This study reviewed three philosophical accounts of happiness, and then tested those accounts with the Asiabarometer surveys conducted in six Confucian societies during the summer of 2006. Statistical analyses of these surveys reveal that East Asians tend to experience happiness to a greater extent when they experience enjoyment together with…

The persistence of the Great Recession provides us with the opportunity to engage in a long overdue conversation about public investments in America's children. Less than ten percent of the Fiscal Year 2010 federal budget of $3.603 trillion is allocated to children and youth. This percentage is likely to decline in the next decade if current laws…

In the face of the century-old call for democracy in education by John Dewey, this paper explores how and why teachers have been systemically removed from efficacy within the educational system in which they live and work. The paper examines historical trends that work to limit teachers' institutional power and become obstacles to teacher voice.…

In this article we share our current thinking about the methodology of collaborations for change and make visible our own attempts to theorize the practice of university-school partnering. We suggest that a fruitful new direction for research may involve turning to the Global South and the Latin American idea of horizontalidad [horizontalism],…

A liberatory pedagogy, from a Freirean perspective, seeks to transform the classroom into a dialogic and student-powered learning environment by restructuring the student-teacher dichotomy. The purpose is change--not only to individual students' lives and opportunities but also to the wider social reality. While these are the goals of many science…

Action competence has been a key concept in educational circles in Denmark since the 1980s. This paper explores the relationship between the action competence approach and recent discourses of education for sustainable development (ESD), competence and quality criteria. First we argue that action competence is an educational ideal, referring to…

The practical power of appeals to patriotism implies that patriotism in one form or another is here to stay. As such, arguments for the repudiation of patriotism cannot avoid seeming a bit utopian or ethereal. Practically speaking, we cannot repudiate patriotism and still have effective functioning states. To that end, political philosophers…

The challenges our nation faces in educating all of our young people are alarming. Yet in seeking solutions we often find ourselves divided. Public schools are too fundamental to our democratic values to leave isolated from other community institutions. This disconnect does not serve our children well. When addressing public education, we must act…

This article reviews "John Dewey and Our Educational Prospect, A Critical Engagement with Dewey's Democracy and Education," edited and spearheaded by David T. Hansen, with contributions by Gert Biesta, Reba N. Page, Larry A. Hickman, Naoko Saito, Gary D. Fenstermacher, Herbert M. Kliebard, Sharon Fieman-Nemser and Elizabeth Minnich. This…

This article argues that narratives forecasting spectacular mobility for Black people/people of color along with the growth of the Black middle class function as proof that America "works" and that the American dream is obtainable for all. However, what is concealed within this "meritocratic" discourse is that full acceptance into this society is…

Scholars have argued that the history of science might facilitate an understanding of processes of science. Focusing on science education for citizenship and active involvement in debates on socioscientific issues, one might argue that today's post-academic science differs from academic science in the past, making the history of academic science…

This article presents the author's critique on Paul G. Woodford's positions with regard to music education and the notion of liberal democracy. The author seeks to broaden the contextual/historical scholarship around John Dewey and makes it clear that liberalism is a contested concept, as is democracy. He calls for contemporary responses to…

For democracy to thrive, students increasingly need to participate in democratic education. During the first half of the twentieth century, two education reformers individually developed, refined, and implemented two different forms of democratic education. In this article, the author describes the purpose of public schooling and how John Dewey…

Learning about social justice is far different from engaging in the emotion-laden work of learning social justice. Frequently, instructors of aspiring educational leaders find that when social justice content is introduced, the adult classroom becomes a messy community, filled with untidy and unexamined viewpoints, multiple stereotypes, and…

School choice programs have proliferated around the world since the 1980s. Following this international trend, the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) was launched in 1991 to revitalize Hong Kong's private school sector. DSS schools receive a similar subsidy per student to that received by aided schools, but they may charge fees and have greater control…