This resource package contains ideas for local projects to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the United States Constitution. The document includes a bicentennial chronology, a selection of general projects, educational projects, air and print media projects, and fine arts projects. Six appendices feature: (1) Bicentennial Chronology; (2)…

While sitting on a bench outside the university's museum grappling with his own emotional numbness and inability to comprehend the traumatic events of 9-11, John Wittman watched a group of 4 students circling one of the main buildings on campus with an American flag on the back of the roll bar of a truck. Having thought about the flag-waving…

This publication provides a brief introduction to core ideas of constitutional government in the United State as presented in "The Federalist" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. The first of "The Federalists" papers was written by Hamilton, who joined with Jay and Madison in this series of essays to refute the…

Civic education in schools is necessary in a democratic society, so as to produce citizens who are able to participate in the system of self-government. Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, and John Dewey each emphasized the value of good citizenship and promoted the role of public education in teaching citizens the knowledge and skills necessary for…

Policies to change the way teachers are trained, licensed, and compensated constitute a major part of the educational reform agendas advanced by state governments over the past several years. These policies have been extremely difficult to implement, and state officials face the prospect that many of them will need substantial modification. This…

This book examines the current school reform debate as a product of tension between elitist and egalitarian goals for education. Chapter 1, "Making Choices," reviews issues in the current debate and provides a general outline of the book's argument. Chapter 2, "The Mission of Schooling," analyzes the reform debate in the context of resurgent…

Given the role that initiatives and referenda have played in state and local governance, it is interesting that there has never been a national initiative or referendum in the United States. The reason for this is that the Constitution of the United States does not provide for direct citizen initiation of, or direct popular votes on, either…

The four elements of an effective social studies program are identified as knowledge, values, skills, and social participation. This Michigan curriculum guide delineates the goals and objectives for each of these elements. If the elements are to be translated into learning opportunities, the social studies program should exhibit these…

A substantial review of both the goals of Western civilization and the political realities of American democracy serves to establish the context in which the author of this lecture considers the problems facing educational administrators and the institutions that train them. Noting the failure of civilization to assure mankind of its basic needs…

In this article David Gabbard describes his first meeting with McLaren and his wife in 1989. Gabbard notes that although he had read some of McLaren's work, particularly some of his early collaborations with Henry Giroux, who had helped bring McLaren to Miami from Canada, no amount of reading, could have prepared him for meeting McLaren…

This paper reviews the pathologies of school bureaucratic structures especially evident in large urban school systems like New York City's, and it suggests some remedies to these problems. Bureaucratic organization has severe disadvantages when applied to a function like education in a society that purports to be democratic. Large educational…

Traces American social advances and concludes that greater access to culture and education may in fact have results contrary to those intended. (Editor)

Schooling is always a moral practice. It takes place in specific contexts where social regulation is justified by reference to ethical codes and their specific values. Teachers' work is constituted by these values. Teachers act morally, steering practice in particular directions. The task is, however, never simple. In a context where the…

Law has been neglected as an area of inquiry in citizenship education. Fundamental to citizenship education is the teaching of the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights in elementary and secondary schools. The bicentennials of these documents will be celebrated within the next decade. Law-related inquiry could enrich the…

Because modern terrorism threatens democratic values such as personal liberty, free expression, and the limitation of institutional authority, it raises ethical problems for journalists who are drawn into a symbiotic relationship with those who threaten or use violence against a community. Recent terrorist incidents in the United States involving…