Thesis

Harmonising the tensions between enterprise, citizenship and democracy in education

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2005
Thesis identifier
  • T11177
Qualification Level
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Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • This thesis focuses on a longitudinal qualitative study of teachers’ and pupils’ views and school practice between 2001 and 2004. The main purpose was to determine what we can learn from the ways in which Scottish education is dealing with the dual agenda of enterprise and citizenship. Data was gathered from interviews and questionnaires with headteachers and teachers in ten Scottish primary schools, and from questionnaires and discussion groups with children who were initially pupils in these schools and later made the transition into secondary education. Additional data was gathered from semi-structured observation of school practice and more structured practice observed in primary school pupil councils. The findings indicate that the current policy and practice in education that strives to link enterprise and citizenship has its roots in the political drive towards finding a ‘third way’ between economic and social renewal. While teachers and pupils are increasingly viewing enterprise in a holistic sense, which includes the need for both economic and social models of entrepreneurship and for democratic consultation, the findings suggest that the most common and strongest vehicle for participation in school decision-making is undoubtedly the primary school pupil council. Pressures associated with the attainment agenda and the continued existence of the school hierarchy still sometimes restrict the potential for apparently opposing educational dichotomies to be harmonised within democratic school environments. The findings are linked to suggestions for fiirther research, made in the light of the new proposals released by the Scottish Executive’s Curriculum Review Group at the time of the completion of this thesis.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Weir, Douglas
  • Maitles, Henry
Resource Type
DOI

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