Civic values, democracy and education

Abstract

Education for democracy is a necessity. There is no other way to form free citizens with criteria. And the way to achieve this goal is the self-government of the schools with the participation of the students within a framework of freedom and responsibility. Nevertheless, freedom and responsibility are not learned: they are practiced. They allow school life to become an important part of their reason for being. Therefore, at school it is indispensable to have spaces where citizenship may be practiced from the very beginning, reflecting on what that concept really means. The school provides many opportunities for enhancing social skills in interactive environments. These models are not easy to implement. On the contrary, they are generally uncommon, partly due to the structure and organization of our educational system, but also because of the resistance to accepting that students play an important role in making decisions that affect their life and particularly their schooling.

Keywords: Self-government, democracy, ethics, criteria, justice, freedom.