Slow Learners’ Attitudes Toward Fundamental Freedoms

Abstract

The good citizen of a democratic society has been characterized as adhering strongly to fundamental rights and freedoms. The development of democratic attitudes has been espoused by both social studies specialists and special educators as a goal of social studies instruction. This article reports a study that compared slow learners’ attitudes toward the freedoms described in the Canadian Bill of Rights with those of vocational and academic students. Attitude toward fundamental freedoms was assessed by the Freedoms Scale, which was administered to students in a number of secondary classrooms in schools throughout British Columbia, Canada. As a group, slow learners scored significantly below vocational and academic students, and the scores for each group suggested only a slight libertarian bias. Place of residence, sex, and age were not significant factors in the study