How can democracy be enhanced in schools?
Should political education be a mandatory part of the secondary school curriculum? How can we improve democracy education to better prepare students for civic engagement?
We want to hear from you! What are your experiences with democracy education in schools? Share your stories and ideas!
Civic education existed in the past, and I have fond memories of it, because there was no question of the teacher taking sides. It started with respect for the laws of our country, respect for our elders, respect for the weak; we learned to open our eyes, to give up our seats on public transport. Today, the scales of justice tip completely to the left, or even very far to the left, where the politics of rights alone reigns. Duties seem to have disappeared, along with our values, to the detriment of habits and customs from outside our culture. Of course we need a return to civic education, but it would still have to be taught in a neutral way by teachers not indoctrinated by the new trends; do they still exist?
L'éducation civique existait par le passé et j'en ai de bons souvenirs car il n'était question d'aucune prise de parti par l'enseignant. Cela commençait par le respect des lois de notre pays, par le respect des anciens, des plus faibles; nous avions appris à ouvrir les yeux, à céder notre place dans les transports publics. Aujourd'hui la balance de la justice penche complètement à gauche, voire très à gauche où règne la politique des droits uniquement. Les devoirs semblent avoir disparu ainsi que nos valeurs au détriment d'us et coutumes extérieurs à notre culture. Bien sûr que nous aurions besoin d'un retour à l'éducation civique, mais encore faudrait-il qu'elle soit enseignée de façon neutre par des enseignants non endoctrinés par les nouvelles tendances; existent-ils encore ?
If anything, the problem is the opposite: how can we avoid systematic left-wing 'democratic' education in our schools? In that sense they are already far too democratic-egalitarian and also generate a lot of problems derived from the 'all inclusive', 'woke', rainbow, egalitarian ideological non-meritocratic etc. etc. culture.
And to a large extent they have already succeeded! In fact, the majority of young people today vote left-green, while the rest are rather centrist with definite protest drifts to the right. How did this youth imbalance come about? Simple: after 1968, the ideological imperative of academics was to enter schools, public institutions, public media, to sow their creed, to proselytise, so much so that the vast majority of teachers today are still left-wingers, including university professors. Result: single-minded young people, rejection of careerist commitment in 'this sick capitalist society'. , minimalist work, general flight from responsibility, etc.etc.
Il problema semmai è all'opposto: come si può evitare la sistematica educazione "democratica " di sinistra nelle nostre scuole? In tal senso sono già sin troppo democratiche-egualitarie e generano pure un sacco di problemi derivati dalla cultura "all inclusive", "woke", arcobaleno, egualitaria ideologica non meritocratica, ecc. ecc.
E in gran parte ci sono già riuscite! Infatti la maggioranza dei giovani oggi votano a sinistra-verde, mentre il resto è piuttosto centrista con decise derive protestatarie a destra. Come mai si è giunti a questo sbilanciamento giovanile? Semplice: dopo il 68, l'imperativo ideologico degli universitari fu di entrare nelle scuole, negli enti pubblici, nei media pubblici, per seminare il loro credo, per fare proselitismo, tant'è che la stragrande maggioranza degli insegnanti oggi è sempre ancora di sinistra, professori universitari compresi. Risultato: giovani dal pensiero unico, rifiuto dell'impegno carrieristico in "questa società capitalista malata" , lavoro minimalista, generale fuga dalle responsabilità, ecc.ecc.
Dear @Marco46 very interesting comment which leads to many new questions: would you prefer to exclude civic education from schools? And which problems do you see can be derived from democracy education in practice? Also, you write, that most younger voters prefer left-green parties, but in fact, in most of the more recent elections we have registered the contrary: many hard right parties are most popular with the youngest voters, the so called tiktok generation. So, the single-mindedness you are indicating may be a very ambivalent phenomenon after all. Or do you have data supporting your argument?
It seems to me a sine qua non to visit and revisit the very foundations of the Confederation and the legal framework that still holds together a people in all its linguistic diversity.
