Classroom discussion constitutes a unique opportunity for student deliberation and is often believed to be a desirable attribute of Social Science teaching. Yet, despite its potential, large scale observational research on discussion in Nordic classrooms is scarce. To address this shortcoming, the present study investigated the prevalence and contexts of classroom discussion in a Nordic sample of 375 teaching segments (each lasting 15 min). The sample was gathered through video observations, and discussion was measured by an element from the Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observations. Discussion was present in 39.2% of the investigated segments but was very unequally distributed across classes. While this study found classroom discussion to be most likely during small group work, in the middle of a 45-min lesson, and in schools with high achieving students, more research is needed to determine the sources of inequality in social science students’ opportunities for classroom deliberation.
AashamarP. N.MathéN. E. H.BrevikL. M. (2018). Diskusjon som flerfaglig demokratisk ferdighet [Discussion as multi-disciplinary democratic competence]. Bedre Skole, 3(2018), 31–35.
2.
AdcockR.CollierD. (2001). Measurement validity: A shared standard for qualitative and quantitative research. The American Political Science Review, 95(3), 529–546. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055401003100
AnderssonK. (2020). Social studies teachers’ reflections after participating in an experimental study on deliberative teaching. JSSE – Journal of Social Science Education, 19(2), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-1957
6.
AudigierF. (2002). L’éducation civique dans l’école française (Citizenship education in french school). JSSE – Journal of Social Science Education, 2002(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-265
7.
AveryP.LevyS.SimmonsA. (2013). Deliberating controversial public issues as part of civic education 1. The Social Studies, 104, 105–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2012.691571
8.
AylottN. (2016). A nordic model of democracy? Political representation in Northern Europe. In AylottN. (Ed.), Models of democracy in nordic and baltic Europe – political institutions and discourse (pp. 1–38). Routledge.
9.
BartonK.AveryP. G. (2016). Research on social studies education: Diverse students, settings and methods. In GitomerD. H.BellC. A. (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 985–1038). AERA, American Educational Research Association.
10.
BickmoreK.ParkerC. (2014). Constructive conflict talk in classrooms: Divergent approaches to addressing divergent perspectives. Theory & Research in Social Education, 42(3), 291–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2014.901199
11.
BisethH.HoskinsB.HuangL. (2021). Using IEA international civic and citizenship education study (ICCS) data: Northern lights on ICCS. In BisethH.HoskinsB.HuangL. (Eds.), Northern lights on civic and citizenship education. A cross-national comparison of nordic data from ICCS (pp. 1–18). Springer.
12.
BlennowK.GrammesT. (2021). Ethnographies of social science education [Editorial]. JSSE – Journal of Social Science Education, 20(4), I–XI. https://doi.org/10.11576/jsse-5090
13.
Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet [Danish Ministry of Children and Education]. (2007). Vejledning om undervisningstimetal i folkeskolen. VEJ nr. 9888 af 20/09/2007. https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/retsinfo/2007/9888
14.
BruunJ.LieberkindJ.SchunckH. B. (2018). Unge, skole og demokrati: Hovedresultater af ICCS 2016 [Youth, school and democracy: Main results of ICCS 2016]. Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
15.
CameronA. C.GelbachJ. B.MillerD. L. (2011). Robust inference with multiway clustering. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 29(2), 238–249. https://doi.org/10.1198/jbes.2010.07136
16.
CampbellD. E. (2005). Voice in the classroom: How an open classroom environment facilitates adolescents’ civic development (Circle Working Paper 28). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED491131.pdf
17.
CampbellD. E. (2012). Introduction. In CampbellD. E.LevinsonM.HessF. M. (Eds.), Making civics count: Citizenship education for a new generation (pp. 1–14). Harvard Education Press.
ChristensenA. S. (2015). Demokrati- og medborgerskabsbegreber i grundskolens samfundsfag i Danmark, Norge, Sverige og Tyskland. Nordidactica: Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education, 2015(1), 64–92.
20.
ChristensenA. S.ChristensenT. S. (2015). Fagopfattelser i samfundsfag – analytiske modeller [Subject constructions in social science – analytical models]. In ChristensenT. S. (Ed.), Fagdidaktik i Samfundsfag (pp. 45–60). Frydenlund.
ChristensenT. S. (2011). Educating citizens in late modern societies. In SchüllerqvistB. (Ed.), Patterns of research in civics, history, geography and religious education: Key presentations and responses from an international conference at Karlstad University, Sweden 2010 (pp. 37–51). Karlstad University Press.
23.
