Teaching Civic Education for Democracy: The Impact of Teachers’ Understandings of Democracy on Delivery of the Palestinian National Authority Civic Education Curriculum

Abstract

Despite the important role it plays in affirming democracy in today’s world, substantial problems are connected to the provision of civic education in schools. These problems largely revolve around curriculum provision and challenges to teacher pedagogy. This study adds to knowledge related to teacher effects on the delivery of education for democracy in school classrooms. The specific aim was to examine the impact of teachers’ understandings of democracy on delivery of the Palestinian Authority Civic Education Curriculum. Using qualitative research design within a constructivist framework, qualitative data collected included analysis of official curriculum materials, interviews with teachers, and classroom observations in ten different schools across the West Bank and in Gaza City. The study found that a localised Palestinian understanding of democracy existed, contributing to congruence of teacher and curriculum ideology and siting the values aspects of the curriculum within teacher ethical comfort zones. This strengthened teacher disposition to deliver the curriculum and was reflected in choices they made from the curriculum subject matter. The curriculum contained an embedded pedagogy designed to support development of the active democratic citizen.When the teachers understood the connection between the embedded pedagogy and active democratic citizenship they used the given pedagogical steps. When teachers did not understand, or chose not to embrace, the embedded pedagogy they defaulted to their own preferred pedagogies. The study found that this diminished the effectiveness of the curriculum to a large extent. In a world in which democracy is facing challenges from other ideologies, these findings have significant implications for curriculum design, and in the areas of choosing and preparing teachers to deliver government generated curricula for education for democratic citizenship.