the amount of courses students take, such research has been conducted in other fields. Studies show that the amount of courses is one of several important factor when evaluating outcomes in the subjects of English and Swedish for immigrants (Hakuta, 2000, p.
19; Hayrapetian, 2008, p. 24-28).
Finally, I asked how democratic competence is related to the democratic mission in school, and what else has been associated with the concept? Earlier research show that democratic competence is a good way to measure the success of school as a political or democratic socializing agent, as it incorporates both political efficacy, including trust in government and one’s own ability to affect government, and civic knowledge. In other words, some argue that the democratic mission is to create democratic competence using social studies courses (Ekman, 2007, p. 190). Using the tradition of politische bildung, students with competencies that allow them to be informed spectators in politics, might be the minimal aim of any citizenship, or social studies course (Lödén, Stegmann McCallion & Wall, 2014, p. 388-389).
Earlier research has also indicated that factors, other than social studies, that affect democratic competence might be gender (boys feeling more competent) and political interest (being interested in politics increasing democratic competence).
1.4 The present study
1.4.1 The research problem
A classical institutional approach to the teaching of democratic values in school, and the democratic mission of the Swedish school in particular, can lead to far-reaching political and societal implications. Against this background, understanding how citizens democratic values are shaped during the school years, becomes an important factor to understanding matters such as democratic- and participation trends in the adult years.
Even though a lot is already known about the process of democratic socialization in upper secondary schools, and the mechanisms by which it is achieved, there are still gaps in our knowledge. Though we know that social studies courses can contribute to the democratic socialization of students, we do not have a full picture of that process. In particular, few studies have focused on the amount of social studies courses students take, even though the possible variance is quite large and studies of other school subjects have shown that amount of courses affects learning outcomes and can have social implications. Comparisons of democratic values, attitudes and competence between students at academic and vocational programmes have been made, but few between students at more comparable academic programmes such as students at social science and natural science programmes.
As I demonstrated in the chapter above, we have reason to believe that Swedish students are well on their way to becoming competent democratic citizens when they enter upper secondary school, thanks, perhaps in part, to social studies courses. But, we also know that this is a generalization within an international context. In fact, there are many differences between Swedish students: they do not seem to become competent democratic citizens in equal order. This fact poses a problem for any society that values equal opportunities and democratic participation. It might become an even greater problem for any state that uses social studies courses in schools to foster democratically competent citizens. In a Swedish context, social studies is the only school subject with an explicit mission to create good democratic citizens, according to the definitions of the state, by teaching them democratic competence. At the same time, not all students at upper secondary schools take an equal amount of social studies courses. If this fact contributes to the unequal distribution of democratic competence among students is not fully understood.
Given the fact that Swedish students are quite democratically competent by international standards, why should we care that some students, who take several social studies courses in
upper secondary school, have a chance to become a bit more competent than their peers? The answer might be given in three parts:
(1) Firstly, the democratic mission is a matter of law, and therefore applies equally to all. The fact that all students at primary, and (lower) secondary school takes the same amount of social studies courses makes it a convenient vehicle for democratic competence. In upper secondary school, this logic no longer holds. There, one might argue that the law is applied unequally;
(2) Secondly, we know that democratic competence can be an important predictor of future political behavior, such as participation in elections. Therefore, any differences in students ability to increase their democratic competence, might be important; and
(3) Thirdly, we have reason to suspect that social studies courses do the job there supposed to do: they contribute to the democratic competence of students. But, reasonably, there must be a limit to such an effect. At some point, taking social studies courses must stop contributing to democratic competence. After all, one cannot be infinitely democratically competent. If students hit “peak democratic competence” after one upper secondary course in social studies, then the inequality argument suffers because all students take that course. But we do not yet now what amount of social studies courses is the right amount, at least not if every student is to be given the same opportunity to become democratically competent.
1.4.2 The purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to investigate whether social studies courses, in addition to other known factors like political interest, is associated with democratic competence, measured as a combination of civic knowledge and political efficacy. In this sense, the study aims to contribute to earlier findings that social studies courses effects, or is correlated with, democratic competence. Further, the study aims to explore the possible limits of such a relationship by comparing democratic competence in different students at academic programmes, who have taken social studies courses at different levels.
1.4.3 The specific research questions
(1) Does social studies courses, controlling for political interest and other possible variables using regression analysis, predict democratic competence among students at academic upper secondary school programmes?
(2) How much social studies is enough? Is there a point at which the effect of social studies courses on democratic competence weakens?
