Democracy and Me

In this book, Oke Heinrich Horstmann explores how young people learn about democracy and their own role within it through out-of-school educational settings. The study is motivated by the political engagement of many youths, particularly in the context of the Fridays for Future protest movement. The author first outlines a conceptual framework for Citizenship education programs within teaching-learning laboratories. Based on an integrated approach of democratic education that combines social and subject-specific learning, he develops an out-of-school educational program implemented at the demokratie:werk of the Kiel Science Outreach Lab (Kieler Forschungswerkstatt).

A quantitative questionnaire-based study investigates changes in participants’ individual political dispositions. In addition, guided individual interviews are conducted and analyzed using qualitative research methods to capture processes of meaning-making related to democracy. The results suggest that participation in the program may lead to increases in political self-efficacy, specific action readiness, and, in some cases, political interest. The investigation of learners’ conceptions suggests potential for fostering meaning-making but also reveals a need for deeper reflection on the perceived role of the individual in democratic contexts.