A civic education strongly imbued with Christianity has made it possible to cross the centuries without dislocation or rupture. Young people must be taught about this exceptional civic balance. They are the guardians of our Constitution.
I am apprehensive about the intrusion of other cultures and religions into a space that is not their own. A fundamental divergence in values, codes and culture. In Europe, we are on the brink of the abyss, and I hope to God that Switzerland will be spared.
Il me semble une condition sine qua non de visiter et revisiter les fondements même de la Confédération et la charpente juridique qui maintient encore indemne un peuple dans toute sa diversité linguistique.
L'éducation civique fortement imprégnée du christianisme a permis de traverser les siècles sans dislocation ni rupture. C'est l'apprentissage de cet équilibre civique exceptionnel qui doit être communiqué aux jeunes. Ils sont les gardiens de notre Constitution.
Je vois avec appréhension l'immiscion d'autres cultures et religions dans un espace qui n'est pas le leur. Une divergence fondamentale de valeurs, de codes, de culture. Nous sommes en Europe au bord de l'abîme, Dieu veuille que la Suisse en soit épargnée
Dear Mr Kaufmann, I would like to know who should teach this political education. I am curious as to what the learning objectives of these lessons would be, given the left-wing political bias of our teachers in Switzerland. Isn't there a risk that this "political education" could degenerate into party-political indoctrination? Are our Swiss secondary school teachers politically mature and independent enough to take on this responsibility? I am frankly sceptical.
Sehr geehrter Herr Kaufmann, ich möchte gerne wissen, wer diese politischen Bildung unterrichten soll. Ich bin neugierig, welche Lernziele dieser Unterricht hätte, wenn ich die tendenziell linke politische Grundeinstellung unserer Lehrkräfte in der Schweiz betrachte. Besteht nicht das Risiko, dass diese "politische Bildung" in parteipolitische Indoktrinerung ausarten könnte? Sind unsere schweizerischen Lehrkräfte auf Sekundarstufe politisch reif und unabhängig genug, diese Verantwortung zu übernehmen? Ich bin offen gesagt skeptisch.
Dear Mr Baumgartner. Your question is as justified as it is old in the Swiss context. At the same time, it seems to me to be a contradiction in terms, as the Swiss school system is considered exemplary worldwide and teachers in Switzerland are recognised as being among the best trained and most professional. So it seems rather strange to me that it should not be possible to introduce the subject of "democracy" at schools in this country in a useful and target-orientated way and to develop it together with teachers and pupils. We live in a country that demands a lot from us citizens when it comes to assuming responsibility in the community: such a society needs an infrastructure that supports democracy, be it in the form of "chancelleries" (authorities) that administer the comprehensive co-determination processes, be it in the form of well-positioned private and public media houses that accompany them - and be it in the form of 'compulsory' democracy lessons that help to ensure that our young voters are well equipped to fulfil their important role as decision-makers.
Sehr geehrter Herr Baumgartner. Ihre Frage ist ebenso berechtigt wie alt im schweizerischen Kontext. Gleichzeitig scheint sie mir ein Widerspruch in sich darzustellen, gilt doch das Schweizer Schulsystem weltweit als vorbildlich und gehören die Lehrkräfte in der Schweiz anerkannterweise zu den am besten ausgebildesten und professionellsten. Da scheint es mir doch etwas merkwürdig, dass es nicht möglich sein sollte, das Fach "Demokratie" an den Schulen dieses Landes auf eine nützliche und zielführende Art stufengerecht einzuführen und gemeinsam mit den Lehrenden und Schüler zu entwickeln. Wir leben in einem Land, dass von uns Bürgerinnen und Bürger viel verlangt was die Übernahme von Verantwortung im Gemeinwesen betrifft: eine solche Gesellschaft braucht eine die Demokratie mutunterstützende Infrastruktur, sei es in Form von "Kanzleien" (Behörden), welche die umfassenden Mitbestimmungsprozesse verwalten, sei es in Form von gut aufgestellten privaten wie öffentlichen Medienhäusern, welche diese begleiten - und sei es eben auch in Form eines 'obligatorischen' Demokratieunterrichtes, der dazu beiträgt, dass unsere jungen Stimmberechtigten gut ausgerüstet ihre wichtige Rolle als Entscheidungsträger ausüben können.
