While some researchers argue that theories and abstract knowledge are unreliable bases for teachers' work, a wide range of research stresses the need to overcome the gap between theory and practice, or abstract academic knowledge and experience-based knowledge. Here, Silvia Edling maintains that it is relevant to ask why the relationship is necessary in the first place and in so doing revive the notions of teacher seeing in education. The purpose of this article is to contribute knowledge about the role of teacher vision by turning to how two different theoretical researchers, John Dewey and Hans-Georg Gadamer, approach the notion of vision and its related concepts in relation to science. Aided by a hermeneutic conversation, the article provides a roadmap of similarities and differences between Dewey and Gadamer that can facilitate more nuanced reflections and deliberations among teachers and educational researchers on the meaning and usefulness of stimulating a broad and deep repertoire for teacher's professional vision. 

This paper explores the conceptions of critical thinking in national and local policy documents for teaching placement, using the case of teacher education programs at a Swedish university. The concept under scrutiny is based on three contemporary theoretical models of critical thinking in education: critical thinking movement, critical pedagogy, and “criticality” movement. In Sweden, the teacher profession is framed with a broader socio-ethical scope than the focus on individual cognitive skills of the critical thinking movement. Critical reflection and self-reflection, two conceptions identified with the criticality ideal of education for critical being, prevail in the analyzed documents.

The aim of the theme issue is to provide analysis of intersections of historical and democratic consciousness expressed in official curriculum documents such as syllabuses that focus on history in eleven countries. Each of the nation states were selected for their diverse trajectories of democratic developments and political cultures. Drawing on comparative education, policy enactment, and critical discourse analysis the content in the official curriculum documents is approached as texts that are informed by historical ideas of the purposes of education that influence present and future orientations and actions. The articles in this theme issue address the following key questions: 1. How is the intersection between historical consciousness and democratic consciousness described in curriculum and/or syllabus documents regarding the history subject in the selected countries?; 2. What kind of consequences for history education do the descriptions in the curriculum and/or syllabus entail?; and 3. How are the democracy traditions of each selected country reflected in the official knowledge of the various curriculum documents? 

Sweden is a country with a long history of peace and liberal democracy. In the post war period, history education has been given a core position as a moulder of democratic citizens in Sweden. Since the 1990s, historical consciousness intertwined with democratic values has been used as a scientific grid for shaping citizens, not just in history education but also in the research field of didactics. This study is part of a comparative policy investigation into the curriculum/syllabus för history education drawing on a critical discourse analysis. The Swedish curriculum, which crosses through all subjects, is mainly based on a developmental democracy, including liberal democracy, deliberative democracy and participatory democracy, stressing the continuity and enhancement of a given order. It is pointed out that history is central to all subjects. However, the history syllabus is more radical, in that it mainly accentuates aspects linked to disruptive democracy stressing the change of and resistance to a given order based on arguments of equity. Primarily, concepts stemming from critical democracy are highlighted and nationalism are tuned down and replaced by terms such as local-global.

Approaches to human and children’s right are in many European countries politically interlinked with human rights and democracy. Human rights are considered as an essential ethical tool to secure sustainable democracies through enhancing cultures where people protect the rights of others. However, the relationship between rights and democracy in education remains elusive. This paper addresses this gap by conducting a comparative analysis of the most recent political investigations on children’s right in Sweden and Italy, two countries with distinct cultural and political landscapes. The study employs a methodology of comparison and thematic content analysis to unravel themes on democracy and children’s right in policy documents. The paper contributes to the field by pioneering an international comparative analysis of these themes, shedding light on the nuanced approaches in the Italian and Swedish contexts. The findings reveal multifaceted themes emphasizing democracy as foundational to recognizing and upholding children’s rights. Both countries exhibit a commitment to democracy as a safeguard for children’s rights, yet challenges persist in translating formal recognition into active participation, highlighting the need for a pedagogical shift in perceiving children as active contributors to democratic processes.