ChristensenT. S. (2023). Samfundsfag i Danmark—Et overblik [Social science education in Denmark — an overview]. Nordidactica. Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education, 2023(1), 35–53.
24.
CohenJ. (2018). Practices that cross disciplines? Revisiting explicit instruction in elementary mathematics and English language arts. Teaching and Teacher Education, 69, 324–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.10.021
25.
CroccoM.SegallA.HalvorsenA.-L.JacobsenR. (2018). Deliberating public policy issues with adolescents: Classroom dynamics and sociocultural considerations. Democracy and Education, 26(1), 3.
26.
De SchaepmeesterL.van BraakJ.AesaertK. (2021). Teach what you preach? The relationship between teachers’ citizenship beliefs and citizenship education in the classroom. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 46(4), 363–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2021.10.001
27.
DeutschM.GerardH. B. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51(3), 629–636. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046408
28.
DunkinM. J.BiddleB. J. (1974). The study of teaching. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
29.
EkmanT. (2007). Demokratisk kompetens. Om gymnasiet som demokratiskola [PhD dissertation, Democratic competence. On high school as democracy school]. Göteborg Studies in Politics, 103. Göteborg Universitet.
30.
ElfN. (2021). The surplus of quality: How to study quality in teaching in three QUINT projects. In Blikstad-BalasM.KletteK.TengbergM. (Eds.), Ways of analyzing teaching quality. Potentials and pitfalls (pp. 53–88). Scandinavian University Press.
31.
EmanuelssonJ.SahlströmF. (2008). The price of participation: Teacher control versus student participation in classroom interaction. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(2), 205–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313830801915853
GageN. L. (2009). A conception of teaching. Springer Science.
34.
GastilJ. (2004). Adult civic education through the national issues forums: Developing democratic habits and dispositions through public deliberation. Adult Education Quarterly, 54(4), 308–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741713604266142
35.
GrossmanP.LoebS.CohenJ.WyckoffJ. (2013). Measure for measure: The relationship between measures of instructional practice in middle school English language arts and teachers’ value-added. American Journal of Education, 119(3), 445–470. https://doi.org/10.1086/669901
36.
HabermasJ. (1996). Between facts and norms. Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy [RehgW., Trans.]. Polity Press.
37.
HabermasJ. (2005). Den postnationale konstellation og demokratiets fremtid [The post national constellation and the future of democracy]. In AndersenH. (Ed.), Demokrati og retsstat (pp. 220–273). Hans Reitzels Forlag.
38.
HeldD. (2006). Models of democracy. Stanford University Press.
39.
HessD. E. (2004). Controversies about controversial issues in democratic education. PS: Political Science & Politics, 37(2), 257–261. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096504004196
40.
HessD. E. (2008). Democratic education to reduce the divide. Social Education, 72(7), 373–376.
41.
HessD. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. Routledge.
42.
HessD. E.McAvoyP. (2015). The political classroom: Evidence and ethics in democratic education. Routledge.
43.
HoskinsB.HuangL.ArensmeierC. (2021). Socioeconomic inequalities in civic learning in nordic schools: Identifying the potential of in-school civic participation for disadvantaged students. In BisethH.HoskinsB.HuangL. (Eds.), Northern lights on civic and citizenship education. A cross-national comparison of nordic data from ICCS (pp. 93–122). Springer.
44.
HoweC.AbedinM. (2013). Classroom dialogue: A systematic review across four decades of research. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43(3), 325–356. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2013.786024
Kirke-, utdannings- og forskningsdepartementet [Former Norwegian Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Education, and Research]. (1976). Forskrift om fag- og timefordeling og rammetimetall for en del studieretninger i videregående skoler. https://lovdata.no/dokument/SFO/forskrift/1976-06-17-9030?q=leksjonslengde
47.
KletteK.Blikstad-BalasM.RoeA. (2017). Linking instruction and student achievement. A research design for a new generation of classroom studies. Acta Didactica Norge, 11(3), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.5617/adno.5545
48.
LarsenE.MathéN. E. H. (2023). Teachers’ perceptions of their schools’ democratic character. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 67(2), 327–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2021.2021437
49.
LarssonK. (2007). Samtal, klassrumsklimat och elevers delaktighet: Överväganden kring en deliberativ didaktik. Avhandling [PhD dissertation]. Örebro Universitet.
50.
LevineP. (2018). Deliberation or simulated deliberation?Democracy and Education, 26(1), 7.
51.
LiljestrandJ. (2002). Klassrummet som diskussionsarena. Avhandling, Örebro studies in education 6 [PhD dissertation]. Örebro Univesitet.