Spot on! In left-wing schools (!) there has been left-wing indoctrination for at least half a century: see my comment above
Centrato! Nelle scuole di sinistra (!) è almeno da mezzo secolo che c'è indottrinamento di sinistra: v. il mio commento qui sopra
hit the nail on the head!
centrato in pieno!
...but as I added to your comment above, maybe not very much in tune with more recent developments, seeing the hard right parties derive many voters from the young generation...
I understand your concerns but the bad situation of other democrscies around Switzerland, in the US and practically all representative democracies is unrelated to formal education about democracy. The hard truth is that "representative democracy" is an oxymoron. Alreday during the French Revolution, which started as a real ancient Greek style democracy, a French deputy, Pierr Francois Robert, put it well when he saw some leaders the Revolution coming up with the concepr of "representative democracy". He clearly stated: "if there is representation it is not democracy". Unfortunately, out of ambition for power or inability to make real democracy work, Monsieur Robert was ignored.
The result is that all the nations we call democracies, with the exception of Switzerland, are not real democracies, they have various versions of " elected aristocracies", it is a big improvement over totalitarian regimes like Communist, Fascists or Teocracies, but they are not democracies.
While on paper, Switzerland could be considered a representative democracy the fact that the Swiss people have the power and use it several times per year to decide ansolutely anything they want to decide, and their decision is binding on politicians., and not even the highest court in the land can even evaluate the results of referendums, makes Switzerland a real democracy, the only one at the national level, although Taiean and Uruguay do have some of the provisions of the Swiss system, but lack some key ones.
As long as the Swiss keep their system there will not be a crisis of democrscy in Switzerland. The Swiss system ensures that politicians always stay in tune with the will of the Swiss people, they have to because if they do not the Swiss people will bring them back in line by means of a referendum amd that is why and Swiss politicians are not controlled by party politics, ideology, demagoguery or lobbies (all kinds of lobbirs) the way they are in representative democracies.
The hard truth is that a country can only be considered a democracy if the people govern or if the people have the direct power to prevail over any decision, policy or law or treaty produced by the politicians amd can also push the politicians to put in place new policies, laws, et.
The Swiss system is the real practice of democracy. No need to teach it at schools. Swiss people learn democracy because they practice it, just like a practising carpenter or surgeon does not need to sit in a classroom to learn what he already practices.
The brital truth is the system in France, Italy, Germamy, UK, US. Canada, etc ate not democracies because all key executive and legislative powers lie in the hands of politicians and the people only have the power to elect representatives, not to prevail directly over their decisions.
Let me take this opportunity also to say that the rankings of democracy's quality published by The Econist and other publicatipns ate deeply flawed because thay do not place Switzerland as the country with the democracy of the hoghest quality, way above the rest, because democracy is "governmemt by the people" and no country comes close to Switzerlamd in that regard. The Economist has the cheek of placing some other 9 or 10 countries as having democracies of higher quality than Switzerland, they place the most democratoc countries the Scandinavians when in no Scandinavian country do the people have power over politicians amywhere close to what the Swiss have.
Switzerland, the Swoss people, do not need democratic education, on the contrary, it is the Scandinavians, the French, the Amicans, the Spanidh, Italians, the British and the test who need education about the Swiss system. I am certain once they know it, those people will demamd the Swiss system or even more democratic.
Thank you very much for your insightful and very committed contribution. As I have practiced, researched, observed and reported (about) democracy for more than four decades globally, I share many of your views on the importance of direct democratic tools indeed. However, such instruments like the initiative and referendum process in my view do not counteract or balance representative democracy, they make representative democracy MORE representative, which is not the same as indirect. A modern representative democracy needs of course more than the possibility to decide on issues or set the agenda by the people; there are many other aspects including the rule of the law, the separation of powers, the respect for different levels of democratic decision making, the respect for fundamental human rights, the fairness of the public debate etc. etc. which ranking institutions like the Economist also are considering in their evaluations. So democracy is not a black-white-game but a mosaique with many, many different pieces. BTW according to the direct democracy navigator (https://direct-democracy-navigator.org) there are more than 100 countries worldwide today, which do know some form of initiative and referendum provision.