1.4.4 Definitions and operationalizations
For the purposes of the present study, social studies courses is defined using information from the Swedish National Agency for Education. They therefore include the following courses: Samhällskunskap 1b, samhällskunskap 2, samhällskunskap 3, Internationella relationer and Internationell ekonomi (Skolverket, ämnet samhällskunskap, 2013).
Democratic competence is operationalized using the concepts of civic knowledge and political efficacy to capture both subjective and objective democratic values and competencies. This approach is based on the model used by Ekman (2007).
1.4.5 Research hypothesis
The hypothesis, based in part on previous research, are:
1. Social studies courses significantly predicts democratic competence, even when controlling for political interest.
2. There is a significant effect of amount of social studies courses on democratic competence.
The second hypothesis has no clear empirical foundation, but is based on a reasonable assumption. For this reason, it is not possible to specify an exact level at which the hypothesized effect weakens.
1.5 Disposition
In the second chapter, methodological choices and considerations are presented, followed by descriptions of the participants, instruments of measurement, procedures and assumptions for statistical analysis. The results of the study is presented in chapter three, using tables and a chart to illustrate outcomes of the statistical tests employed. These results are discussed in the fourth, and final chapter, reconnecting the findings to results from earlier studies.
Conclusions are drawn and implications for the future of social studies in Swedish upper secondary schools are suggested.
2. Method
This is an empirical study, in the sense that it relies on systematic investigation to observe and better understand reality (Esaiasson et al., 2011, p. 23-24). The part of reality under investigation is of course social studies in Swedish upper secondary schools, and its effects and limitations. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional, quantitative research design using data from a questionnaire survey. This methodological choice was motivated not only by the nature of the research problem, but also the research questions. The study aimed to investigate the effects of a primary independent variable (Social studies courses) on a dependent variable (democratic competence), including other variables (mainly political interest, but also gender). It further aimed to examine the possible limits of that effect, so that we can better understand how much social studies is appropriate, given the goals set up in the democratic mission of Swedish schools. In order to do this it was necessary to collect data from a relatively large number of participants, and use this data to generalize and make predictions. Quantitative methods are generally better suited for generalization and prediction purposes, and qualitative methods are better for exploratory, or in-depth scientific investigations (Esaiasson et al., 2011, p. 197). If the focus of the study had been on a particular social studies course, in a particular school, or if the object of the study was to find some hard-to-define quality or elusive factor, a qualitative case-study would probably have more suitable. In this case, the participants were selected at random within the population of interest, i.e students at certain programmes with access to certain courses. This fact, coupled with the moderate to large sample size makes it possible to make some general claims based on the results. The cross-sectional nature of the study however, is less suited for making generalisations than a pure experimental or longitudinal design is. This fact must, and will be taken into account when analysing and discussing the results of the study.
Establishing a link between democratic mission and democratic competence lead to the construction of a questionnaire, using a composite variable (democratic competence) measured with established psychometric and cognitive instruments. Using these instruments in combination was important to secure valid results, as they had been subjected to previous tests of validity, and were deployed following published guidelines. The eventual reliability of the results would depend of several factors. However, using a moderate sample size of close to 200 participants, and collecting, coding and analysing the data in a transparent manner is especially important.
As the research problem and questions, seemed to require an empirical, quantitative approach, the question became, of what sort? The research problem seemed to negated the need to manipulate the groups by some intervention, since there was no reliable way to manipulate the independent variable. Had this been a possibility, an experimental research design would have been fitting. In such a study, I could have manipulated (e.g changed the conditions of) the social studies courses in some way, to make causal determinations (Esaiasson et al., 2011, p. 327). This could have included a panel study, also known as a longitudinal study, in which I followed the same groups of students over an extended period
of time, to test their democratic competence before, after and even during every social studies course they took. A benefit of such a design choice would also have been the ability to make statements of causality, if the results allowed it. The restrictions of a bachelor thesis made such methodological avenues unavailable, however. Finally, a cross-sectional research design allowed me to study the students democratic competence at a given moment, a cross-section in time, instead of using a more time consuming longitudinal approach (Esaiasson et al., 2011, p. 327). I assumed, partly based on earlier research, that there are differences in democratic competence between students, even when comparing students at exclusively academic education programmes. This assumption influenced the selection process, since I was mainly interested in students at certain types of education programmes. These aspects also lend themselves to the cross-sectional approach. The negative implication of this methodological choice lies in the distinction between association, prediction, and causality. I might, if the results allow, make statements about associations (connections between variables) and even predictions (that one variable might predict another). I cannot necessarily make claims of causality. The three requirements for causality are usually described as (1) covariance, (2) temporal precedence and (3) elimination of extraneous variables (Esaiasson et al., 2011, p. 328). A cross-sectional, quantitative research design allows me to control for some extraneous variables, for example gender and political interest. But I cannot fully get around the temporal requirement. What degree of democratic competence did the participants have before they started taking social studies courses? To answer that, i would have had to have been there, measuring it.
