Democracy Education And Governance

Since the early Eighties a number of themes have dominated the landscape of higher education, among them budget cuts, rationalisation in provision, accountability and quality control, closer links between higher education and the region, and a greater alertness to changes in economic and social policy. At the institutional level, the drive towards a greater degree of latitude and autonomy has found a ready echo among universities and other establishments of higher education. And this, in its turn, has posed major questions about the range of responsibilities central government and administration ought to retain or to delegate. Here is an in-depth treatment of the important legal issues emerging from these developments.

This publication examines the concept of democratic governance in schools and how can it help prepare young people for adult citizenship. By looking at the ways in which schools operate from day to day, the authors of this manual, both heads of secondary schools, describe how the journey down the road towards democratic governance tends to take shape, and offer practical advice on starting, continuing and evaluating the journey. This manual is a practical tool designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice in education for democratic citizenship.

This book examines the normative principles that guide the governance of education, in particular the notion of education as a public good. Determining whether this concept is still valid is a topic of growing importance, especially considering the phenomena of increasing privatisation and marketisation in the sector. The author posits that the prioritisation of economic aspects of education may lead to the weakening of the role of the State in ensuring equality of opportunity and social justice, and thus to a significant risk of considering education as merely a private, marketable good. The volume argues that considering education as a common good can lead to the strengthening of democratic and participatory approaches to educational governance, based on the recognition of education as a shared endeavour and responsibility. It will be of interest and value to students and scholars of education as a public good, social justice, and the wider neoliberalisation of the education sector.

The objective of this manual is to support teachers and practitioners in Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (EDC/HRE). It addresses key questions about EDC and HRE, including competences for democratic citizenship, the objectives and basic principles of EDC/HRE, and a whole school approach to education for democracy and human rights. The manual consists of three parts. Part I outlines the basic principles of EDC/HRE as far as they are helpful and meaningful for the practitioner. Part II gives guidelines and tools to design, support and assess the students' processes of constructivist and interactive learning. Part III provides toolboxes for teachers and students in EDC/HRE. The other volumes in this series offer concrete teaching models and materials in EDC/HRE for pupils from elementary to upper secondary level.

Education is often seen as the key agency in international development and poverty reduction. Frequently the emphasis is on the economic and social role of education in development. This book, on the other hand, is unusual in explicitly examining the political role of education in development. In particular, it sets out the theories, evidence and arguments concerning the potential and actual relationships between education and democracy and critically explores the contradictory role of formal education in both supporting and hindering democratic political development. A key theme of the book is the importance of considering the type and nature of the education actually provided and experienced – what goes on inside the ‘black box’ of education? Currently in developing countries and elsewhere this is often at odds with democratic principles but the book also provides many examples of successful democratic practice in schools in developing countries as well as discussing a detailed case study of South Africa where democratic change in education is a key aspect of the policy agenda.

Introduction -- American dreams : access, mobility, fairness -- Free minds : educating democratic citizens -- Hard facts : knowledge creation and checking power -- Purposeful pluralism : dialogue across difference on campus -- Conclusion.

The restructuring of school governance, especially in urban school districts, is fundamental in current educational reform. This book provides a model of school governance based upon participatory democracy, derived from the "developmental" tradition in political theory. The result is a system of governance that is fundamentally integrated, in that it is simultaneously participative, communicative, associative, and nonviolent, as well as sensitive to the need for collective, democratic deliberation concerning community-wide interests. This model is critically compared to the bureaucratic model of school governance and current school-based management plans.

This book emphasizes the inherently democratic nature of education; from those who practice in higher education institutions and are involved in decision-making, to those questioning the methods of reform processes in those institutions. As they are faced with increasing pressures to restructure and change their organizations in line with global institutional demands the foundations upon which their leadership and governance are based are called into question. This book takes a critical approach to understanding higher education leadership and governance. The overarching questions asked in this book are: how has higher education come to be assembled in contemporary governance practices within the context of global demands for reform and how are issues of justice being taken up as part of and in resistance to this assemblage?