6.1 Why do we need key concepts in EDC/HRE?

We conceive EDC/HRE as a process of constructivist learning.²⁰ Learners create or construct meaning and understanding by linking information to concepts. Learning and thinking takes place on the levels of the concrete and the abstract. Abstract thinking is based on concepts. Without reference to a shared set of concepts whose definitions we understand and have agreed on, no sharing and exchange of ideas, or debate, discussion or judgment would be possible.

Concepts are therefore indispensable, both for constructivist learning and ultimately for political decision making. Which concepts should we therefore choose? We live in pluralist societies, which means that individuals and groups promote different or even competing interests and values. Moreover, philosophy and social science comprise different, including controversial approaches. Therefore it is impossible to draw a set of key concepts from any one source. In constructivist learning, focusing on competence development, concepts are indispensable, and concept models in citizenship education are under discussion. We believe our model is one possible approach.

We have chosen the following set of nine key concepts because they refer both to the students’ experience in a micro-society and the political community as a whole:

• identity;
• diversity and pluralism;
• responsibility;
• conflict;
• rules and law;
• government and politics;
• equality;
• liberty;
• media.

The key concepts create a spiral curriculum, as the volumes shift in focus from the school community (elementary level, Volume II) to the political community (upper secondary level, Volume IV), with Volume III including aspects of both (see Part 1, Unit 4, in this volume). The concepts of democracy and human rights – the core concepts of EDC/HRE – permeate all nine key concepts; they have been addressed in separate units in this manual. All key concepts can and must be linked to further concepts and categories, depending on the learners’ age level and the subject matter. All three volumes include nine model units of four lessons each that address the same set of key concepts. They do so in different ways, showing how the same concept can be adapted to the level of understanding of students and to students at different age levels. If two or three volumes are combined in this way (vertically), a constructivist learning process guided and supported by a particular key concept is possible. At the same time, the key concepts are linked horizontally, forming a network of understanding. A rough indicator of the potential links is to what dimensions of politics²¹ they refer.

20. See Unit 3 on constructivist learning in Part 1 of this volume.
21. For more information on the three basic dimensions of politics, see the work file in this volume (How can I address politics in my EDC/HRE classes?).