This study aimed to determine the views on democratic school culture in schools and provide a conceptual framework for democratic school culture. The sample of the study, which used a descriptive survey design, consisted of 516 primary school and 378 secondary school students, 592 school administrators/teachers, and 609 parents of students from…

This article seeks to deepen our understanding of the nature and quality of democratic participation in educational reform by examining the first-year implementation of California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) mandating civic engagement in district decision-making. Drawing on democratic theory, empirical literature, and data from 10…

This paper offers a critique of current definitions of active citizenship and argues that children and young people need to be seen as citizens within their school communities and not just citizens of the future. Pedagogy and school decision-making should reflect the aims of active citizenship and thus engage children and young people as active…

The American public can count on a few things during the presidential election season. First, candidates will take a moral high ground and forswear mudslinging. Before long however, they will proceed to engage in nasty accusations against their opponents. A vibrant democracy ought to welcome carefully thought-out views that, when intentionally…

Much of the literature on children's participation distinguishes sharply between "informal" and "formal" forms of participation, which although analytically convenient, may limit possibilities for theorising. This paper examines tensions and links between children's informal and formal participation, and looks at how…

School inspection, school self-evaluation and the relationship between them are important themes in current educational policy debates. Many education systems are seeking to find a balance between the, at times, conflicting demands for a robust, transparent and effective system of school evaluation that at the same time allows for professional…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover leadership practices that integrate social justice and democratic community for student learning. Data were gathered through focus group discussions with school principals. The responses were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed for emerging themes. Leadership practices that were…

This article presents Fairhaven School, located in a still-bucolic area near Washington, which operates in a way that would baffle many educators, much less the public. Known as a "free school," Fairhaven offers students a radical alternative to the demands of traditional education since it was founded in 1998. In this article, the author…

This chapter will explore the "shadow curriculum" (a term used by those who question the assumption that direct selling to students who are compelled to attend school is questionable on several levels--ethical, moral, and democratic) and its connection to media literacy. The author first summarizes the kinds of marketing in schools that…