Democratic Culture Development: Educational Factors’ Impact on Fairness Experience from High School Seniors’ Perspectives

Abstract

The development of a democratic political culture is one of the challenging areas in countries under democratization. The political culture of a country is nourished by the values its society shares, which are sourced from different mainsprings. Considering that fairness is one of the core values upon which democracy is founded, the way the young generation perceives and experiences this value is significant. Keeping in mind that inequalities of the society are also reflected in schools, the question if education is a sphere that mirrors fairness raises naturally. In this paper, we explore the relationship between fairness experience and education-related variables. We also investigate the total variance of fairness experience as explained by educational variables altogether and by each of them individually. The study uses a quantitative methods design and collects data through a questionnaire developed by the researchers delivered online to senior high school students from the four main educational directorates in Albania. The analysis of the data yielded a significant positive correlation between educational variables and fairness experience. It also revealed that educational variables altogether and separately can be predictors of fairness experience.

Received: 19 November 2021 / Accepted: 1 February 2022 / Published: 5 March 2022