At the heart of social studies education is the notion that social studies teachers teach core civic values that educate citizens and perpetuate democracy. The author of this article asserts that as the democratic system continues to evolve, technology is playing a greater role in how people learn and communicate. It makes sense, then, that social…

This article provides a cross-national perspective on successful school principalship in three countries derived from an analysis of case studies in the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The ISSPP aims to investigate the characteristics, processes and effects of successful school leadership across eight countries (i.e.…

Our society's preoccupation with making educational policy and practice "scientific" is attested to by the stated mission of the Institute of Education Sciences: "to provide rigorous evidence on which to ground education practice and policy." Early in the twentieth century, John Dewey also advocated for a vision of education guided by science, and…

This study investigates the claim that a community-based learning experience of short duration in a first-year general education seminar can result in valid and measurable civic learning outcomes. Through the use of a mixed methods design, this study probes two essential outcomes of civic learning advanced by Saltmarsh (2005), the acquisition of…

The focus of this article revolves around democratic learning communities and the work of P-12 teachers and educational leaders as spatialized practice. Through a critical pragmatic lens, we explore what is necessary to transform the social space of contemporary schools into democratically practiced places of learning for teachers: democratic…

The recently introduced and compulsory citizenship education in English schools seeks to prepare children for life in a liberal democracy and is concerned with far more than the acquisition of skills and knowledge; it privileges particular forms of action, behaviour and ways of thinking. I argue here that education for democratic citizenship (EDC)…

This article focuses on the growing role of the private sector in public education and the implications of this role on issues of social justice and leadership in public schooling. In the USA, until the early 1980s, teachers, school administrators, and professional school staff provided leadership in areas of curriculum and instructional…

This study investigates the leadership strategies of successful principals. Previous research has indicated that principals who are successful engage in multiple practices to meet the needs of changing educational settings. For example, the "International Successful School Principal Project" (ISSPP) identified a core set of basic…

This article discusses the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a deliberative public issues forum held at North Carolina State University in early 2008. The forum itself was a part of a larger university strategic planning process. In spite of tight time constraints, the planning team made a decision to tailor the forum according to…

This article is concerned with the relationship between children's participation and the diversity of childhoods. While there are a number of different arrangements for encouraging children and young people to participate, the article focuses on a dominant mode of participation through which children are elected to represent the interests of other…

This study focused on how democratic values and citizenship education are promoted through environmental education in Costa Rica. Data were collected through the examination of textbook and curriculum guides and interviews with classroom teachers. The qualitative study utilized Bowers' (2001) and Gruenewald's (2003) theories of eco-justice and…

The Asia Barometer Survey of 2,000 respondents reveals that substantial majorities of the Chinese people experience feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. In fact, the proportion experiencing these indicators of a high quality of life are larger in China than in some more prosperous countries. Favorable historical comparison,…

This article argues that public education needs to be reclaimed to fulfill its role as a "democratising force" to address social and economic inequality and to respect and recognise diversity and difference. By analysing historical developments in federal policy, funding and economic contexts a case is developed to demonstrate that the…

The purpose of this article is to evaluate a social studies teacher education vision statement as it relates to Parker's (2003) "advanced" conception of citizenship education for democratic society. The vision statement, titled "Powerful Vision of Social Studies," was created by a group of practicing teachers and teacher educators as part of a…

Following the 1949 recommendations of the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons (SJC), the Canadian government shifted away from a policy of segregated to integrated schooling for Aboriginal children. This paper examines the minutes and proceedings of the SJC. Fewer than 10% of the briefs presented to the SJC called for integration…