Demokrati - Potentialer og udfordringer i en social- og sundhedsuddannelse

Democracy – Potentials and challenges in social and healthcare educations. Danish law states that vocational education and
training, VET, must contribute to developing pupils´ interest in, and
ability to participate actively in democratic society. Based on Dewey’s
theory, this paper focuses on managers´ perspectives on implementing
the intention of the law. This is done through interviews with managers
from social and health care colleges (the school) and with managers from
elder care institutions where training takes place (the employer). The
results show an awareness and an interest in democracy but also that it
can be interpreted in many ways. Hence, there is a potential for pupils´
participation in democracy in different situations in VET. However, it
is challenging to connect different pupils´ knowledge of democracy,
impressions from the college, experiences from the training, and to
contribute to a reflection on democracy.