Page 34 - voice-international-oct2022

Effective School Education

for Future Voters

emocracy can be simply adopted in a
society as a system. Enabling the system
D to take root and grow, however, requires
citizens’ interest and participation. As mature
civic awareness is indispensable to settlement
and development of democracy is cultivated by
continual education, many democratic countries are
conducting democratic civic education by various
means. In particular, school plays a critical role as
one of the most important agencies responsible
for providing future voters with civic education. socialise themselves to be able to function as a
Studies have shown that political education and member of the society. In this regard, the curriculum
activities related to democratic participation and school activities one experiences during his
provided for school students are an integral part of or her school life have a profound impact on one’s
the settlement and development of democracy in a ability to understand and engage in the society.
society. In the same vein, civic education through school
Moreover, studies point out that in general, curriculum and activities is crucial for one to
school curriculum of election and political develop his or her knowledge and understanding
participation tends of a democratic society
to touch mostly and citizens’ roles in
upon theoretical and In order to induce students’ active participation maintaining the values
conceptual issues in civic and voter education, the curriculum of democracy. Therefore,
which are distant from needs to touch more on the issues faced by an initiative to provide
students’ daily lives. It is students in their daily lives. more effective school
also pointed out that in curriculum and activities
general, school students for students is the first
are not encouraged enough to develop their creative step to cultivating mature and responsible future
thinking about how to put into practice their voters.
knowledge learned from the school curriculum. This
article will discuss a few general ideas as to how Knowledge-oriented curriculum to
school education can be more effective in delivering curriculum conducive to students’
skills and knowledge necessary for students critical thinking
to develop their critical thinking and become Studies point out that school curriculum and
responsible voters. textbooks for social and political science, and law
are heavily knowledge or theory oriented. They
Curriculum and school activities hardly deal with political phenomena or dynamics
conducive to students’ active of political and electoral processes, which often fails
participation in voter education to cultivate students’ creative and critical thinking

School is a place where students spend most abilities as well as to motivate them to apply their
of their time acquiring knowledge and learning to knowledge to political and electoral participation.

34 | VoICE International | October 2022