Too patriotic! In Switzerland, direct democracy can only work because it is a very small country. For large republics, on the other hand, it is impossible to avoid representative democracy, because the opposite would be impractical due to the excessive complexity of the system.
Troppo patriottardo! In Svizzera la democrazia diretta può funzionare solo perché é un paese assai piccolo. Per le grandi repubbliche di contro, è impossibile evitare la democrazia rappresentativa, perché il contrario sarebbe impraticabile per l'eccessiva complessità del sistema.
Dear @Marco46 the idea that citizens participation does only work with small numbers of people is contradicted already within a 9 million country like Switzerland, where the most populated states like Zurich has most well-working forms of direct democracy, while smaller entities like Uri have much less of that. In fact, the more complicate and more populated a community and country is, the more participatory features are needed to make representative democracy truly representative. If not, like France, UK or US, most people over time feel very much excluded and tend to support less democratic and extreme political forces.
by strengthening free opinion.
indem die freie Meinung gestsärkt wird.
I believe in Democracy but I have issues with the violent civic engagements in the last decade. Climate change, wars, gender wars and others have degenerated into excuses to destroy public and personal property. Some of the damages are also psychological and irreversible.
I believe an structured education curriculum for civic discourse or democracy advocation is highly lacking and definitely a good thing to incorporate in school. But, the big but is that the teachers themselves are clueless about this. And they make no apology for the natural degradation of western society based on loose cannons.
In view of the collapse of the democracies surrounding Switzerland, this education is more necessary than ever. Our Constitution can only survive if people are educated, know how to use their rights and learn to respect our rules and laws.
Today, this education must be broadened to take account of the changes that are taking place, the unpredictable climate, the urgent need to preserve biodiversity, natural environments and our sources of food, agriculture and livestock.
Empty bellies will never be able to practise and respect our rules for living well together.
The situation around us, without going any further than France, is absolutely disastrous. A complete dislocation of society which, having lost its Christian roots, believes it can replace the exercise of democracy with a wokism that is devastating national coherence.
Let's educate, let's always educate young people to respect others, to respect their civic rights and duties, and let's never lose sight of what underpins our country, mutual tolerance and the Christian faith that unites us.
Au vu de l'effondrement des démocraties qui entourent la Suisse, cette éducation est plus que jamais nécessaires. Notre Constitution ne peut survivre qu'à condition que le peuple soit éduqué, sache utiliser les droits, apprenne à respecter nos règles et nos lois.
Cette éducation doit être aujourd'hui élargie pour tenir compte des changements qui s'opèrent, climat imprévisible, urgence dans la préservation de la biodiversité, des milieux naturels, de nos sources d'alimentation, agriculture et élevage.
C'est une condition sine qua non, les ventres vides ne sauront jamais pratiquer et respecter nos règles de bien vivre ensemble.
Le constat autour de nous, sans aller plus loin que la France, est absolument désastreux. Une dislocation complète de la société qui, ayant perdu les racines chrétiennes, croit pouvoir remplacer l'exercice démocratique, par un wokisme dévastateur de la cohérence nationale.
Eduquons, éduquons toujours la jeunesse au respect des autres, des droits et des devoirs civiques, ne perdons jamais de vue ce qui fait le fondement du pays, la tolérance réciproque, la foi chrétienne qui nous unit.
Dear Elena Lacroix Jaeggy, thank you for your interesting contribution to this conversation. I am very much agree that democracy education in school deserves more attention and a broader scope. What I wonder is, if you could develop your remark about the the 'absolutely disastrous' situation in 'France'. Which civic rights and duties are at risk in your view and how can they be developed in your view? As France is heading to parliament elections in a few weeks time, which issues would you as a voter and citizen like to be addressed in these elections? Best regards Bruno Kaufmann
What democracy around the Schweiizer has collapsed?
