ABSTRACT
In England and Finland, the role of the teacher is regarded as pivotal for development of conceptions of democracy. The UK Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2012:10) explicitly states that teachers will demonstrate high standards of ethics ‘ . . . by not undermining fundamental British values, including democracy . . . ’, implying that teachers know and understand the nature of democracy and will teach it directly in citizenship lessons or indirectly via the ‘hidden curriculum’. Also in Finland, the value base concerning democracy, equality and active agency in civil society is embedded in the basic curriculum of the National Core Curriculum (Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet, 2014:12-13) and in the Basic Education Act (MoJ, 1998:1:22). Although it is not directly articulated, development of conceptions of these values is seen as the responsibility of teachers because they are the ones who can demonstrate these values every day in their classrooms.
