Engagement Wanted: Between the Classroom and the Public Debate : A Qualitative Study on the perceived Impact of Social Studies Education on High School Students' Political Engagement

The following study aims to examine how High School Students perceive their political engagement and how social studies influences it. The aim is explored with the support of three models of democracy, which serve as the theoretical framework: electoral democracy, participatory democracy and deliberative democracy. These models offer different perspectives on what democratic participation and political engagement entail and help interpret how students understand and practice democracy. The aim is explored through three research questions: 1. What is the political engagement of the students in this study like? 2. How do High School students view their opportunities to influence society and what significance do they believe that social studies have for this? 3. How can social studies education encourage political engagement according to the students in the study? The chosen method is qualitative focus group interviews, where student´s thoughts can be developed in conversation with one another. A phenomenological approach has been used, focusing on addressing the aim from the participant´s own perspectives. The empirical findings show that the students´ political engagement is characterizes by an interest in current societal issues, but this engagement does not manifest in traditional forms such as party politics. Their political engagement is primarily expressed through private conversations and reflections on political issues and societal developments. The results also show that students feel they have limited capacity to influence society, especially those who have not yet gained the right to vote. The students believe that social studies education primarily focuses on factual knowledge and therefore feels distanced from their lives, not providing sufficient tools for engaging in politics beyond voting. They thus call for mor closely connected social studies education that goes beyond factual content and is instead more clearly linked to their everyday lives and current societal issues to encourage political engagement. From the theoretical perspective, electoral democracy is strongly associated with social studies education. Elements of participatory and deliberative democracy are present but less prominent and are rather requested by the students themselves.