The Civic Achievement Award Program (CAAP) is a three-part citizenship education program for students in grades five through eight that teaches the skills needed to become active, informed citizens. The program increases student awareness of their democratic heritage and its everyday relevance through participation in various civic projects. (MLH)

Members of modern society need multicultural literacy and a large repertoire of cross-cultural tools, including skills for self-discovery, metacognition, self-awareness, and a flexible attitude toward linguistic and cultural norms. To support diversity, we should focus on strengths rather than deficits in ourselves and others. (MSE)

Educators must abandon the notion that intellectual excellence is somehow undemocratic and runs counter to practicality, emotion, and character development. Respecting intellectual differences does not require classifying students in stultifying categories or demeaning them with inappropriate judgments. Educational progress varies from child to…

Reflects on contributions of three educators dedicated to addressing issues of pluralism and democracy similar to those faced today. Horace Meyer Kallen, Alain Locke, and Isaac Baer Berkson developed unique visions of pluralism as each attempted to reconcile competing versions of democracy for an industrializing nation in the first half of this…

Two perspectives on political correctness, particularly as it occurs in higher education, are presented, with responses. One perspective views the trend as a cult of victimization, to which students are at last responding critically. The second views the trend as a healthy expression of democratic values. (MSE)

The goal of multicultural education is to help kids function in their ethnic communities and the mainstream world. The broader aspects of multicultural education (pedagogical equity and prejudice reduction) apply to all subjects. Schools as public institutions should promote the common good and the overarching values of the nation-state. Diversity…

Dutch schools experience three types of violence: interpupil violence, aggression between teachers and pupils, and violence resulting from outside criminal influences. When confronting school violence, educators must confront three pedagogical paradoxes. The school can only partly compensate for bad societal influences, since other institutions…

Basic tenets of citizen control of education at state and local levels are well established historically and remain intact after three centuries of U.S. educational experience. This paper advocates substantial change in the structure and management of local governments. Too many change proposals are cosmetic. Kentucky and Memphis-Shelby County are…

Describes nine entries from the ERIC database dealing with democratic participation. Lists works on democratic values, recent changes in the societies of formerly socialist countries, educational goals, curriculum, and community service for young people. Includes information on how to obtain copies and additional entries. (DK)

Explores two additional meanings of "moral democracy" to enhance John Dewey's concept and identifies possible procedures to identify basic democratic values. Reviews writings on some recognized scholars of democracy and explores how educators may use a democratic ethic to improve the quality of education in a changing democratic society.…

Traces the development of adult education in the workplace during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and examines contemporary examples of workplace education in the changing world economy. The historical tradition of adult education is to promote democracy through social reconstruction. Democracy in the workplace depends upon an…

It is proposed that the primary method for college budget reduction should be horizontal, across-the-board cuts by percentage applied to all programs and departments. It is argued further that vertical budget cuts embody imperfect procedural justice and should be considered only in extreme situations. (MSE)

In a sense, school reform is Chicago's "perestroika." As in Europe, an authoritarian, survivalist bureaucracy has collapsed, and a radical democracy is proposed as the solution to years of paralysis and backwardness. Unfortunately, the inexperienced Local School Councils lack vision and often promulgate commonplace solutions. Insistence…

Presents the keynote address to the 1990 convention of the Speech Communication Association. Illustrates a discussion of the First Amendment and the new majoritarianism by examining three controversies: the flag burning issue, battles over alleged obscenity and government funding of the arts, and incidents of racist, sexist, and homophobic…

Power based on self-assertion, openness, and human connection is the hallmark of empowered classrooms and schools. The process of more fully exercising power can be greatly enhanced by using narrative. Empowered individuals and groups reveal their strength in the nurturing of many voices and in the subsequent transformation of their lives. Sample…