Contemporary societies use schools and schooling to socialize their young and only by deliberate attention to the aesthetic quality of the experiences of learning will learning actually occur. Following the introductory chapter, chapter 2 describes how aesthetic quality in learning experience is dependent on establishing democratic social…

This paper asserts that the demographic changes of the 21st century promise a different arena for the practice of democratic leadership in United States social and educational institutions. The challenge for democratic leadership is to establish a positive and lasting relationship among all peoples who make up their local cooperative. The paper…

This user guide covers "Rights and Responsibilities," and offers suggestions for preparatory activities, lessons, and follow-up activities for primary, intermediate, and upper grade students. Goals for the series are to help children: (1) become familiar with the democratic process and active citizenship; (2) recognize what it means to be a…

The East Central Europe Information Exchange collects and disseminates information on exchange and training programs undertaken with American private and governmental funding. This study focused on programs related to democratization and civil society. An introductory section defines the parameters, background, and research methodology; lists the…

Civic education is essential for sustaining constitutional democracy in the United States, a country with the world's oldest constitutional democracy with political institutions whose philosophical foundations serve as a model for aspiring peoples around the world. This task force paper involves a nation-wide discussion of civic education, what…

The U.S. experiment in religious liberty has enormous significance for the United States and for the world. The challenging dilemma of living with the deepest religious differences, as it is currently being met in the United States, is explored in this essay. The point that U.S. success or failure in attempts to deal with religious liberty has…

Rural school and community renewal efforts may depend upon a reconceptualization of our democratic institutions and practices. During at least the last 130 years, we have come to judge our democratic institutions on the basis of whether they deliver the goods rather than develop our people. In the name of progress, efficiency, higher standards of…

This social studies curriculum guide for grades K-12 contains 10 sections: (1) School board policy and philosophy; (2) Philosophy implementation guidelines; (3) Program level objectives; (4) Responsibility for social studies curriculum; (5) Multicultural/multiethnic graphic; (6) General exit outcomes; (7) Social studies skills; (8) Seven essential…

This book addresses the philosophy of governance in higher education, the nature of governance and some of the forms it may take, the meaning of democracy in university governance, criteria for assessing governance systems, and underlying assumptions about aims and efforts. The book focuses on the colleges and universities in New York City in the…

This document examines the definition of democracy and the political attitudes and values of the West German public and implications of these attitudes for future German politics and German-U.S. relations. The stability of postwar democracy in West Germany, it is agreed, is related to changes in the characteristics of the political culture over…

Notes that in its own way the urban public school system has been oppressive, and reflects on the myth that urban public schools are the temple of democracy, maintained directly by the people and benignly responsive to their wishes. [Available from America, 106 West 56th Street, New York, New York 10019]. (Author/AM)

Theories of taste are efforts to understand the processes of signification by which cultural forms take on meaning, and how subjects are inserted into such processes. One of these theories is the notion of "taste cultures," set forth by Herbert Gans in the 1960s and continued by George Lewis into the 1980s. A taste culture is an…

The Europe of the 21, an organization of Western European countries, recently recognized equal political rights for men and women. Yet, a second achievement, without which the first will be meaningless, has yet to be attained: providing women with effective ways of asserting their rights and ensuring that they are no longer excluded, in practice,…

The 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights' ratification will be celebrated in 1991. This document discusses the various ways the Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution has planned to celebrate this historic anniversary. Four sections are featured: (1) introduction; (2) programs and plans for 1990 and 1991; (3) how you can get…

Although it has been in the lexicon for 20 years, educational accountability remains an untested concept. Traditionally used in public service areas involving the stewardship of public funds, the term loses its legal-financial context when applied to educational settings. Here, accountability is mainly concerned with furthering school systems'…