Civil courage as an educational goal?

In Dewey's conception, democracy thrives on the participation and co-creation of all citizens. This requires a sense of citizenship. But how do you actually develop this?

The much-vaunted virtue of civil courage is particularly effective when it is supported by many citizens. Civil courage is the civic courage that comes from one's own self-image of being a relevant part of this society. As a citizen, I am equal to all other citizens in terms of rights. As a citizen, I have the right to question and criticize decisions made by the state. As a citizen, I have the right to confidently contribute my position to the political discourse and political processes in the state.

As political educators, we work for a society in which citizens show backbone and stand up for themselves and others when democratic values are questioned, attacked and violated. This is how democracy can remain resilient. The actions and words of fellow citizens, but also of state institutions, can be scrutinized, questioned and criticized. It shows courage to oppose undemocratic positions and decisions and thus to demand and help shape the negotiation of these in society. If, for example, people position themselves in public space against a demonstration that postulates inhumane positions and whose authorization by the assembly authority seems inadequate to them, it is first of all a matter of not allowing undemocratic positions to go unchallenged. How should these questions be addressed in processes of political education and the didactics of democracy? It is by no means clear what civil courage is in individual cases. The spectrum of action is broad. Does it have limits? And where might they lie? Is there a supposed civil courage that is not civil courage because it is actually only instrumentalized as a justification for devaluations - on the dark side of civil society, so to speak?

Civic courage as an educational goal is always effective when it involves sustainable human rights and values education and the consistent encouragement of participants to demonstrate civic-mindedness and civic courage.

At JoDDiD, we offer you advice and spaces for negotiation about civil courage and civil courage as an educational goal. We are happy to advise you from a didactic perspective on your concept of teaching and learning moral courage. We can support you in the moderation of theory-based reflection and provide you with practical approaches. Above all, however, we invite you to try out with us how education can contribute to moral courage. We invite you to get creative with us, within the framework that you bring with you.

We find this clip on moral courage and power very interesting:

Furthermore, the "Konterbunt" app is exciting, as it offers quickly usable counter offers for common regulars' table slogans. The app is available online.

Literature for further reading:

Besand, Anja (2020): Über den Unterschied zwischen politischer Urteilsfähigkeit, Gehorsam und staatsbürgerlicher Souveränität. Politikdidaktische Beobachtung aus dem krisenbedingten gesellschaftlichen Großversuch. In: Drerup, Johannes/ Schweiger, Gottfried (Hrsg.): Bildung und Erziehung im Ausnahmezustand. Philosophische Reflexionsangebote zur COVID-19-Pandemie. S. 42-54.

Deichmann, Carl (2015): Der neue Bürger. Politische Ethik, politische Bildung und politische Kultur. Wiesbaden.

Meyer, Gerd/ Dovermann, Ulrich /Frech, Siegfried /Gugel, Günther (2004): Zivilcourage lernen: Analysen – Modelle – Arbeitshilfen. Bonn.

Pohl, Kerstin (2019): Politisch aktive Bürgerinnen und Bürger – ein Leitbild für die politische Bildung? In: Dossier politische Bildung. online verfügbar