ABSTRACT
Since regaining independence in 1991 Estonia has been known for its neoliberal policies. In education, the influence of neoliberalism has been more subtle and mixed with other traditions. There are long humanist and pedagogical traditions in Estonia, but due to the rather limited democracy and nation state traditions, the civic aspect has not been particularly emphasised. This article looks at the transformations and role of teacher education in shaping democratic citizenship.
Theoretically, the article is founded on the normative approaches to citizenship and civics and citizenship education. Empirically, the transformations are discussed from four different perspectives: historical traditions, policy, civics and citizenship education curricula and the key documents of teacher education in Estonia.
The chapter concludes that while the civic knowledge of Estonian students has improved over the past two decades according to surveys and the school curricula include several cross-curricula themes related to democratic citizenship, the teacher education curricula leave the teachers somewhat less-prepared in achieving these goals. Instead, both general school as well as teacher education curricula seem to be emphasising the neoliberal normatives, which treat an individual rather as a consumer and labour market actor than a democratic citizen.
