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HUMANISTIC EDUCATION
AND DEMOCRATIC VALUES
OF CIVIC EDUCATION CLASSES IN SERBIA
B. S. Jevtic
M. D. Ivanovic
In the process of educating young learners about democracy and in the process of preparing them for life in a democratic society, school, as an agent of socialization, has a relevant and a dominant role. Civic Education has the primary role in the development of democratic values and in educating young learners for life in a humane society. Our work follows the theoretical and methodological orientation of humanistic education through the prism of democratic values which are common among the adolescents. Through explication of well-founded theories about the indicators of the democratic values, with theoretical positioning and qualitative research, we have been studying the importance of dialogue, tolerance and adolescents’ participation in school activities and in extracurricular activities. As a part of our theoretical interpretation, we have also pointed out new tendencies and perspectives in studying the values which reflect the Civic Education teaching in Serbia. Our conclusions on the existing practice show the necessity of preparing young learners for specific actions which will have democratic values as its goal, for the purpose of humane education. Our work offers new information about group activities, ways and methods, about forms of communication which contribute to the encouragement of more efficient Civic Education classes, while recognizing that there is a lot subject matter for new researches here.
Civic Education is an integral part of social and moral education. Knowledge of democracy and humanistic values is acquired through Civic Education classes, an optional subject, in secondary schools in Serbia. Teaching of Civic Education started with 2001/2002 school year with one class per week and 36 classes per year. The program is based on integrationist theories of development, and in large part it relies on similar European programs for development of democratic and civic society (Gajic, 2009).
Educating students about the human rights is not just a collection of principles and rules, but it also includes a process of development, adapting to new problems and giving answers to new challenges (Gollob, Krapf & Weidinger, 2010). In essence, it overlaps and intersects with education for peace, tolerance and similar goals, so the accent is on overall humanity, on a need to respect others, on avoiding prejudice and on constructive solving of problems (Joksimovic, 2003). Common purpose of this type of education is to give support to young people to develop key values of respecting others, respecting the human rights and responsibilities, as well as non-violent resolving of conflicts and to understand protection of well-being and welfare through national and international laws. The most important challenges in advancement of education of democracy and human rights are: 1) focusing of schools and universities on their primary mission in democracy and that is: to prepare young people to become informed and responsible citizens, and to demand support for educating young people about democracy and human rights from government and non-governmental
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organizations; 2) on improving the quality of education about democracy and human rights by giving opportunity to citizens of all ages to learn the fundamental principles and concepts of democracy, to develop civic skills and to take part in leading their schools, universities and communities; 3) development of real understanding of international community, governmental and non-governmental organizations that are a part of it, as well as understanding of how and why, and in which way are global questions solved and how it effects well-being of an individual, his local community and his wider social community and the sovereign states; 4) securing availability of education about democracy and human rights for groups for which it has been neglected or inadequate, for full realization of their civil rights and responsibilities (Branson, 2002: 11-12).
The most important characteristics of a democratic personality are: tolerance, fairness, autonomy, responsibility and critical thought (Joksimovic, 2003). In the Republic of Serbia democratization of education has a key role in the whole social and political transformation towards democracy. Gajic (2009) states that this whole process demands a change level of the system, program and institution of school, in accordance with basic democratic principles : principle of equality (fairness, availability and acknowledgement of the rights for all) and the principle of participation ( freedom of expressing one’s opinions, freedom of choice and active participation in decision-making with acceptance of responsibility). Participation of students implies continuous process of active involvement and exchange of opinions with others (peers or adults) for making decisions about questions and activities for which students are competent and which concern them (Gollob, Krapf, & Weidinge, 2010). By participating a child learns: to express his opinion, to accept another’s opinion, to choose freely between different possibilities before he makes a decision; to ask, receive and give information in different ways; to learn about ways of organizing, about techniques of cooperation and problem solving as well as taking part in all the activities and procedures that concern him (Marinkovic, 2006). The accent is put on the development of abilities to reflect, to lead a dialogue and argumentation, on which processes of evaluation and critical thought that demand the ability of constant change of perspective are, based (Moss, 2007).
Civic Education program in secondary schools in Serbia is conceptualized in such a way that it encourages acquiring of democratic values. It also deals with the question of nature and ways of regulating relations within a group or a community; it deals with attitudes towards other people or groups; it deals with ways of expressing one’s own opinions and intercourse with other people and it especially teaches non-violent communication and techniques of peaceful solving of conflicts.
What must the teachers in Serbia do and teach? Teachers should take the human rights as a pedagogical guideline, which will reflect on their way of teaching, choice of a method, learning environment and concept of the student as an individual with his own dignity and unalienable rights. It’s not only the teachers who cover the subject of human rights during their lectures who should redefine methods in the realization of Civic Education classes, but also the teachers who don’t have that possibility and who have been educated on human rights and who believe in a necessity of education about the rights and responsibilities, and who might, perhaps, try to find a more modern approach (Jevtic, 2012).
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If school succeeds in improving the learning environment, led by the spirit of tolerance, equality and free discussions, young citizens will, as a result of that experience, expect from the society to abide by the same principles. A living example prepared by the teacher is of an exceptional importance for the development of democracy and of more tolerant school environment. Obviously, education about the human rights which follows already mentioned guidelines is in no case a routine, it implies a process of learning and a constant effort to sustain and improve itself. It starts another question:” How can the education about the human rights and responsibilities be evaluated?”
References
1. Branson, M. S. 2002, Savremeni izazovi gradanskog vaspitanja, u „Demokratija i ljudska prava“, CIVITAS Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo.
2. Gajic, O. 2009, Gradansko vaspitanje u srednjim skolama Republike Srbije iz perspektive nastavnika (sa osvrtom na interkulturalnu dimenziju), Teme, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 1319-1337.
3. Gollob, R., Krapf, P. & Weidinger, W. 2010, Educating for democracy - Background materials on democratic citizenship and human rights education for teachers, Council of Europe, Belgium.
4. Jevtic, B. 2012, Pedagogija moralnosti, Filozofski fakultet, Nis.
5. Joksimovic, S. 2003, Verska nastava i gradansko vaspitanje u skolama u Srbiji, Institut za pedagoska istrazivanja, Beograd.
6. Marinkovic, S. 2006, Participativno ucenje u kombinovanom odeljenju, Pedagogija, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 453-468.
7. Moss, P. 2007, Bringing politics into the nursery: Early childhood education as a democratic practice, Working Paper 43, Bernard van Leer Foundation, The Hage.
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