Presents a lesson plan designed to teach upper grade level secondary students about nationalism and civil rights in post-Cold War Europe. Examines the rise of nationalism and discrimination against ethnic minorities in eastern Europe since the end of Communist rule. Includes a map of Europe, suggested teaching procedures, and follow-up activities.…

Presents a high school lesson plan to teach students that democratic citizenship is not passive and to prepare them to take part in grassroots education and action. Presents a historical overview of campaign-finance debates and a series of activities that use this material to engage students in their own debates. (DSK)

An author who comes from the German higher education system offers insights into how it differs from the American higher education system and how certain undesirable characteristics may be avoided in the United States. Topics discussed include student independence, lack of extracurricular activities and campus community, tendency toward…

Considers the forces contributing to the development of democratic citizenship education in Albania and reviews the progress that has been made. Explores the barriers to democratic citizenship education, such as the centralization in Albanian schools and the lack of resources for running a program. Ponders the future of democratic citizenship…

Multiple literacies are needed to meet the challenges of today's new technologies and multicultural society. Media literacy is necessary because media culture strongly influences people's world view. Education must foster various literacies to empower students and to make education relevant to society. Critical pedagogy can promote multicultural…

The current state of education in Russia strongly correlates with the socioeconomic crisis, which negatively impacts education. Responsibility for education falls to the state and other social institutions, which form a system of education. The many laws, decrees, and rules about education have had little impact on practice. School democratization…

Describes how a democratic classroom and flexible grouping benefit students who arrive "at risk." Illustrates how acting on these ideas has put an end to labeling in the author's first-grade classroom. Describes how many current classroom practices are pervasively autocratic rather than democratic. Discusses district and community support, and…

Endorses U.S. political history as a colorful and interesting resource for teaching important historical and social science concepts: order and change, elitism and pluralism, creating structures, the Constitution, and the formation of political parties. Discusses these concepts and gives examples of each. (MJP)

Argues that understanding teachers' conceptions of discussion is a neglected and important issue. Reviews new insights from literacy research on text discussion; suggests how that literature provides a broader context for understanding social studies teachers' conceptions of classroom talk. Reflects on the relationship of open-forum discussion to…

An Appalachian college professor describes his efforts to merge political activism, scholarship, and teaching, and offers some thoughts on transformative education that prepares students for their role in a democratic society. An important approach to transformative education is service learning programs that incorporate local issues and politics…

The "Handbook" chapter on teaching describes market-oriented and constructivist reforms that are contradictory. The former constructs work as scripts for production; the latter constructs work as scaffolds for expression. Teaching must resist external scripting and assume responsibility for its own agency. Teachers' allegiance is to…

This paper addresses the ethical and social justice implications of an educational movement called, The New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership). In particular, this paper emphasizes the ethical underpinnings of this movement by focusing on the paradox in the form of the dyad of control/democracy. This important paradox is developed…

Western preschools and schools find it important to nurture democracy. However, in order to succeed in nurturing democracy, democratic ideas must be implemented in all situations. Education alone, therefore, is not enough. All children must experience real influence over their situations, and experience the opportunity for self-determination in…

Today there has been a shift in the organizational structure in our schools (Murphy and Seashore Louis, 1999). These include educational leadership shifts in roles, relationships, and responsibilities; the alteration of traditional patterns of relationships; and the fact that authority tends to be less hierarchical. Senge (1990) believes systems…

This article discusses the idea of the "safe school" juvenile delinquency prevention model as a paradigm of bringing together all of the community participants, in order to bring about ways and means through which community problems could be met and solved. It suggests that in free and democratic societies, the consent of all participant…