The benefits of cooperative learning for students of all ages and abilities has been well documented. Recent research points to interracial learning teams as one way to organize classrooms striving for multicultural harmony. For programs to succeed, a society's mainstream members must value multicultural education as a positive factor in a…

Educational institutions in a liberal society must be rooted in a conception of justice that, if it is to respect neutrality, cannot be subservient to some particular view of "the good." Features of an educational environment that promotes civic education are discussed. (IAH)

Argues that theater is the natural art form of democracy. Defines democracy in theater as a system of popular rule that values the individual's contribution to defining, legislating, and regulating the common good--during rehearsals, all troupe members have to agree. Concludes that democracy in theater is not perfect, but it has more successes…

Presents three edited, previously unpublished essays on Ralph Waldo Emerson, who the author (and nearly no one else) saw as of major importance to rhetoric. Sees in Emerson's work the kernel of an American epistemic democratic rhetoric. (RS)

Principals cannot be experts in all content fields but should understand, as curriculum generalists, how the curriculum is organized and how learning activities and materials are related to instructional outcomes. Secondary principals can facilitate curriculum enactment by effectively managing school governance and by making sound decisions…

The transmission of moral values has been one of public education's oldest endeavors and is currently one of its newest controversies. Today's complex arguments for and against ethical instruction in schools can be divided into three categories of issues: philosophical, political, and pedagogical. Secondary school leaders are in a key position to…

Discusses a child's experiences in developing a petition (with the assistance of friends, siblings, parents, and reference librarians) to protest mandatory participation in recitation of the pledge of allegiance. Suggests that the relations between literacy and democracy are complex and mediated by many social, personal, and institutional factors.…

Political education is back on the agenda, following the Labour Party's election in Britain and the end of Communist one-party rule in Central/Eastern Europe. This paper explains the formal teaching of political literacy to students in Scottish secondary schools through the Modern Studies curriculum. Contains 37 references. (MLH)

Investigates the process character of action and "the political" as the field within which the unpredictable consequences of human agency play out, highlighting Arendt's theorizing of action and more recent elaborations of key notions within that theoretical frame, analyzing the roots of learning in human action, and discussing the return of the…

Describes the First Amendment Schools project aimed at teaching K-12 public and independent school students their constitutionally protected religious, speech, press, assembly, and petition rights and responsibilities. Includes examples describing the project in several schools. Includes annotated list of resources for educators. (PKP)

Argues that building civic capacity of citizens is the top priority for countries in the Asia Pacific Region in the 21st Century. Explores several issues surrounding the development of civic values based on democratic principles. Discusses role of schools in developing civic capacity in young people. (Contains 20 references.) (PKP)

This paper analyzes the impact of the idea of accountability on education. It considers the kind of relationships that are promoted or produced by the culture of accountability, both in order to understand what kind of relationships are made possible and to understand what kind of relationships are made difficult, or even impossible, as a result…

A discussion of democracy is offered that includes historical reactions to the concept, a description of two types of democracy as they appear in the United States contexts. A brief discussion of the contradictions and tensions built into the very core of democracy, and evidence for the corruption of democracy is presented.

This article explores the legacy of Adlerian approaches to behaviour. Mike Blamires offers an opportunity to consider the impact of Adler's premise that education is fundamentally about encouragement and the promotion of democratic principles. In so doing he challenges us to interrogate the term "behaviour management", and its current use by…

Today, educational evaluation theory and practice face a critical juncture with the kind of educational accountability evaluation legislated by No Child Left Behind. While the goal of this kind of educational accountability is to improve education, it is characterized by a hierarchical, top-down approach to improving educational achievement…