Yes, education should be expanded to independent thinking.
Why should empty bellies learn to obey our rules. If that's why they have empty bellies?
Where has society completely disintegrated?
Shouldn't we be a good example for our youth first?
Welche Demokratie um die Schweiizer herum ist zusammengerbrochen?
Ja, die Bildung sollte zu sebständigen Denken erweitert werden.
Warum sollten leere Bäuche lernen unsere Regeln einzuhalten. Wenn sie deshalb leere Bäuche haben?
Wo hat sich die Gesellschaft völlig Aufgelöst?
Sollten wir für unsere Jugend nicht zuerst ein gutes Beispiel sein.
We haven't been 'Heidiland' for a long time!
Non siamo più l'Heidiland" da parecchio tempo!
Reading your article about education for democracy, I'm full of admiration. Especially since "in my day" 🙄 a dual French and Swiss national, having done my primary and secondary schooling in nearby France, the teaching of democracy was not the most important "branch" as it is in Taiwan, and whose strict obligation was left to the discretion of the headmaster of the Lycée, but in "my Lycée" it was taught quite seriously. It's an education that I haven't regretted and which has been of great use to me all my life. Yes, democracy must be properly taught at school, for the sake of national cohesion!
À la lecture de votre article concernant l'éducation à la démocratie, je suis plein d'admiration. Surtout que "de mon temps" 🙄, double national Français et Suisse, ayant fait mes classes primaires et secondaires en France proche, l'enseignement de la démocratie n'était pas la "branche" la plus importante comme à Taïwan, et dont la stricte obligation était laissée à l'appréciation du directeur du Lycée, mais dans "mon Lycée" était enseigné de façon assez sérieuse. C'est une formation que je n'ai pas regretté et qui m'a été utile de façon soujascente toute ma vie. Je pense, néanmoins que "çà a dû bien changer depuis, hélas!Oui la démocratie doit être correctement enseignée à l'école, foi de cohésion nationale!
Thank you very much for your kind words and appreciatioon of the Taiwanese experience. It would be interesting to read a little bit more about how the democracy education worked in your Lycée in practice and what you could take with you in your life from that. Best regards
I think democracy should not only be taught, but lived every day.
Ich denke Demokratie sollte nicht nur gelehrt , sondern täglich gelebt werde.
Civic education should not only be seen as a subject, but also as a life experience at school. The dialogue about rights, duties, common good, democracy, citizenship, etc. must be confronted with the conditions that children and young people assume and live in this common space and then link it, transpose it, compare it with community life in the region or country in which they live.
La educación cívica no solo debe asumirse como una asignatura, sino como una experiencia de vida en la escuela. El diálogo sobre los derechos, deberes, bien común, democracia, ciudadanía, etc. tienen que confrontarse con las condiciones que los niños y jóvenes asumen y viven en dicho espacio común para luego vincularlo, traspolarlo, compararlo con la vida comunitaria en la región o país en el que viven.
A very exciting and important approach to the topic. Do you know of examples of schools where this is practised?
Eine sehr spannender und wichtiger Zugang zum Thema. Kennen Sie Beispiele von Schulen, wo dies so gelebt wird?
Aren't children fundamentally open-minded, friendly, eager to learn? Why not leave them as they are? Shouldn't the school adapt to the children "in this shared space" (instead of the other way round)?
Sind Kinder nicht grundsätzlich, weltoffene, gwundrige, lernbegierung und freundliche Wesen? Warum lässt man sie nicht so wie sie sind? Sollte die Schule sich "in diesem gemeinsamen Raum" nicht den Kindern anpassen (statt umgekehrt)?
I think that civic education should be a compulsory subject in primary education. Through this course, students acquire a rough panorama about democratic politics. It should include at least:
1. why I need a civic education class
2. the purpose, definition, and advantages and disadvantages of democratic politics. The relationship between democratic politics and me
3. an overview of Swiss democracy
4. organising discussions/debates on recent social issues and referendums
我以为，公民教育应该是初级教育的一门必修课。通过这个课程，学生获得有关民主政治的粗略的全景图。它应该至少包括：
1. 为什么我需要上公民教育课
2. 民主政治的目的、定义和优缺点。民主政治和我的关系
3. 瑞士民主制度概论
4. 组织关于近期社会热点和全民公投的讨论/辩论
Thank your for your great list for democracy education at primary school level. A true foundation for such a curriculum!
