Policymaking too often happens among small groups of people, behind closed doors, which can lead to poorer design, worse outcomes, and a sense that government is a force to be reckoned with rather than a partner in problem solving. The New Practice Lab has long championed for participatory planning--bringing impacted people directly into…

Although the goals of consensus-based decision-making (CBDM) and the academic theological classroom are quite distinct (most notably that in the classroom, there is no need to come to a group decision), both share the aim of honoring all voices and perspectives and ensuring that marginalized voices and experiences are elevated. It is an important…

Youth mainstreaming involves the integration of a youth perspective into the preparation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all policies and programmes that concern and affect young people. Youth mainstreaming also aims to shape institutional and policymaking processes that provide space and opportunities for young people to…

Bullying remains a serious problem in schools in England and internationally despite the plethora of research, interventions and policies which aim to address it. The majority of research and interventions are based on a traditional approach where school bullying is constructed as involving a clear imbalance of power between individuals. Recently,…

Meaningful student participation is essential to realizing democratic ideals within the university. However, existing structures for involving students within university governance suffer from a variety of shortcomings, leaving scholars calling for ways to make student participation more inclusive, effective, and thoughtful. To address this…

This essay provides a grounded critical discussion of why a professor might limit their undergraduate students' sovereignty of educational decision-making to promote an opportunity for a democratic dialogic culture in the class situated in a conventional university. On the one hand, both democracy and dialogue require voluntary participation by…

Based on data collected in South Carolina from 2020-2022 through the Collective Leadership Initiative, we examined the collective leadership of six schools through cascading crises that resulted in extreme turbulence in many schools. Through an annual collective leadership survey, a collective teacher efficacy survey that we administered three…

During her term on the California State Board of Education, Naomi Porter realized that student and adult board members alike struggle to effectively engage their primary constituents--students. Student state board members face the added challenges of making an impact during relatively short terms of service and of identifying mentors who can help…

Scholars have advocated for student voice and participation across curriculum design, assessment planning, and policymaking in higher education to advance and achieve equity (Montenegro and Jankowski 2020; Jankowski and Bheda 2022; Damiano 2018). However, the reality seems far different from the intention or aspiration, primarily because explicit…

This article explores the past, present, and future of shared governance at colleges and universities. It starts with a description of the seminal 1966 Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities developed by the American Association of University Professors, the American Council on Education, and the Association of Governing Boards of…

The Education Reform -- Joint Agreement published in June 2018 sets out the collective agreement by a commissioning group including the Scottish Government, COSLA, SOLACE, ADES, and Education Scotland. The Joint Agreement sets out agreed principles, enablers, and measures that will support and encourage the empowerment of schools in Scotland.…

The aim of this article is to analyse the educational strategies used by educators in out-of-school educational programmes for young people between 12 and18 years old. Taking an ethnographic approach, data collection was carried out through participant observation at seven programme sites where the participants assumed different levels of…

In this article, I discuss the academic field of adult education as it relates to critical media literacy, critical public pedagogy, social and civic activism, and higher education in this era many have labeled "post-truth." I ask readers to reconsider the traditional university tenure process and the academic publishing industry as…

In this response to Martin's "Should Deliberate Democratic Inclusion Extend to Children?" I examine Martin's comments against the "argument from circumspection," which is dubious regarding the claims children make to change democratic policies and procedures. I explain there are good reasons for being circumspect. One of these…

The idea of good governance is central to democratic consolidation; and there can be no good governance without a vibrant democratic order that is participatory. Citizenship education is a tool for enhancing participation of the citizenry in the affairs of governance and all that pertains to the socio-economic and political life of the people as…