Abstract
This research was set to investigate the democratic initiative Frirummet by the free schools of Denmark (de frie skoler), who set out to normatively improve the democratic debate culture of Denmark through the creation of their own debate from (frirumsdebatter). This investigation was specifically interested in the phenomenon of the debate pilot (debatpiloten), which is the title given to participants who finishes a two-day course in moderating the frirumsdebat.
The purpose of the scientific investigation was to find reasons to why a group of teachers could be motivated by the initiative to engage in value change of the debate culture in Denmark. And also, if it could be expected by the debate pilots following the debate pilot education, as the course is named, to arrange and moderate a frirumsdebat. The purpose of the frirumsdebat is understood to expand the territory of teacher to implicitly educate the debaters and the audiences of in the ideal of the republican citizenship.
To find answers to the questions of this investigation the research design was a qualitative mix method case study of one of the debate pilot educations (debatpilotuddannelsen). Firstly, some of the debate pilots was interviewed with standardised questions. Secondly, participant observations were used during the two-day debate pilot education. And lastly, semi-structured interviews were used.
The analysis took a structural approach to investigate in the reasons for motivation in the Frirummet by constructing a frame work of psychological concepts and assumed citizenship values found in the republican citizenship. The framework used in the analysis also relied on a constructed theoretical definition of the debate pilot identity using Jürgen Habermas, Benjamin Barber and Carole Patemans normative theories.
The investigation of this research concludes that the Frirummet manages to motivate the debate pilots by speaking to their emotions and in principle using the same values to conduct their view of reality as the debate pilots uses. The issue though is that it cannot be expected by the debate pilots to arrange and moderate frirumsdebats. It can only be hoped. Because, primarily, there are no consequences to only use the debate pilot education as an extra training for extra curricula activities in the schools signed up the debate pilots in the first place.