The research of democratic awareness in primary schools

Democracy is a system in which people have power and are able to exercise it. Education makes people knowledgable and makes them aware of their rights and duties as a member of nation. Democratic education incorporates the principles of a healthy democracy: students have an active role in shaping their own learning, rather than being passive recipents of knowledge. Primary education is the basis of our education system. It is an uninterrupted and compulsory education and it enables people permanent behaviours. So the basis given in primary stage is very important in order to carry on the democratic character in the maturity. This research has been done in order to determine the democratic awareness of teachers and students in primary schools. This study also aims at investigating teachers' views according to gender, age, professional experience, subject, type of school variables and students' views according to gender, grade and type of school variables. To reach this purpose, "The Scale of Democratic Awareness" has been applied to teachers and students. The sample of this study is 148 teachers and 339 students from primary schools in Şarköy during 2011-2012 academic year. Research results have revealed that teachers' and students' views differ from time to time. While teachers state that their democratic behaviours are in a very high level, students think that their teachers behave in a lower level than the teachers think. Also, it has found that teachers' and students' views differ significantly according to the variables in the research. Key words: Democracy, Human Rights, Democratic Education, Multicultural Education, Primary Schools