Abstract

Our main purpose in our essay is to find arguments for and against pupils' influence in the teaching of social science. We want to illustrate the importance of pupils' influence in the classroom but most importantly in the subject social science. Our question is: What arguments are there for and against pupils' influence in primary schools teaching of social science and what is the school's mission? We looked at different studies about the effects of pupils' influence in the classroom. There are different arguments regarding whether it is beneficial to give pupils space to have an influence in their education or not. We have discussed the different opinions and arguments that we found, and how pupils' influence can have an effect on the teaching of social science. Pupils' influence can have different effects on the pupils and their knowledge. But pupils' influence is mainly affecting them in a good way. To find useful sources, we have used keywords that are related to the topic. We have used dissertation and other scientific resources in order to find answers to our main question. 

Our scores showed that pupils' influence is an important part of the school's mission to raise democratic citizens. Pupils' influence in the teaching of social science will help them develop an interest and knowledge in the subject. It is challenging for the teacher to plan a lesson based on pupils' consent. Therefore, it is important to have an open discussion with the pupils about how they would like to work with the subject. But it is also important for the teacher to stay within the school's teaching commission.