Urges readers to ponder the importance of the future of literature in children's lives. Reflects on the role of books in the author's own family life, reviewing how literature gathers and preserves the riches of the imagination and promotes the democracy of the intellect. (SR)

Presents a lesson plan on the First Amendment that encourages students to think about what their lives, both now and in the future, would be like without the First Amendment freedoms. Gives the poster "First Amendment Freedoms" that identifies the first five freedoms of the amendment and a student handout. (CMK)

Education has been traditionally shaped by a narrow conception of purpose, human capacity, and learning and assessment frameworks. A new pedagogy of capability for active citizenship will reconnect learning to living as responsible citizens, understand learners' needs, enrich understanding of human potential, and promote active and reflective…

Argues that connecting classroom practice to writing center tutorials prepares students to generate dialogic and democratic tutorials. Describes a liberatory writing center (rather than a skill-and-drill site of remediation). Describes classroom practices that help students develop critical approaches to the power arrangements they encounter both…

Argues that choice, diversity, and equity are key organizing concepts of the neoliberal public domain. As such, they are implicated in the failure of neoliberalism to address the central predicaments of the age. Articulates a new vision of a learning democracy expressed through civic cooperation, participation, and justice. (MJP)

Analyzes philosopher William James' writings on political representation and participatory democracy. Although he argued in favor of democratic principles, James also strongly supported the role of a well-educated elite serving as leaders. Attempts to reconcile these contradictory positions and considers James' influence on the development of…

A high-school English teacher deplores barking-media sound bites of politicians pretending to resolve complex educational problems with one-dimensional "solutions." Highlighting specific classroom learning situations, he ponders three paradoxes: justice is not necessarily fair; freedom comes with limits; and clarity comes through…

There is growing agreement from right to left concerning the role of religion in public schools. Under the First Amendment, public schools can neither inculcate nor inhibit religion. Neutrality means fairness. Students' religious liberty rights must be protected by school policies and practices. Also, religion must be treated fairly in the…

Perceived dangers to democratic development in the Czech society and, by extension, to higher education there, are examined, including commercialization combined with overt social stratification creating resentment and culture shock; termination of price control and guaranteed employment; withdrawal of state subsidies from popular and important…

Examines the political transformation in Latvia that brought increased democratization and decentralization and resulted in changes to the educational system and teachers' professional roles and responsibilities. The paper notes difficulties encountered by teachers in assimilating reforms within their professional identity and analyzes the…

Examines the role of principals in highly successful elementary schools serving primarily students from low-income homes in influencing two factors viewed a foundational for a school in which social justice is more than simply an abstract ideal: Development of early literacy for ever child and avoidance of overidentification and inappropriate…

Discusses the conflict between anti-discrimination and important elements of the liberal tradition in the United States, focusing on: the limits of liberalism, the anti-discrimination revolution, the anti-discrimination regime, putting morality and politics back together, the moral revolution, the new pluralism, misinterpreting…

In an effort to explain the relationship between democracy and education, this article presents three differing definitions of democracy: liberal, communicative, and deliberative. Argues that deliberatively influenced education makes possible a more rational approach to Denmark's debates concerning democratic education. Provides a brief historical…

When considering democratic education, educators talk about teaching the "whole child," creating caring classrooms, building communities of learning where every student has access to knowledge, and teaching students how to be active citizens (Goodlad and Keating 1994; Noddings 2002; Apple 1993). These are not practices that are done…

In this paper, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the notion of "translating the art of citizenship." They then consider two particular examples from their work as university teachers which illustrate how they are trying to translate the art of citizenship by developing a more expressive pedagogy of citizenship. First, a CD…