Preliminary communication
FOSTERING DEMOCRATIC PREPAREDNESS TO PREVENT GROUP FOCUSED ENMITY IN NORWEGIAN SCHOOLS
Claudia Lenz
; The European Wergeland Centre
Peder Nustad
; The Center for The Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities
Abstract
This article introduces the conceptual framework of a Norwegian project which sets out to counteract racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of group focused enmity trough education in lower secondary schools.
The project with the title “Democratic preparedness against Racism and Anti-Semitism” (Dembra) combines elements of in-service teacher training and school development.
Conceptually, it operationalized insights from international research on group focused enmity (Zick et.al 2008, 2011) according to which people who feel marginalized, disconnected and deprived from opportunities in society are most likely to hold negative attitudes about one or several minority groups.
Prejudice against minorities, a sense of being threatened by their presence and anti- democratic attitudes seem to go hand in hand.
As a consequence, the approach towards prevention of group focused enmity through education focuses on developing inclusive school environments, as well as fostering critical thinking, debate and active participation in democratic and diverse environments.
The article describes the whole school approach applied in the project, combining a focus on classroom practice, school governance and culture, which need to be developed in the particular context of each school. Based on these principles, the three-year project has worked with teachers and school leaders from 11 Norwegian schools.
The article gives concrete examples of how some of the participating schools implemented activities related to diversity, prejudice and negative attitudes towards certain minorities. Based on the feedback from the participating teachers we will discuss the project’s positive impact on the teachers and the participating schools.
Keywords
democracy; critical thinking; prejudices; teachers
Hrčak ID:
148328
URI
Publication date:
10.11.2015.
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