Drawing on personal experiences with homeless urban children living in shelters, discusses liberatory science education (focusing on an after-school science program) and describes dilemmas inherent in such work, considering how an understanding of the complexity of the relationship between margin and center is necessary in moving toward liberatory…

Describes a hypothetical elementary school that is centered on social studies and social action, focusing on three practices at such a school: democratic education, education for social justice, and community service learning. Challenges to social action in U.S. schools include teachers' time limitations, curriculum standards, and emphasis on…

Describes a project in liberatory social studies for eighth-grade students in which a generative curriculum was implemented to help students understand the vital role they could play in producing and utilizing knowledge. The paper explores students' reactions to plans for this project, teachers' responses to student reactions, and what was learned…

The Constitutional Rights Foundation works to determine how service learning can best educate youth for active citizenship. This article traces the evolution of the group's thinking about service learning and citizenship education, and describes their civic participation framework, programs, and program components. (SM)

Discusses research on political tolerance, noting that traditional civics curricula do little to promote tolerance, and that tolerance for diverse beliefs must be learned. The paper describes the development and teaching of a four-week curriculum for tolerance and reflects on the need for educators to foster greater tolerance among young people.…

This paper examines the notions of individualism and schooling, then articulates ideas and practices found in the Harmony School (Bloomington, Indiana), an independent, democratic school, that public schools have incorporated into their programs. (SM)

Argues for liberating factors in education (student-centered practice, open-ended discussion, and art as a subject). Describes the "Visual Thinking Strategies" teaching method, which focuses on structured but open, group discussions about diverse art objects in order to help viewers develop a rapport with art, increase aesthetic…