Democratic citizenship education: implication for teaching and learning in post colonial Mozambique

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study deals with an analysis of Mozambican education policy documents, linking this analysis to theories of democratic citizenship education. It suggests that, for Mozambican people to become active citizens who are able to face and challenge their social problems, a deliberative democratic citizenship education has to be adopted in their schools. In such deliberation the citizens should participate equally and freely in different debates and activities, without feeling intimidated by those in power. If such deliberative democratic citizenship education does not exist in schools, the citizens may not be able to recognise their rights and find solutions for the problems in society. The ideas of philosophers of deliberative democratic citizenship education, such as Amy Gutmann and David Thompson, Seyla Benhabib and Iris Marion Young, are used to think about democratic citizenship education in Mozambique. This analysis assists in answering the following research question: 'Can the education policies in schools contribute to promoting democratic citizenship education in the Mozambican society? If not, what should be done?' Furthermore, interpretive methodology and analytical inquiry are applied as methods to interpret and understand the education policy documents and to undertake a critical analysis of the concept of democratic citizenship education, as well as of education policy documents. The analysis of Mozambican education policy documents illustrates clearly that the government is concerned about the eradication of illiteracy, by increasing access to education, equality and quality of education, and the preparation of citizens who know their basic rights and can contribute to the development of their communities and democracy. The results demonstrate that the government is achieving some of the goals related to access to education. For instance, the government increased the number of primary schools from 7 013 in 1999 to 11 859 in 2008. However, more still needs to be done with respect to the quality of education. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that Mozambican education policies lack democratic citizenship education. For instance, the education policies were analysed in three distinct periods, namely post-independence, post-civil war and the period of the Millennium Development Goals. The policies are indicated to be inadequate to cultivate democratic citizens in Mozambican society, particularly because there is a need to boost a deliberative democratic citizenship education in schools. For example, in the first period, citizens did not have an opportunity to deliberate and be autonomous citizens in the educative process. Everything was done by the government. In the second period the government allowed the participation of other organisations, communities and institutions in the educative process, but there is no specification of how those citizens participated in the process of decision making. In the third period the government became concerned about important aspects and values of democratic citizenship education that should be taught directly in school. In this context the government introduced Civic and Moral Education and themes to be discussed in the classroom, which potentially will enable citizens to be critical. This situation shows that, in public schools, teachers should educate learners through classroom deliberations. It implies that teachers need to create conditions for the teaching and learning process so that all citizens, independent of their origin, class, sex and race, can participate and work together in deliberation.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University