Civic education historically has focused primarily on preparing students to influence politics and government policy. Less attention has been paid to the curricular implications of civil society, even though it is a crucial site for deliberatively informed action and one of the primary ways in which students will enter the public sphere. This…

The concept of political justice is deeply tied to our professional Code of Ethics. Social workers are well suited to challenge political inequalities that keep clients and communities from political participation. Laws affecting access to voter registration, casting a ballot, and having that ballot counted vary widely across the United States,…

"A Blueprint for Community Inclusion Strategies for Youth with Developmental Disabilities in Washington, DC" provides a summary of comments and common themes among DC youth with disabilities and their families. This includes their top priorities, solutions to pressing issues, and ways that allies (individuals and organizations) can…

This article presents an in-class exercise that teaches students how to call elected officials about a course-related issue of their choice. The goals are to connect classroom learning with real-life action, to show that contacting elected officials need not be difficult or intimidating, and to help students develop a sense of efficacy that can…

State attempts to rationalize Moroccan craft education reflect the ambivalent status of traditional knowledge in a modern economy. Female artisans, recently organized as a cooperative, navigate this ambivalence in a weaving "theory" class and in their "occupation" of the cooperative structure itself. During performances of…

Climate change regulation, being imbued with multiscalar complexities, economic concerns, and numerous constitutional implications, presents a rich pedagogical context for teaching business regulation. However, environmental law, as an instructional topic, can be quite complex and daunting to present to students. The topic presents issues of…

Despite the celebrated history of social workers engaging in the political realm for the purposes of fostering social change, students sometimes seem ambivalent regarding the essential nature of their political engagement while also doubting their ability to make a difference through these efforts. How can social work educators combat feelings of…

Immigrant integration is a multidimensional process that involves both newcomers and the receiving community. Although the United States does not have a coherent policy of immigrant integration, several city- and state-wide efforts support immigrant integration, as do individual initiatives operating across states. In this article, the author…

In 1965, President Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act, giving birth to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. The act declared, "Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must therefore foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts…

The concept of heterotopia challenges political theory, which has often focused on utopic thinking. Foucault describes a heterotopia as a heterogenous space that juxtaposes in a single real place several spaces, several sites that are in themselves incompatible. Streets, squares and parks form heterotopias when their utopic purity as public space…

Despite growing attention to both public engagement in policy development, and youth civic engagement, the engagement of young women and young mothers receives little attention. This article proposes guidelines for engaging with young women in provincial public policy development via their participation in public engagement initiatives. Developed…

In this article, the authors explore the potential of youth organizing to promote civic development, new forms of civic engagement that make public institutions more accountable and responsive to the needs of their constituencies, and an expanded commitment to acting in the interest of the public good. Their analysis draws from both the literature…

Educators focused on community literacy and public engagement have access to a unique critical platform from which larger social issues that impact us both as a whole and on very personal levels are open to exploration. Being particularly situated to have significant impact on community, literacy work in this area may require uncommon pedagogical…

People live in curious political times when it can be hard to match ideology to party. The outstanding example is in penal policy. Kenneth Clarke announces his Conservative determination to reduce numbers in prison, and to develop alternatives to locking people up. Labour denounces this as soft on crime. Is this how people expect things to line…

William Tolley, a teaching fellow with the Choices Program, is the Learning and Innovation Coach and head of history at the International School of Curitiba, Brazil (IB). He writes in this article that he has found that the "Competing Visions of Human Rights" teaching unit, developed by Brown University's Choices Program, provides a…