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)

Keywords

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

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.