52.
McAvoyP.HessD. E. (2013). Classroom deliberation in an era of political polarization. Curriculum Inquiry, 43(1), 14–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/curi.12000
53.
McDevittM.KiousisS. (2006). Deliberative learning: An evaluative approach to interactive civic education. Communication Education, 55(3), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520600748557
54.
McNeilL. M. (1986). Contradictions of control: School structure and school knowledge. Routledge.
55.
MichaelsS.O’ConnorC.ResnickL. B. (2008). Deliberative Discourse Idealized and Realized: Accountable Talk in the Classroom and in Civic Life. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27(4), 283–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-007-9071-1
56.
NishiyamaK.RussellW. A.ChalayeP. (2020). Facilitation of deliberation in the classroom: The interplay of facilitative technique and design to increase inclusiveness (Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance Working Paper). https://philarchive.org/archive/NISFOD
57.
NystrandM.WuL. L.GamoranA.ZeiserS.LongD. A. (2003). Questions in time: Investigating the structure and dynamics of unfolding classroom discourse. Discourse Processes, 35(2), 135–198. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326950DP3502_3
ParkerW. C. (2006). Public discourses in schools: Purposes, problems, possibilities. Educational Researcher, 35(8), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X035008011
60.
ParkerW. C. (2010). Listening to strangers: Classroom discussion in democratic education. Teachers College Record, 112(11), 2815–2832. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811011201104
61.
ParkerW. C. (2011). Feel free to change your mind. A response to “the potential for deliberative democratic civic education”. Democracy and Education, 19(2), 9.
62.
PerssonM.AnderssonK.ZetterbergP.EkmanJ.LundinS. (2020). Does deliberative education increase civic competence? Results from a field experiment. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 7(3), 199–208. https://doi.org/10.1017/XPS.2019.29
63.
PetersonA. (2009). Civic republicanism and contestatory deliberation: Framing pupil discourse within citizenship education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 57(1), 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8527.2009.00426.x
64.
PetrikA. (2010). Two kinds of political awakening in the civic education classroom. A comparative argumentation analysis of the “constitutional debates” of two “found-a-village” projects with 8th graders. JSSE – Journal of Social Science Education, 9(3), 52–67. https://doi.org/10.4119/jsse-533
65.
PrimoD. M.JacobsmeierM. L.MilyoJ. (2007). Estimating the impact of state policies and institutions with mixed-level data. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 7(4), 446–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/153244000700700405
66.
GrossmanP. (2021). Protocol for language arts teaching observations [Version 5.0]. Stanford University.
ReinhardtS. (2015). Teaching civics: A manual for secondary education teachers. Verlag Barbara Budrich.
69.
SætraE. (2018). Demokratilæring gjennom bruk av kontroversielle spørgsmål [Democratic learning through the use of controversial issues]. Bedre Skole, 3(2018), 42–46.
70.
SadlerM. S.JuddC. M. (2008). Overcoming dependent data: A guide to the analysis of group data. In HoggM. A.TindaleR. S. (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Group processes (pp. 497–524). Blackwell Publishers, Ltd.
71.
SamuelssonM. (2016). Education for deliberative democracy: A typology of classroom discussions. Democracy & Education, 24(1), 5.
72.
SamuelssonM.BøyumS. (2015). Education for deliberative democracy: Mapping the field. Utbildning & Demokrati. Tidskrift för didaktik och utbildningspolitik, 24(1), 75–94.
73.
SelandI.HuangL.ArensmeierC.BruunJ.LöfströmJ. (2021). Aims of citizenship education across nordic countries: Comparing school principals’ priorities in citizenship education 2009–2016. In BisethH.HoskinsB.HuangL. (Eds.), Northern lights on civic and citizenship education. A cross-national comparison of nordic data from ICCS (pp. 43–63). Springer.
TammiT.RajalaA. (2018). Deliberative communication in elementary classroom meetings: Ground rules, pupils’ concerns, and democratic participation. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 62(4), 617–630. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2016.1261042
76.
TeglbjærgJ. H. (2023). Chasing deliberation in the Social Science classroom. A study of deliberative quality in factual and controversial issue discussions. Nordidactica: Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education, 13(4), 1–38.
WilsonE.HaasM.LaughlinM.SunalC. (2002). Teachers’ perspectives on incorporating current controversial issues into the social studies curriculum. International Social Studies Forum, 2, 31–45.
79.
WooldridgeJ. M. (2013). Introductory econometrics: A modern approach (5th ed.). South-Western Cengage Learning.
