Education And Democratic Citizenship In America

Education affects these two dimensions in distinct ways, influencing democratic enlightenment through cognitive proficiency and sophistication, and political engagement through position in social networks. For characteristics of enlightenment, formal education simply adds to the degree to which citizens support and are knowledgeable about democratic principles.

The distinguishing characteristics, content and processes, and the variations of essential elements that are exemplified by projects in the United States and abroad in education for democratic citizenship are presented in this book. The volume addresses how international partnerships involving the United States and several post-communist countries advanced the cause of education for democracy. Chapter titles include: (1) "Concepts at the Core of Education for Democratic Citizenship" (John J. Patrick); (2) "Education for Constructive Engagement of Citizens in Democratic Civil Society and Government" (John J. Patrick); (3) "A Cooperative International Project to Develop and Disseminate a Framework on Education for Democratic Citizenship: Introduction and Rationale" (Charles F. Bahmueller); (4) "A Framework on Education for Democratic Citizenship: Summary and Commentary" (Charles F. Bahmueller); (5) "Civil Society and Democracy Reconsidered" (Charles F. Bahmueller); (6) "Civitas: An International Civic Education Exchange Program" (Charles N. Quigley; Jack N. Hoar); (7) "Reconsidering Issue-Centered Civic Education Among Early Adolescents: Project Citizen in the United States and Abroad" (Thomas S. Vontz; William A. Nixon); (8) "Guiding Principles for Cross-Cultural Curriculum Projects in Citizenship Education Reform" (Gregory E. Hamot); (9) "Building Democracy for the Twenty-First Century: Rediscovering Civics and Citizenship Education in Australia" (Murray Print); (10) "The Uses of Literature in Education for Democratic Citizenship: Lessons and Suggestions from the American Experience" (Sandra Stotsky); and (11) "Resources in ERIC on Education for Democratic Citizenship: International Perspectives." (Elizabeth R. Osborn). (LB)

In recent years a number of political and educational leaders and groups have urged the nation's public schools to place a greater emphasis on teaching civic values and on educating students to become citizens. This book puts forth the civic values and ideas that schools should be teaching. The volume is not a handbook or curriculum guide, but is designed to broaden the perspective of curriculum specialists, textbook authors, teachers, and educational policymakers. In the first three chapters of this four-chapter book, the study of and learning about history, the study and learning about constitutional principles, and the study and learning about conceptions of citizenship are examined. The final chapter offers a set of 12 ideas and civic values that should suffuse teaching and learning in the schools. These 12 values are justice, equality, authority, participation, truth, patriotism, freedom, diversity, privacy, due process, property, and human rights. (DB)

This book examines the issues of theorizing citizenship education research in non-Western societies that have embarked on democratic development after the fall of authoritarianism and colonialism. Despite a proliferation of studies on citizenship and citizenship education in non-Western contexts, there has been limited theorization of this research and little discussion of the applicability to such contexts of Western theoretical frameworks. This volume addresses these issues through empirical case studies of citizenship conceptions, practices, and education in South and West Africa, Latin America, Central Europe, and the Middle East. The contributors to the volume call into question the uncritical application of Western theoretical frameworks to non-Western societies and advocate for the development and wider application of new paradigms rooted in local processes and indigenous knowledge to better understand and theorize citizenship and citizenship education in such societies. This volume will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and practitioners working in the field of comparative and international citizenship education. It was originally published as a special issue of Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education.

This book offers a groundbreaking examination of citizenship education programs that serve contemporary youth in schools and communities across the United States. These programs include social studies classes and curricula, school governance, and community-based education efforts. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the experiences and perspectives of educators and youth involved in these civic education efforts. The contributors offer rich analyses of how mainstream and alternative programs are envisioned and enacted, and the most important factors that shape them. A variety of theoretical lenses and qualitative methodologies are used, including ethnography, focus group interviews, and content analyses of textbooks.

It is becoming increasingly clear that members of a host nation as well as newcomers have to learn what it means to live democratically in a multi-ethnic world and to accept diversity without fear or rancor. This volume, a result of a conference sponsored by the Spencer Foundation, asks a question of increasing significance in view of post World War II immigration patterns and the spread of democratic forms of government: "What can educational researchers and practitioners do to prepare our youth for cooperative, constructive living in a democracy?" This book illustrates how six post-industrial nations -- Canada, Germany, Israel, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- have met or failed to meet this challenge.