Many adolescents think they're not interested in politics – until a teacher gets them to reflect on their own lives

“It's important that we get so close to the pupils that we find their seed for engagement. In this way, we can make them aware of how issues that they're already concerned about are also political issues,” says OsloMet researcher Evy Jøsok.

Together with Anders G. Kjøstvedt and Idunn Seland, she has interviewed 34 ninth-grade students at four Norwegian lower secondary schools.

The researchers found three different groups among the students

The researchers asked the students about their political identity and participation in democracy.

• Students who express both that they participate in democracy and that they have a political identity.
• Students who express that they participate in democracy without being aware of it themselves, but who do not have a clear political identity.
• Students who express that they neither participate in democracy nor have a political identity.

Some say they are not concerned with politics

“The second group was by far the largest,” says Jøsok.

This group say that they are not interested in politics. 

However, in the conversations with the researchers, it became clear that they were engaged in many issues that are in fact political.

These adolescents had strong opinions about issues like prices in the school canteen, that it costs too much to participate in sports, or that the school day is too long. 

Some had also participated actively in local democracy.

“For example, one student had influenced local politicians to increase the frequency of local bus departures, so that she and her friends could travel to the city centre without adults needing to drive them,” says Jøsok.

They think of politics in terms of elections

Previous research has established a link between political identity and civic engagement among young people.

“Our findings show that this correlation is not necessarily automatic. Sometimes teachers need to help pupils understand the connection,” says Jøsok.

In the conversations it emerged that the students thought of politics as something that was primarily linked to elections. Since they themselves were under the legal voting age of 18, they saw politics as something that did not concern them.

“The pupils do not necessarily link the knowledge they have gained in social studies about the political system to issues they themselves are engaged in,” she says.

Teachers can address topics that concern the students

Jøsok thinks that social studies teachers should be aware of the three different groups of students, and especially work with those who lack a political identity. 

Bringing up issues that the students are already engaged in can be a good strategy. The teacher can also present political issues that are relevant to their everyday lives. 

"For example, by talking about child labour taking place in the extraction of metal found in their mobile phones. Another example could be talking about how the makeup they use is produced and tested,” she says.

According to Jøsok, it's absolutely possible for schools to nurture students' political identity.

“Politics as a concept can be foreign to them. But there's great potential in widening the subjects addressed in social studies and showing pupils that political issues are something that affect themselves, those they love, and the society around them,” she says.

Reference:

Jøsok et al. Nurturing civic identity among Norwegian 15-year-olds: Challenges and opportunities for social science teachers, Journal of Social Science Education, vol. 24, 2025. DOI: 10.11576/jsse-7690

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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