Chapter 16: What Teachers Believe about Democracy and Why it is Important— How (Should) We Prepare Students for Democracy and Citizenship: Lessons from Australia

Democracy means many things to many people. There is much discussion that democracy is in now in decline or even in crisis citing apparent youth apathy and disengagement. The research which this chapter reports on seeks a more robust, critical, or thicker interpretation of what democracy is; what it should be; and, significantly, how it can be beneficial to all peoples. The traditional approach in civics and citizenship education focuses on understanding political structures, often isolated to a single unit of study on and teaches about democracy not necessarily for democracy. This chapter argues that a broader, more participatory, critical, and relevant educational experience that includes a critical use of social media and critical digital literacy is fundamental to facilitating a process of meaningful societal transformation through thick democracy. Three questions related to democracy are framed within the context of empirical and qualitative data gathered from a study of over 600 teachers. This chapter uses a critical framework to elucidate the potential for transformation of our individual and collective sense of democracy and builds on previous studies in the U.S. and Canada together with research being conducted in over 25 countries with educators internationally through the Global Doing Democracy Research Project.