This article advances and illustrates the concept of "leaderhood" and argues for its role in the rediscovery and renewal of the inclusive, future-oriented spirit of the enterprise of education. Leaderhood, with its links to such concepts as "citizenhood", "elderhood", and "parenthood", is intended to convey…

In the elementary years, social studies is an essential subject, critical to young learners' academic success and well-being. The success of our democracy depends on equitable access to this vital learning for all students. Social studies must be taught in every classroom starting in PreK so learners can develop into civically knowledgeable,…

One of Pat Carini's great accomplishments is the collection of children's visual, written and other work that became the Prospect Archive of Children's Work, now housed at the University of Vermont. This article recounts the story of the archive--a long collaboration with Prospect colleagues, teachers, and others--from its beginnings in the 1960s…

The guidelines followed by many educational boards recommend behavioristic practices for dealing with student discipline; however, Lawrence Kohlberg's idea of organizing schools as "just communities" suggests a more promising approach. It translates to the school context the core principle of Habermas's discourse ethics: "those…

In "Deliberative Policymaking," Elizabeth Grant advances a fresh framework for making collective decisions about US schools. Grant argues that education policy itself can be made fundamentally better by improving education policymaking methods. Informed by accounts of recent policymaking actions as well as her own considerable experience…

When a hero is lost to history, it matters that his work and name should be discussed. Such is the case for Janusz Korczak or Henryk Goldszmit, a courageous fighter for democracy in Poland during the first half of the 20th century. Korczak, the pen name he used for his writings, founded two orphanages where he provided an environment for all the…

In a time of for-profit schooling, continuing segregation, racism, book banning, unconscionable inequality, and antiquated approaches to pedagogy, the prescription for democratic schooling seems daunting. Yet the path is clear: We need to change society to enable democracy in schools; we need democratic schooling to bring the public out of its…

In democratic education, schools are places where democracy holds center stage, where students explore the aims and assumptions that underpin democracy, and where students develop a shared understanding of core values. Despite the democratic promise of schooling, however, schools often fail to prepare people to interrupt racism, classism, gender…

A comprehensive social studies education provides the foundation for an appreciation of democracy, an understanding of the responsibilities and rights that come with participating in a republican form of government, and the knowledge and skills to be informed, responsible, and active global citizens. As students participate in their social studies…

"Childhood, Philosophy, and Dialogical Education" explores the history and prospects of democratic, dialogical education, and its promise as an engine of social and cultural evolution, especially in the context of the cultural and social site dedicated to the adult-child encounter: the school. Drawing on three historical narratives--of…

Building sustainable diversity in higher education isn't just the right thing to do--it is an imperative for institutional excellence and for a pluralistic society that works. In "Diversity's Promise for Higher Education," author Daryl G. Smith proposes clear and realistic practices to help institutions identify diversity as a strategic…

Individuals are typically identified as gifted largely on the basis of competence in limited contexts, but their performance in the real world, both as children and adults, often lags far behind their competence. Thus, the identification of the individuals as "gifted," however useful in theory, is much less useful in practice. This…

This paper takes a philosophical look at what it means to talk about educational change in the context of the global proliferation of Western secular liberal democratic values. A handful of challenges, contradictions, and incoherencies that potentially impede the success of educational change projects in developing countries are examined with a…

To speak of democracy is often to speak less of a fact than of a hope. In his introduction to "Democracy in America," Alexis de Tocqueville admitted that '… in America I saw "more than" America; I sought the image of democracy itself, with its inclinations, its character, its prejudices and its passions, in order to learn what…

The authors begin this article with an account of the crises in education in the US today. Curriculum theory is applied to the ideas in the 4th edition of NAEYC's 'developmentally appropriate practices,' and the relationship between the ideas in this edition to current issues is discussed. The authors also present a brief description of democratic…