Original scientific paper
MODELS OF POLITICAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOL SYSTEMS OF EUROPEAN STATES
Berto Šalaj
orcid.org/0000-0002-9913-8477
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The author thematizes several aspects of political education. First he describes
the attitude of the two foremost international associations for political science
(APSA and IPSA) towards political education and shows how political education,
from the perspective of political science, can be perceived in two ways: as a field
of application and as a field of scientific interest. He goes on to list the main reasons
for the revival of the interest in political education in the last ten to fifteen
years that has resulted in the acceptance of political education as an essential
component of school systems in most democratic states. The author is particularly
interested in the manner in which political education within school systems is institutionalized.
Based on the insights into the existing practice, the author offers a
classification with four basic models: political education by means of a hidden
curriculum, political education as an educational principle, political education as a
segment of the integrated social education and political education as a separate
subject. Using this classification, the author has analyzed the existing models of
political education in 26 European states. The analysis has shown that the dominant
models are the model of the separate subject and the model of the integrated
social education. The author thinks that such a choice is the result of the research
findings that suggested a bigger effectiveness of these two models.
Keywords
political education; political science; models of political education, school system; efficiency of political education
Hrčak ID:
23705
URI
Publication date:
5.3.2003.
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