2.1 Participants
The study involved students ( N= 158) at three upper secondary schools, two of which were located in Västra Götalands län in western Sweden, and one in Örebro län in central Sweden.
The participants were randomly selected from social- and natural science programmes at the schools. About 75% of the students attended social science programmes ( n = 120), and about 25% attended natural science programmes ( n = 38). All participants were in the first semester of the second or third year during the study. Their age ranged from 17 to 19, with 26% being 17 years old ( n = 41), 40% being 18 years old (n = 64) and 34% being 19 years old (n = 53).
The gender distribution was relatively even, with 51.3% girls ( n = 81) and 48.7% boys (n = 77).
According to admissions records from all three schools, the natural science- and social science programmes are the two most popular programmes on offer. Where the average admission-points (in Swedish: antagningspoäng) for an upper secondary education programme was 204,3 points in 2017, the admission-points for the social science and natural science programmes were 249,5 points and 279,7 points respectively (Utbildningskatalog, antagningspoäng 2017). All five social studies courses included in the study were available for students from both programmes, but only the courseSocial Studies 1b was mandatory for
the students at the natural science programme. For students at the Social Science programme, mandatory courses also included the course Social Studies 2.
Participation in the study was approved, not only by the students themselves, but also by headmasters, headmistresses and head teachers at each school.
All participants were informed about the purpose and circumstances of the study beforehand, both verbally and in writing. They were also informed that their participation was voluntary, and that they could change their minds at any time, even after starting the questionnaire.
Completion of the questionnaire was estimated to take about twenty minutes. Therefore, all participants were allocated a minimum of thirty minutes for the task, with extra time being offered as needed.
2.2 Instruments
The dependent variable political interest was measured by asking the participants to indicate their degree of political interest on a five point Likert-scale, ranging from very interested to not interested at all . This approach is modeled after earlier surveys of political participation and interest, like Elections Canada’s 2002 survey of Voters and non-Voters (Elections Canada, 2002). Before answering the question, the students are asked to read a short description of what might constitute politics: “Politics can be many things, like debates, societal conflicts, discussions about global problems, power and decision makers”. (see appendix A: the questionnaire, for more details).
The dependent variable democratic competence was measured using established cognitive- and psychometric instruments, that were integrated into the questionnaire, and with participant answers indicated on a 5-point scale. The psychometric instrument was used to measure the subjective aspect of this dependent variable; political efficacy, and the cognitive instrument measured the objective aspect of the same variable; civic knowledge. Both instruments have been used by political scientists in earlier studies, to measure aspects of the same variables, and are presented in the text below. An index for both instruments was created by adding the points of each individual item. These were further combined into an index for the composite variable democratic competence.
2.2.1 A four item efficacy scale
Political efficacy, as it relates to the scientific study of political attitudes and political participation, has been of interest to political scientists, sociologists and psychologists since the 1950s. Due to this interest, a number of psychometric instruments have been developed to measure political efficacy. For the purposes of the present study, the Political Efficacy Scale, developed as a standard measurement of political efficacy was used (Morell, 2003, p. 589).
This scale is based on previous instruments, and originally tested by using data from the 1992
and 2000 American National Election Studies (NES). These, and other studies, have indicated that political efficacy is best measured by four items, or questions (Niemi et al., 1991, p. 120; Morrell, 2003, p. 589). These questions are answered by using a five point scale, where five indicates that the participant agrees strongly, and one indicates that the participant disagrees strongly. The questions are (Morell, 2005, p. 60):
(1) “I Consider myself well-qualified to participate in politics.”
(2) “I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of the important political issues facing our country.”
(3) “I feel that I could do as good a job in public office as most other people.”
(4) “I think that I am as well informed about politics and government as most people.”
Tests of the validity of these four items suggest that they accurately measure a person’s internal political efficacy, that is the degree to which they believe that they can understand and affect politics and policy (Morell, 2005, p. 60).
For the purposes of the present study, it was necessary to revise and translate the items in order to use them in the context of swedish adolescents. The revision consisted mainly of changing the nature of the third item: “I feel that I could do as good a job in public office as most people.” Using the argument of Broman in his 2009 thesis, I felt that this item was inappropriate as the participants in the current study were adolescent or young adult students, for whom political office was, until recently, unattainable (Broman, 2009, p. 156). The new item is instead geared toward perceived ability to actively participate in politics (item 4 below). The revised and translated questions are (taken from Broman, 2009, p. 155):
(1) “I know more about politics than most people my age.”
