Is law a safety net or a threat? Practising- and future teachers’ and students’ opinion on law

Abstract

The study presents research conducted on a small sample (n = 39), which measured teachers’, teacher trainees’, and high school students’ relationship to law. The research fits in well with the recently launched process of mapping the relationship to law among actors in the world of school. This exploration, as presented in the present study, goes beyond a simple legal knowledge test. It aims to observe the participants’ image of law, and their attitude towards it. The question of this phenomenon is extremely relevant in the twentieth century, since digitalization and globalization together dissolved several previous social frameworks, which was intensified by the pandemic. While in earlier periods law was a point of alignment as a stable formation, today’s dynamic changes, which are often quite hectic, offer guidelines that are apparently solid, and consensus-based. Literature confirm that unlike previous collective experience where the social (family) status had a role in shaping the relationship towards law, now schools are more likely to be obliged to fill the gap created by fundamental shortcomings of families. However, a deep and consistent awareness of fundamental rights among educators and the school is essential for this to succeed. This research is one of the first steps leading to this exploration. To this end, the research employed a two-stage questionnaire survey: a general attitude measure and three stories in which the tension between norm (moral rule) and legal command becomes increasingly greater, raising legal issues that go beyond the school's internal regulations.