The purpose of this piece of research is to investigate the issue of democratic classrooms during Social Studies lessons. Such an issue is being given importance not only in the Maltese National Curriculum but also in the curricula of many different countries. The reason for this is that cultivating a democratic environment in the classroom could have an effect on the type of citizens which the schooling system would produce. The crucial part of this long essay consists of two research studies. While quantitative research involved mail questionnaires which were distributed to all Social Studies teachers, qualitative research took the form of unstructured interviews conducted with Form 1 and/or Form 2 students in four state schools. Together, these two research methods provided a complete picture on the extent to which a democratic environment is being created during Social Studies lessons. This is followed by an analysis of the research results as well as a discussion on the findings.

PGCE (Social Studies)
JULY 2004

Keywords:

Democracy Classroom Environment; Pegagogy Participation; Social Issues Learning Approaches.