This article invites candidates for president to strengthen teaching and teacher education for diverse students. The article first describes two remarkable teachers in California to illustrate what strong teaching of diverse students looks like. It then discusses what the diverse students of this nation need of teachers, including teachers with…

Concerns about pupil disengagement from school and society have led to compulsory citizenship education in state schools in England. However, there is little evidence that the new citizenship education is meeting its goals. The research described here assesses a new approach to citizenship education that appears to overcome some of the identified…

Teaching literacy skills is inextricably meshed with the work of transformation. When students learn to read and write, they are learning the knowledge and skills needed in order to better understand their world and ultimately to participate in the remaking of their realities. Leadership for social justice is a democratic, empowering relationship…

This article reviews: (1) the establishment and functioning of EU citizenship: (2) the resulting perception of education for European active citizenship; and (3) the question of its adequacy for enhancing democratic values and practices within the Union. Key policy documents produced by the EU help to unfold the basic assumptions on which…

In this essay, Clayton Pierce examines the epistemological standpoints of Intelligent Design (ID) and evolutionary science education, focusing specifically on the pedagogical question of how ID and modern science-based education fail to promote democratic relations in how students learn, think, and associate with science and technology in society.…

This article aims to help those who support the pivotal role of public education in promoting a critically informed and actively engaged democratic citizenry understand what the American Federation of Teachers (2006) inaccurately describes as "The John Stossel Agenda." In his "20/20 Report," "Stupid in America: How Lack of Choice Cheats Our Kids…

The influx of Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands during the past 50 years and terrorist events in recent years have led to increased alienation. This case study, conducted at a culturally diverse school with a large Muslim student population, found that its administrators and "social studies" teachers agreed it is important to…

The author calls for a reexamination of educational aims. Tracing the evolution of education in this country from earliest days, he questions today's over reliance on test scores as the final indicator of school success. Noting that during the 1800s the schools made a commitment to broadly educate all and to produce the educated electorate that…

The key importance of after-school and out-of-school time in a democratic society is the experience of activities and programs providing a common ground that extends the play of childhood into leadership opportunities for youthful learning and exploration of the world. The authors hypothesize that by focusing civic attention on the developmental…

This article focuses on 40 elementary school teachers' efforts to involve their students in social justice-oriented service-learning experiences and the struggles and support they encounter in doing so. The service-learning activities described here begin with student interest and initiative and focus on advocacy and concerted efforts to right…

To provide the best learning environment for their students, teachers need to have good classroom management skills. Teaching future teachers how to infuse democracy into student discipline offers them a way to improve such skills. Sixty secondary social studies education candidates engaged in such a process in their social studies methods class.…

In the nearly two years that the author spent on community-college campuses in California, New York, Illinois, and Colorado, he met hundreds of dedicated but often frustrated teachers and administrators. In this article, the author describes what he experienced in the community colleges, identifies the shortcomings of community colleges, and…

Despite the constitutional ban on the practice of untouchability and caste-based discrimination, this article elaborates on a gendered-caste-based discriminatory reality in rural India, the difficulties of enforcing legal remedies, and on related human rights praxis to address gendered-caste atrocities by drawing on the experiences of a Canadian…

As part of its agenda to promote choice, diversity and parent power in education, New Labour is aiming to develop a system of independent non-fee paying state schools. It is envisaged that control of the governing arrangements in such schools will shift from the local authority and be delegated to a range of external partners and sponsors drawn…

Time-series data from 1960-1998 is used to test hypotheses regarding the impact of protest and public opinion on the passage of U.S. environmental legislation. An amplification model of policy impact is introduced which posits that protest affects legislative action independent of public opinion as suggested by protest event theorists, whereas the…