I didn't learn my political views at school, and that's a good thing. Isn't the best school your own experiences, even in politics? Teachers have their own views on politics, and they shouldn't bring them into school.
meine politischen Ansichten habe ich nicht in der Schule mitbekommen, und das ist gut so. Ist die beste Schule nicht die eigenen Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse, auch in der Politik. Lehrer haben Ihre eigenen Ansichten über die Politik, und die sollten sie nicht in die Schule bringen.
Yes, and they should be complemented by practical workshops, discussions, theatre-drama-comedies taking into consideration the good and bad civic "examples" from Switzerland and other countries. To understand and comprehend in that way.
Si, y deben complementarse con talleres practicos, conversatorios, teatros-dramas-comedias tomando en consideracion los "ejemplos" civicos buenos y malos de Suiza y otros paises. Entender y comprender en esa forma.
Don't we already have enough "theatre drama comedies" and bourgeois "examples" in this world?
Haben wir nicht schon genug "Theater-Drama-Komödien" und bürgerliche "Beispiele" auf dieser Welt?
Yes, I agree that civic education should be compulsory. It existed in the past and the Swiss understood everything about the political functioning of Switzerland.
Switzerland is the only country that has a real democratic system and this must be protected and known by young people from school onwards.
Compulsory secondary education and only informal primary education.
Oui ! Je suis d'accord d'avoir l'éducation civique obligatoire. Elle avait existé dans le passé et les suisses concassaient tout le fonctionnement politique de la Suisse.
La Suisse est l'unique pays qui a un vrais système démocratique et ceci doit être protégé et connu par les jeunes depuis l'école.
Au secondaire obligatoire et au primaire seulement informelle.
Is Switzerland really the only country where there is a genuine democratic system?
And is it compulsory?
Ist die Schweiz wirklich das einzige Land wo es ein echtes demokratischen System gibt?
Und obligatorisch ist das auch noch?
In France, at primary school, the school day began with a moral lesson, the subject of which was written on the blackboard. At collège, there were civics lessons (weekly or daily, I can't remember). But that was all before!
En France, à l'école primaire, la journée de classe commençait par une leçon de morale dont le thème était écrit au tableau noir. Au collège il y avait des cours d'instruction civique. (hebdomadaires ou quotidiens , je ne m'en souviens pas) . Mais tout ça, c'était avant !
Absolutely!
For my part, I have had no experience with democracy education in (ITALIAN!!!) schools.
Assolutamente sì!
Dal canto mio, non ho avuto alcuna esperienza con l'educazione alla democrazia nella scuola (ITALIANA!!!).
In my opinion, in lower secondary schools it is too early. It would be much more useful in upper secondary schools (high schools, trade school) and vocational schools.
Rather than civics lessons, it would be more effective to make it compulsory to teach the activity entitled Youth Debate: therein lies the heart of democracy.
A mio avviso nelle scuole secondarie inferioro è troppo presto. Sarebbe molto più utile nelle scuole secondarie superiori (licei, scuola do commercio) e nelle scuole professionali.
Anziché lezioni di civica, sarebbe più efficace rendere obbligatoria l'attività orafacoltativa intitolata La gioventù dibatte: lì c'è il cuore della democrazia.
Hello: why do you think it is still too early for democracy education at secondary school level? Wouldn't there be forms of such teaching suitable for the different levels? I know of examples from Austria and Finland where democratic behaviour and practices are already part of the curriculum in kindergarten, for example in the form of soft toy elections.
