Mission Impossible? School Level Student Democracy

Abstract

Norwegian schools have for decades been obliged to organise student councils. The national curriculum requires that councils are included in decision-making concerning the management and development of the school as an exercise in democracy. This paper examines to what extent these councils are democratic by assessing council practice at five lower secondary schools in the light of different conceptions of democracy. The paper concludes that student councils function quite well but that they do so without adhering to democratic standards.