(2) “I have an easy time understanding most political issues.”
(3) “I often have something to say when political issues or problems are discussed.”
(4) “I feel that I have the ability to actively participate in politics.”
The five scale options were also translated into swedish, and range from 1 for “ disagrees strongly” to 5 for “agrees strongly”.
The internal consistency of the revised and translated items has previously been tested using factor analysis. The results indicated that all four items measure the same construct reliably (Broman, 2009, p. 156).
2.2.2. IEA civic knowledge items
The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, generally and hereinafter referred to as the IEA, is a non-profit intergovernmental research organization. In order to measure the participants degree of civic knowledge, I employed fifteen items, designed and used in the measurement of civic knowledge by the IEA. The items were used in the IEA Civic Education Study, and have been approved for scientific use and distribution
by the IEA (IEA, Research and Collaboration, 2010). Earlier Swedish studies have used the items to investigate differences between adolescents civic knowledge, finding effects of both school location and socioeconomics (Ekman, 2007, p. 195-198). The items are multiple choice, and sometimes preceded by a short introductory text, to give the participants a relevant background on which to base their answer. For example: two of the items are preceded by a text about OPEC, the organization of petroleum exporting countries, followed by questions related to the text, like “ For what reason do you think the OPEC-countries might want to lower the production of oil? ” The participants then choose from alternative answers like “In order to stop oil prices from falling.” (see appendix A: the questionnaire, for more details). The fifteen IEA items are not designed to measure political, factual knowledge only, but a variety of knowledge about political issues, political power structures, equality, human rights, international relations, constitutional law concepts and economics, among others. These subjects are all related to politics in particular, but more importantly to democracy, and democratic competence in general.
Since fifteen items were used in the measurement, a sum variable scoring of 0-15 per participant was used in subsequent statistical testing.
2.3 Procedure
An initial inquiry of participation was sent to a random selection of 46 Swedish upper secondary schools with distinct social science- and natural science education programmes, 9 of which were private schools, and 37 of which were public. 36 schools responded to the inquiry, but only five indicated a willingness, or ability, to participate. Of these, only three could eventually find the resources, mainly in the form of time, to participate. In all cases, communication was conducted with headmasters, headmistresses or (in two cases) head teachers. All three schools agreed to let students at the social- and natural science programmes participate on a voluntary basis, as long as no other important school activity was effected.
The questionnaires, containing the instruments described in the subsections above, was delivered electronically to headmasters and head teachers at the selected schools. Each school agreed to print the questionnaires, and administer them. Instructions on the procedure was included. The participants were to be informed of the purpose of the study both verbally and in writing (on the first page of the questionnaire). It was to be made clear that participation was voluntary and could be terminated at any time, even after starting the questionnaire. The anonymity of the participants was also guaranteed, both verbally and in writing. All participants were informed that the questionnaire would take about twenty minutes to finish, but that extra time (up to thirty five minutes) could and would be arranged as needed.
2.4 Statistical analysis
In order to analyse democratic competence in a meaningful way, the political efficacy and civic knowledge items were indexed. This means that the results for each participant on the political efficacy scale and the civic knowledge test was added to create an unweighted index for democratic competence, based on a previous model (Ekman, 2007, p. 194-195). This makes democratic competence a composite variable, constructed from political efficacy and civic knowledge. The lowest measured score on the democratic competence index was 11, and the highest was 32. A score below 15 would normally indicate low democratic competence, a score between 16 and 22 would indicate moderate democratic competence, and a score above 23 would indicate high democratic competence.
The first hypothesis assumed that adding social studies courses to a predictive model of democratic competence, including political interest, increased the predictive power of the model significantly. In other words, we could explain more of the variability in students democratic competence with social studies courses than we could with only political interest as a predictor. Or simplified: it was likely that several things predict democratic competence.
One of these seemed to be political interest, according to earlier research. In this study, I assumed that one could explain democratic competence even better if one also included the level of social studies taken. This hypothesis was tested by conducting a hierarchical regression analysis. In order for such an analysis to be successful, a number of statistical assumptions had to be met. The two independent variables, or predictors (political interest and social studies), had to consist of data on a continuous or dichotomous level of measurement (Borg & Westerlund, 2014, p. 425). Level of social studies courses ranged from 100 point to 500 points (or 1 to 5 courses) and was treated as continuous, specifically as data on an interval scale (the difference between 100 points and 200 points is the same as the difference between 300 and 500 points). Political interest, measured on a 5-point Likert scale, was also treated as interval data. This decision might have been controversial, as the scientific community at large is divided on the subject of definitions of levels of measurement.