Guten Tag: weshalb meinen Sie, dass es in der Sekundarstufe noch zu früh ist für die Demokratiebildung? Gäbe es nicht stufengerechte Formen solchen Unterrichtes? Ich kenne Beispiele aus Österreich und Finnland, wo bereits in den Kindergärten demokratische Umgangsformen und Praktiken auf dem Lehrplan stehen, etwa in Form von Plüschtierwahlen.
Instead of civics lessons, wouldn't it perhaps be more effective to give people the opportunity to learn to understand the world, politics, poverty, injustice, waste, censorship and persecution etc. so that they can change it?
Anstelle des Staatsbürgerkundeunterrichts wäre es nicht eventuel effektiver, den Menschen die Möglichkeit zu geben, die Welt, die Politik, die Armut, die Ungerechtigkei, die Verschwenung, das Zensurieren und Verfolgen etc. verstehen zu lernen, damit sie es ändern können?
Civic education should be introduced at least as early as middle school with practical exercises based on the example of Taiwan. The principle of active participation in public affairs should be encouraged with clear examples. Ditto for the functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. It is not difficult at all, because these are intuitive practices that pupils learn easily. Also respect the fact that if the majority wins, one must adapt if many ifs and buts. And also that the majority in time could be replaced with a new vote. I have never understood teachers who strenuously (!) oppose such basic civic teachings: they are either ideological anti-democrats or maximalists who should have no place in public schools.
Dovrebbe esser introdotta l'educazione civica già almeno alle scuole medie con tanto di esercitazioni pratiche sull'esempio di Taiwan. Il principio della partecipazione attiva alla cosa pubblica va incoraggiato con chiari esempi. Idem, per il funzionamento dei poteri legislativo, esecutivo e giudiziario. Non è per nulla difficile, perché trattasi di pratiche intuitive che gli allievi imparano con facilità. Rispettare pure il fatto che se vince la maggioranza, bisogna adattarsi se tanti se e ma. E pure che la maggioranza col tempo potrebbe essere sostituita con una nuova votazione. Non ho mai capito gli insegnanti che si oppongono strenuamente (!) a tali insegnamenti civici basilari: o sono degli antidemocratici ideologici, oppure dei massimalisti che non dovrebbe trovare posto nelle scuole pubbliche.
I have had very good experiences with democracy education at school.
Ich habe sehr gute Erfahrungen mit der Demokratiebildung in der Schule gemacht.
But where?
Ma dove ?
I am definitely of the opinion that opinions outside the mainstream should also be discussed. If this was not done enough during the coronavirus crisis, it should be addressed. However, the idea that "opinions are being silenced" is (also) a conspiracy myth of the far right and is not true. Anti-vaccination campaigners (like the opponents of Western support for Ukraine today) sometimes experience harsh headwinds - nobody is silenced here, that is not even possible in a liberal society with so many social media channels accessible to everyone.
Ich bin durchaus der Meinung, dass man auch Meinungen ausserhalb des Mainstreams diskutieren sollte. Soweit man dies während der Corona-Krise zu wenig gemacht hat, müsste man dies aufarbeiten. Dass "Meinungen zum Schweigen gebracht werden" ist aber (auch) ein Verschwörungsmythos der ganz Rechten und stimmt so nicht. Die Impfgegner (wie heute die Gegner einer westlichen Unterstützung der Ukraine) erfahren manchmal harschen Gegenwind zum Schweigen gebracht wird hier niemand, das ist in einer freiheitlichen Gesellschaft mit so vielen, allen zugänglichen Social Media-Kanälen gar nicht möglich.
I understand you completely and totally, ONLY. what does your opinion have to do with the topic?
How can democracy education in schools be strengthened?
Ich verstehe Sie ganz und total, NUR. was hat Ihre Meinung mit dem Thema zu tun?
Wie kann die Demokratiebildung an Schulen gestärkt werden?
A good start would be to allow opinions, of any kind, to be voiced peacefully instead of silenced because they didn't conform with prevailing views. "Live and let live" should not be shunned aside.
You're quite right, but even Swissinfo doesn't want to hear your own trenchant opinions.
Sie haben ganz recht, aber eigene, pointierte Meinungen sind auch bei Swissinfo unerwünscht.
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