The article considers the intellectual odyssey of the Hungarian sociologist Karl Mannheim (1893-1947) during the three phases of his career: as a Jewish intellectual and philosopher in Hungary during the communist revolution of 1919, as an exile in the German Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1933, and as a refugee from Nazi Germany in England from…

Values such as peace, mutual understanding, and solidarity have long been subsidiary to the aim of pursuing competition and revenue through the internationalization of higher education (HE). With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, higher education institutions demonstrated strong support for peace and solidarity. Yet, the…

This book discusses national school policy reforms in a number of key European countries and shows how these are framed in transnational collaborations that meet with national particularities and contestations. It gives an overview of school policy developments that represents the diversity of Europe within a comparative framework. It takes point…

This study explores the synergy between Action Learning (AL) and democratic practices within organisations, positioning Action Learning Sets (ALSs) as microcosms of representative democracy. It emphasises the pivotal role of trust-building -- particularly swift trust in virtual settings -- in fostering collaborative environments where democratic…

Existing understandings of youth participation often imply clear distinctions from non-participation and thus boundaries between "recognized" and "non-recognized" practices of engagement. This article aims at questioning these boundaries. It analyzes young people's practices in the public sphere that are characterized by both…

In Western societies, modern sports have always been subjected to diverse expectations of social benefits. One especially bold and frequently repeated claim is that voluntary sports clubs serve as 'schools of democracy'. Based on a pragmatist framework of critique, the present study provides the first comprehensive map of evidence on this subject…

Democracy is not only a system of government, but also an overarching way of living together. It is through the social structures we live in and the resulting social relations, behaviors, and norms emanating from those structures, that we learn how to live together, democratically or otherwise. Adult education can promote the learning of democracy…

Civil courage refers to the behavior where people actively intervene to protect a victim in a concrete situation of injustice despite the risk of becoming a victim themselves. To act with civil courage, one requires competencies that relate to prosocial values as well as the physical and social ability to act. In this context, this brief reports…

In the discourse on children and early childhood education, the concern to 'give children a voice' has become increasingly important in recent years. The starting point for this development is the idea of a 'competent child' whose perspectives, perceptions and ideas are valuable and important. For this reason, ECE has set itself the goal of…

This article presents an analysis of a teaching concept we developed based on the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) (Council of Europe, 2018), that not only provides opportunities to practice communicative skills but puts a major focus on democratic competences. Mathematics students and TEFL (Teaching English as a…

As schools are increasingly expected to develop their students' political and social engagement in order to promote good citizenship, they are struggling to define what good citizenship is. In this article, we put forward a way of formulating perspectives on citizenship that specifies the normative aspects of good citizenship in a systematic…

Purpose: Class council has become a popular approach for character education and democracy learning in German schools. However, it is not clear if the expectations are met in social practice. Approach: The data was gained with an ethnographical multiple method approach within three contrasting secondary schools. The study is informed by practice…

"Bildung" is a complex educational concept that emerged in Germany in the mid eighteenth century. Especially in Germany and Scandinavia conceptions of "Bildung" became the general philosophical framework to guide both formal and informal education. "Bildung" concerns the whole range of education from setting…

The 11th International Conference of the International Association for Citizenship, Social and Economics Education IACSEE, took place the 2nd-4th of July 2015 at Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, Germany. The conference addressed the role and potential of citizenship, social and economic education, both theoretically and empirically in the…

In this keynote address given at the International Association for Citizenship, Social and Economics Education (IACSEE) Conference in July 2015, Sabine Manzel focused on participation and decision-making as key competences for democracy. She analysed with standardized videography how both of these competences are realized in classroom interaction.