ABSTRACT
In the light of current tendencies for stable democratic states to be challenged by authoritarian forms of governance, issues of democracy and its status in teacher education institutions need to be problematised. This chapter focuses on democracy as an ideological form of governance in Swedish teacher education and discusses the implications that the various views of democracy have on teachers’ professionalism. Teachers’ responsibilities are fleshed out based on the current political guidelines for teacher education and discussed in relation to the tensions between free speech and the importance of taking a stand against oppression. Accordingly, students enrolled in Swedish teacher education institutions are expected to actively create conditions in everyday life that promote equal opportunities for children and students. Whereas some student teachers tend to regard free speech as the cornerstone of democracy, the data gathered from the ICCS study of teachers’ ways of understanding their democratic obligations indicates a more nuanced approach to obligations linked to democracy. The majority of these teachers stress that they actively intervene in discussions when students’ free speech risks violating ethnic groups.
