Young male vocational students are in academia described as being less interested by politics and social issues and having less knowledge regarding democracy than other students. A culture of resistance is the appellation of the specific culture that emphasise the relations between young male vocational students. Deliberately arranged teaching with deliberate qualities has shown a positive impact on students’ learning as well as being a way of working with moral issues in school.

The purpose of this study is to make researches into whether deliberately arranged teaching has an impact on  the political and social interest amongst young male vocational students. A questionnaire was conducted before and after the Civics A (social studies) course. Individual interviews, where the students’ ways of expressing themselves in regards to politics and social issues were in focus, were carried out. The deliberately arranged teaching was conducted once a week during one academic year. The students were then responsible for the content as well as ensuring that they abided by the set rules for the conversation.

Limited alterations regarding the students’ interest for politics and social issues were identified in the questionnaire. However, the interviews revealed that some of the students have changed their way of looking at politics and their interest has increased. The culture of resistance that usually distinguishes the behaviour of vocational students in regards to core subjects was not found as a dominating factor. The students taking part in focus groups expressed a positive response to the deliberately arranged teaching stating it was the part of the course they enjoyed the most. To be able to express their views and listen to others was highly appreciated by the students who described themselves as serious and ambitious during classes. The teachers felt that this teaching style meant that there was a focus on relations and that the didactic question about content in the course were more complicated to execute.