| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 公民教育與活動領導學系 === 103 === Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate via interviews the political participation experiences of Taipei high school students who had involved in political affairs. The aim of the research was to study the participants’ motivation, methods, goals and obstacles faced during political involvement. The thesis attempted to analyze high school students’ transformation during political participation by Empowerment theories, thus to understand how did they think about their identity as both student and citizen. Lastly, by the result drawn from the interviews, the research hoped to provide suggestions in how to design courses for student political participation in the civil and society class at high school.
This thesis applied qualitative research by having seven experienced high school political participants as main study samples. The said samples were obtained through individual interviews in which the participants talked about their political participation experiences and the after-participation reflection. The study then code-classified and analyzed these study samples in order to draw a picture of the situation of political participation among high school students.
According to the results observed, participants’ involvement in the political activities were inspired by either media reported social events or by the introduction of those who had political participation experiences. There were multiple methods for high school students to participate in political issues. Except for the age limited activities, they were able to set foot in political movement as general citizens. The obstacles faced during political participation mainly derived from personal mentality adjustment, disapproval from family, and pressures such as academic stress, coldness from peers and unfavorable judgements from teachers. What supported the participants to continue to participate was relevant to student’s sense of political responsibility and political efficacy. During the process of political participation, high school students developed more capacities and reached self-efficacy. In this case, it enabled them to express ideas and influence others. Most importantly, in this process they were aware of the fact that the core problem lies in power distribution. Hence, to alter the existent power oppression, they all aspired to strive for power via political involvement.
Aside from enabling students to explore themselves, political participation also raised their civil awareness and their willing to act. Also, it earns social recognition at students’ political engagement. A propos the design of high school civil education, the study offered the suggestions as bellows: instructors shall encourage students to attend activities that are informative and participation-requiring both inside and outside the class. High school students are not merely future citizens; they shall also be autonomously-thinking participants of civil society. The government and school shall recognize their participation, and cease to inhibit students from involving in political issues.
It is only through political participation and reflection can we elevate the awareness of civil rights and the identification of civil responsibility. To sum up, a mature civil society is constructed by citizens who are active in politics.
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