Study title

Lower Secondary School Teachers as Civic Educators 2023

Dataset ID Number

FSD3881

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3881
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3881

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Tiihonen, Aino (Tampere University)
• Hannuksela, Venla (Tampere University)
• Korventausta, Miikka (University of Turku)
• Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (Tampere University)
• Sipinen, Josefina (Tampere University)
• Vadén, Salla (Tampere University)
• Kekkonen, Maria (Tampere University)
• Jaakkola, Julia (Tampere University)

Abstract

The data focuses on the views of lower secondary school teachers on democracy, political participation and their ability to implement democracy education in their work. The data was collected as part of the project "Education, Political Efficacy and Informed Citizenship (EPIC)", funded by the Academy of Finland and The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.

First, respondents were asked how interested they are in politics as well as their views on politics in general. Respondents were also asked about their level of political participation from different perspectives. Then, respondents' experiences in implementing democracy education and their role as civic educators in lower secondary schools were asked.

The next questions were about teaching situations and what teachers believe students should grow up to be in order to be good citizens. Respondents were also asked about their trust in various institutions, their voting behavior and their position in the political arena. This was followed by series of questions asking respondents about their opinions on various proposals for the future direction of Finland and how often they discuss political or social issues. Finally, the respondents were asked about the culture of debate and the handling of socially sensitive issues.

Background variables included gender, teacher qualification, education and the year of completion, school size, municipality size, mother tongue, age, years of teaching experience and subject taught.

Keywords

attitudes; democracy; education; lower secondary schools; political attitudes; political behaviour; political participation; politics; teachers; trust

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Political behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Compulsory and pre-school education (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Tiihonen, Aino (Tampere University)
• Hannuksela, Venla (Tampere University)
• Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (Tampere University)
• Sipinen, Josefina (Tampere University)
• Vadén, Salla (Tampere University)
• Kekkonen, Maria (Tampere University)
• Jaakkola, Julia (Tampere University)

Funders

• Academy of Finland (323608)
• The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (156786)

Time Period Covered

2023

Collection Dates

2023-02-06 – 2023-03-17

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Teachers who teach in grades 7-9 in primary school

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Non-probability: Purposive

The study municipalities and schools were selected through a two-stage purposive cluster sampling. At the very beginning of the study, before funding for the oversampling of Swedish-speaking pupils had been secured and before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the data collection plan, two municipalities from each electoral district in Mainland Finland were targeted for the study, so that both larger and smaller municipalities would be included. However, the sample was subsequently extended when it became apparent that the survey would be conducted entirely electronically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The electronic data collection allowed for a wider geographical coverage of municipalities and schools. In addition, when it was decided to collect an oversample of Swedish-speaking pupils, not only municipalities in Åland were included, but also several Swedish-speaking and bilingual municipalities in mainland Finland. The research team also sought to ensure, based on existing research literature and statistical data, that in larger cities, survey schools were selected from different areas of the municipality so that respondents would be evenly represented among young people from families of different socio-economic backgrounds.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The researcher has anonymised the data and removed any variables that might be identifying.

The region variable (K34) was removed from the data for identification reasons at FSD.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Tiihonen, Aino (Tampere University) & Hannuksela, Venla (Tampere University) & Korventausta, Miikka (University of Turku) & Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina (Tampere University) & Sipinen, Josefina (Tampere University) & Vadén, Salla (Tampere University) & Kekkonen, Maria (Tampere University) & Jaakkola, Julia (Tampere University): Lower Secondary School Teachers as Civic Educators 2023 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2024-12-19). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3881; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3881

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., Sipinen, J., & Tiihonen, A. (toim.). (2024). Yläkoulun opettajat ja demokratiakasvatus: Käsitykset, resurssit ja toteuttamismahdollisuudet. Helsinki: Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-263-981-3