Social Science Education on Trust for an Active and Critical Citizenship

Social science education is tasked to prepare youth for a life in democracy. Students are expected to advance their knowledge to become active and critical citizens. However, there are several challenges for teachers to realize these aims, such as handling tensions between critical thinking and socialization; a societal trend of diminishing support for democracy and its ideals; and a demand to empower all students despite individual differences such as gender, class and ethnicity. This interdisciplinary project aims to examine the processes of teaching and learning for critical citizenship. The project will use participatory action research and educational design research to examine and develop teaching in collaboration with teachers at two schools. The project will engage students in an enquiry focusing on social and political trust. Data composed of surveys, focus group interviews, classroom observations, students’ materials and logs.