Likert-scales however, are often treated as interval-level data and can be successfully used in statistical analysis (Borg & Westerlund, 2014, p. 266). In this study, the same logic was applied to the dependent variable as well. Therefor, democratic competence, measured on a composite index-scale, was treated as interval-level data. Another basic assumption for hierarchical regression, namely that the sample should consist of at least 50 cases, or about 20 cases for each predictor variable was also met. The remaining assumptions, such as normality and linearity, was tested statistically and is reported below under the heading results.
The second hypothesis assumed that there is a significant effect of amount of social studies courses on democratic competence. In other words, if social studies predict democratic competence (as the first hypothesis states), we might wish to examine what difference the amount makes. This might also give us an indication, even if it cannot be tested directly in this study, of the point at which social studies no longer contributes to democratic competence among students. The hypothesis is tested by a univariate analysis of variance,
using a general linear model, in order to include an estimate of effect size in the analysis. The assumptions, which must be met to conduct the analysis are tested in connection to the analysis itself, and results are reported below. The only pre-analysis assumption concerned level of measurement for the independent variable social studies. As the model required an independent variable on a nominal scale rather than a continuous one, the students points in social studies were converted to 5 levels of social studies: levels 1 through 5.
3. Results
The purpose of the study is to investigate whether social studies courses, controlling for political interest and other possible variables, predicts democratic competence. It also aims to explore the possible limits of such a relationship by comparing democratic competence in different students at academic programmes, who have taken social studies courses at different levels.
In order to conduct a hierarchical regression, the dependent variable must be normally distributed. The data is therefore tested for violations of normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality, finding no significant reason to believe that the data on democratic competence violates the assumption of normality ( p=.14). Another important assumption for regression analysis is that the main predictors, political interest and level of social studies in this case, are not too closely correlated. Any correlation greater than .70 in a correlation test is generally considered to close. In this case, the predictor variables were not too closely correlated ( r =.10, p < .05). Also, scatter-plots show that assumptions for linearity and homoscedasticity are both met.
The regression is conducted in two main steps. In step one, a model containing only social studies as a predictor is tested. The result confirms that social studies does significantly predict democratic competence (se table 1). Almost one sixth of the variance in democratic competence can be attributed to social studies. As political interest is added in step two, there is no significant change in explained variance. In fact the additional amount of variance explained by adding political interest in step two is only 1 per cent.
Table 1
Predicting democratic competence: hierarchical regression analysis in two steps.
F value is given for the first step, with F-change given for the second step.
__________________________________________________________________
Step Predictor Standardized β p F R2 Adj. R2
—————————————————————————————————
1 - - - 23.695* .132 .126 Social studies .363 .000
2 - - - .367 .134 .123 Social studies .359 .000 - - - Political interest .045 .546 - - -
—————————————————————————————————
* p < .001
The variance in democratic competence that is explained by social studies alone is significant at the .001 level. This means that there is less than a 1 per cent risk that the result is wrong,
and that social studies does not predict approximately a sixth of the variance in democratic competence. The change in explained variance, when adding political interest to the model, is unsurprisingly, not significant.
Since there is no significant reason to believe that political interest, added to social studies, helps explain democratic competence, another series of regressions are conducted and reported separately (see table 2), as the sample size of the study is optimal for only the two main predictors (social studies and political interest). These additional regressions are not connected directly to the research hypothesis, but they are of relevance to the research questions. Since the sample size in the study is too small to accommodate more than two predictors, results of these regressions are to be treated with greater caution in analysis.
Gender is added as a predictor in step three, and age (converted to a dichotomous “dummy variable”) is added in step four. The results of this second regression analysis yields no significant change. In the third step, the addition of gender does not significantly explain any more of the variance in democratic competence than did political interest. In fact, the inclusion of this predictor meant that the model can explain about half a percent less of the variance.
Table 2
Predicting democratic competence: hierarchical regression analysis in four steps.
F value is given for the first step, with F-change given for the following steps.
__________________________________________________________________
Step Predictor Standardized β p F R2 Adj. R2
—————————————————————————————————
1 - - - 23.695* .132 .126 Social studies .363 .000
2 - - - .367 .134 .123 Social studies .359 .000 - - - Political interest .045 .546 - - -
3 - - - .043 .134 .117 Social studies .359 .000 - - - Political interest .045 .546 - - -
Gender -.016 .836 - - -
4 - - - .367 .134 .122 Social studies .361 .000 - - - Political interest .044 .545 - - -
Gender -.017 .833 - - -
Age .023 .712 - - -
—————————————————————————————————
* p < .001
