Educating for Democracy in England and Finland: Principles and Culture in England and Finland (Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education)

With the growth of terrorism, instability in the EU following recession, and the acceleration of support for right-wing political parties in Europe, discussions on the nature of democracy and democratic citizenship have never been more important. Exploring the relationship between democratic values, classroom practices and neo-liberalist ideology in England and in Finland, Educating for Democracy argues that it is the role of governments and the education systems they support to create teachers and students who can voice critically appraised judgements to guide their citizenship.

With chapters co-written by English and Finnish authors, this book analyses the history and current state of education systems in England and Finland, with reference to other European countries, in order to establish whether they are effective in creating democratically-minded citizens. Recent years have seen decreasing control of educator professionalism as governments have become more concerned about economic growth, and in some cases, survival. The contributors to this volume question whether educators are becoming less effectual as a result, exploring the idea that democracy is a dying concept, and asking whether educators are now simply creating cogs for the neo-liberalistic/capitalist machine.

This book will be essential reading for academics and researchers in the fields of teacher education, education studies and comparative education. It will also be of great interest to those concerned with issues surrounding citizenship, democracy and the role of the government in education.

Andrea Raiker is an independent consultant and researcher in Higher Education, in the UK and internationally.

Matti Rautiainen is Vice Head of the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.