Constructing responsible citizenship: A social constructionist study of how teachers cultivate responsibility through pedagogical practices in Finland
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21831/jc.v23i2.96328Keywords:
Finland, pedagogical practices, responsible citizenship, social constructionism, teachers’ strategiesAbstract
This study examines how Finnish teachers construct values of responsible citizenship in their pedagogical practices. This qualitative case study involved six teachers from early childhood and primary education in Finland and usedsemi‑structured interviews. The data were analysed thematically, focusing on how teachers narrated responsibility in everyday routines, family–school partnerships, and references to civic institutions. The analysis identified seven interrelated strategies: encouraging self‑reliance, organising collective responsibility, promoting ethical awareness, assigning practical life tasks, facilitating work‑life orientation, modelling civic trust, and collaborating with families. These strategies show that responsibility is constructed through interaction, narrative, and institutional trust, as teachers integrate citizenship values in everyday routines, ethical framings, and examples drawn from Finland. Responsibility is thereby performed as both a personal practice and a civic virtue anchored in public institutions. The study advances global debates on citizenship education and social constructionism by illustrating how responsible citizenship is cultivated as a lived practice that links everyday school life to wider social, economic, and ecological orders. Because this study mainly focuses on teachers’ views, future research should include students’ perspectives, compare contexts, and track change over time to understand how ideas about responsibility develop across diverse educational and cultural settings.
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