The authors offer the image of our nation as a nautical convoy. Some boats are large, well built, and able to ride out the heaviest of turbulent seas. Others are smaller, but still quite sturdy, and able to survive. Many however, are fragile, meagerly equipped, and easily capsized in rough waters. This convoy is in the midst of a perfect storm…

The modern education system aims at promoting the life quality of individuals, and it requires a philosophical perception and curriculum development approach in line with this aim. In this context, the basic philosophy is to teach people how to learn, have democratic attitudes, convene for teamwork, be able to use information, and think in a…

In this article, Eric Freedman examines the extent to which critical pedagogy can be considered a democratic form of education. Comparing Paulo Freire's notion of dialogue to Jurgen Habermas's "ideal speech situation," Freedman argues that such dialogue cannot realistically occur in educational situations where the teacher remains in an…

This book provides the educational practitioner and community participants with the practical knowledge needed to follow a participatory governance process within an existing bureaucracy. Chapter 1 presents the principles of participatory governance and identifies various mind-sets that have developed over many decades of traditional education.…

This paper reviews relevant literature to glean lessons from past experience with values education in American schools that can be applied effectively in contemporary classrooms. The paper proposes that, through the judicious application of research, effective strategies can be integrated effectively into educational programs to teach tolerance,…

The goal of democratic understanding and civic values is within the history/social science framework. The strand of national identity falls under the goal of democratic understanding and civic values. This research project found that national identity can be developed among multicultural 5th-grade students through the teaching of national symbols,…

The role of the political class in the debate on how to improve education in the Sahelian countries is examined in this monograph. Although cultural backwardness and faulty inquiry impede educational quality, the major problem is the absence of political forms through which all people can participate in educational reform. A review of the…

The meanings and roles of democracy and education, and the interaction of the two, are some of the most difficult questions society faces. The definition of democracy varies widely from a political mechanism to an ideal. Past efforts to infuse democracy into schools have generally been of two types. One is requiring a greater role for teachers in…

The community college, argues the author, can help redeem higher education (from the flight from teaching, professors' immersion in status-associated research, and the splitting of curriculum into courses) by becoming a home-town based teaching college combining general education and job education into universal education for citizenship and…

Examines several basic political attitudes held by a sample of urban and rural public school teachers of different racial compositions. Concludes that teachers' political attitudes are supportive of the social order, and that there is a striking uniformity in their attitudes. (Author/AM)

According to the President of the UAW, financing education by property and sales taxes is regressive and inequitable; educational decision-making should be more democratic; our economic system should be governed by national policy; and unions and community colleges should enter into a broad cooperative partnership to provide laborers with career…

Attempting to place the evolution and current status of the American school system in a context that encourages administrators' pursuit of educational restructuring, this text provides a blueprint for districts choosing a site-based management approach to school system organization. Chapter 1 examines the evolution of the American school system…

The basic thesis of this book is that neither minorities nor whites benefit when incremental and participatory methods are used to desegregate schools. Rather, it argues, school desegregation can succeed only when rapid and extensive change is imposed by nonelected officials, at a centralized level, and without citizen involvement. Chapter 1…

Findings of an evaluation of the first 5 years of a longitudinal program designed to enhance children's prosocial development are reported. The program was offered for children in three elmentary schools in a suburban, middle-class district near San Francisco. Three schools in the same district served as a comparison group. Enrollment ranged from…

This article examines the implications of John Dewey's democratic philosophy for contemporary education for global understanding. Its special focus is on his idea of mutual learning through difference--a democratic principle that was put to the test in his own cross-cultural encounter with Japan in 1919. Using Dewey's difficult experience in Japan…